Though Activision outperformed Electronic Arts in 2007 as the number one publisher in the US for both consoles and handhelds, there’s no time to rest. In its Q3 2008 earnings release conference call, Activision discussed the line-up of titles it plans to release during the fiscal year 2009, which runs from April 2008 through March 2009.

First of all, the publisher reconfirmed sequels to the best-selling franchises Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, and Tony Hawk. The new installment in the Call of Duty series is planned for release by the year’s end to continue the tradition of annual releases. It’s not yet certain whether it’ll be titled Call of Duty 5 or whether Infinity Ward will be developing it, though the job listings on Treyarch’s website do seem to suggest that the maker of Call of Duty 3 will be taking over. Besides being in the pipeline for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, the new CoD entry is also headed to the Wii and PS2.

Rock fans can look forward to two new Guitar Hero iterations, though specifics on what the two new offerings will bring to the table are yet to be revealed. All that’s known for now is that these new disc-based expansions will be frontlined by new bands. Similarly, no new details were given on downloadable content, apart from Activision saying that more tracks are on the way.

As for the Tony Hawk franchise, Activision finally came to realize that it’s facing some stiff competition from the new kid on the block, that is EA’s skate. In order to regain the lost market share in the action sports genre, the company stated: “We need to step up innovation.” Here’s hoping the next title in the series won’t disappoint again.

Thanks to the success with the Marvel licenses, Activison is working on a follow-up to Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, as well as a new Spider-man game. Add to that DreamWorks tie-ins Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar: The Crate Escape, and Monsters Vs. Aliens, plus the already confirmed James Bond title, and Activison has more than enough firepower to give other third-party giants such as EA and Ubisoft a run for their money.