Back in March of 2010, a strange string of events unfolded when news broke that a group of what was described as “bouncer-type” security guards entered the offices of Infinity Ward, the video game developers behind the popular Modern Warfare games in the Call of Duty franchise.

Ultimately it was revealed that two of the founders and current heads of Infinity Ward, Jason West and Vince Zampella, were fired by parent company Activision for “breaches of contract and insubordination,” leaving the future of the Modern Warfare series in question.

While many lawsuits have come of that mess, Activision has re-staffed all of the vacant positions at Infinity Ward and — even though the game hasn’t been officially announced — they have been working on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 ever since, with full expectations to meet their normal November release date…until now. It’s being reported by The LA Times that Activision has brought in a new team to help develop the third installment, which means things might not be going so smoothly.

Instead of Infinity Ward (or what’s left of the original Infinity Ward) developing the entire game as they have for the past two installments, Activision is said to be bringing in a second studio named Sledgehammer Games to help get things completed in time. Sledgehammer has been tied to Activision for a while now, being said to have been working on another action-adventure and possible even sci-fi spin-off of the franchise. Apparently that project has been put on hold as the teams work together to get Modern Warfare 3 completed. A visit to Sledgehammer’s website shows they’re working on a Call of Duty FPS, with many job listings for new employees.

So does a second team being brought in to work with Infinity Ward to complete such a big-name game make you the fans of the franchise nervous, or are you confident they’ll still deliver a top-tier title come November? It’s certainly going to be difficult to replicate the success of Modern Warfare 2 given all of these complications, no?