Yes, folks, there will be a Modern Warfare 3 video game for Christmas

When the flagship Call of Duty game studio Infinity Ward imploded last March, it seemed unlikely that it would be able to get another one of its flagship Modern Warfare games out for the fall of 2011.

But fans need not panic. Activision Blizzard has marshaled its resources to launch Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 in November, according to the Los Angeles Times. Activision hasn’t confirmed the report, which cited sources. But in recent analyst calls, chief executive Bobby Kotick and chief operating officer Thomas Tippl have said that Activision has more than 500 developers working on Call of Duty games, and the pattern is now clear that the company is launching a major addition to the franchise each November.

Still, the news that Modern Warfare 3 is on schedule will be greeted with relief by fans, who are currently buying Call of Duty Black Ops, produced by Activision’s Treyarch studio, in record numbers. Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare sold 13 million copies, and Modern Warfare 2 sold 20 million. Those games are among the biggest blockbusters in video game history.

Infinity Ward is reportedly working closely with Sledgehammer Games, a studio headed by former Electronic Arts executives Glen Schofield and Michael Condry, who led the development of EA’s DeadSpace. Activision recruited them away from EA’s Visceral Games studio and set them to work on an unannounced title in November, 2009. Their studio is in Foster City, Calif., not far from Redwood City, Calif.-based EA.

Infinity Ward needs the help because it lost its leaders — Jason West and Vince Zampella — after Activision fired them in March, 2009, for reportedly trying to set up a separate EA-funded studio while they were still working for Infinity Ward. Lawsuits ensued. West and Zampella proceeded to set up Respawn Entertainment, not far from Infinity Ward in Southern California, and hired dozens of Infinity Ward employees.

If you see the pattern to the grudge match here, it’s clear that EA, which makes the Battlefield and Medal of Honor first-person combat games, is in a deathmatch with Activision over a rare commodity: teams that have proven they can ship billion-dollar first-person shooter games.

Activision has hinted that Sledgehammer is working on a Call of Duty game, but it did not specifically say that the game was Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3. Activision has also bought Wisconsin-based Raven Software, which was reportedly working on multiplayer game play for Modern Warfare 3.

There is a consequence to pooling the different studios together. Sledgehammer will likely delay a Call of Duty spin-off title that it was working on before it had to help Infinity Ward.