As reported by Kotaku, it appears that Call of Duty makers Infinity Ward posted two telling photos to Facebook and Twitter this week, showing off what appears to be an Xi3 Piston PC, one of Valve’s adorable prototype Steam Box devices, with the company’s logo plastered on it; or any of the other Xi3 mini-computers—the Steam Box is just one possible variation. Check out the photo below:

Could this be the new Steam Box?

It’s also got another device (maybe a hard drive?) attached on the bottom. The photo on Twitter came with the message “What’s this?” while the one on Facebook said simply “Game development.”

Talk about cryptic.

This could mean a lot of things. Maybe Infinity Ward has partnered with Xi3 or even Valve to launch the next Call of Duty game when Steam Boxes start rolling out. Or maybe something much less predictable is going on. If you have not heard already, it appears that the next Call of Duty game is most likely going to be another Modern Warfare title. None of which means a whole lot, though if it really is set in the Modern Warfare universe that would be a very disappointing lack of imagination (and bravery) on Activision’s part.

One may hope that Infinity Ward would create an all new theater for the Call of Duty franchise since this FPS game seems to release new titles as often as Madden releases new versions of their football game but as in the past this seems to be nothing more than wishful thinking. If huge changes are not going to be made in the game itself, would it not be better just to release DLC instead and not make consumers shell out another $60 dollars or so for another game? I know… I know… another argument that has been going on for years; Infinity Ward and Treyarch alike.

Finally one more thought to ponder is if these new Xi3 minis compete with the next-gen consoles set to debut this holiday season? Seems there is going to be some hard choices to make come Santa time and come June when E3 enlightens us a bit more and just what Microsoft and Sony have planned there is going to be a lot to discuss and argue about until launch day! What are you thoughts? Post a comment below and speak up!