Activision and Blizzard don't necessarily believe the end of "World of Warcraft" is nigh, but they do feel that their current product's potential to become "obsolete" might be of interest to shareholders. The same SEC filing that mentioned Infinity Ward "insubordination" suspicions this week also contained a cautionary message about their industry-leading MMO, and it speaks volumes about the company's view of the industry.

"Future increased consumer acceptance and increases in the availability such games or other online games, or technological advances in online game software or the Internet, could result in a decline in platform-based software and negatively impact sales of our console and hand-held products," the Activision wrote in their Annual Report. "Newer technological advances in online game software may also render products such as 'World of Warcraft' obsolete."

That ominous terminology included hunches that smaller companies may be better equipped to compete in coming years, due to Internet distribution.

"Additionally, direct sales of software over the Internet by competitors could adversely affect our distribution business," the report stated.

Given that "Warcraft" conquered RTS gaming before moving on to produce an MMO, it's not unreasonable to believe its destiny might lurk elsewhere -- probably in some motion-controlled virtual dating simulator or something of the like that no one has even thought of yet.

Do you agree with Activision's outlook on the future of 'WoW'? What other genre would you like to see "Warcraft" branch off into? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.