Only a week after closing Pandemic Studios, EA has confirmed that a new Mercenaries title is in the works. No platform or release date information has yet been provided.

The series kicked off in 2005 with well regarded sandbox action game Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. Three years later, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames received mixed reviews and attracted the ire of the Venezuelan government for depicting a US-lead overthrow of their regime.

Some have speculated that the announcement of the new game (working title: Mercs Inc) was prompted by the publication of leaked test footage on Bitmob (reproduced above). Alternatively, the leak could be seen as confirmation that the Venezuelan secret service has infiltrated EA.

The announcement of Mercs Inc confirms the publisher’s intention to exploit the handful of original properties generated by Pandemic. The Full Spectrum Warrior series of army-themed first person shooters is one candidate for revival. Destroy All Humans, in which the player assumes the role of an alien invader, is another.

Pandemic’s swan song, The Saboteur is due for release on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on Thursday 3 December 2009.