Well well, just when we thought everyone had stopped flinging poop and had sorted their differences, EA has once again thrown the gauntlet at Activision’s feet. Forget friendly Twitter banter, EA’s fighting with prison rules, and clearly isn’t afraid to throw some low-blows.

As the defending champ, Modern Warfare 3 seems to appear to be trying to take the high road – Activision Publishing boss Eric Hirschberg recently responded to EA CEO’s comments that they want Call of Duty to “rot from the core” by saying that these kinds of fighting words are “bad for the industry”.

EA has now responded by calling Eric Hirschberg a pansy. Well, I may be paraphrasing a little there, but that’s the gist of it.

Speaking to IndustryGamers, EA corporate communications guy Jeff Brown delivered this 1-2 punch, “Welcome to the big leagues Eric — I know you’re new in the job but someone should have told you this is an competitive industry. You’ve got every reason to be nervous.”

Following with a heavy right hook, “Last year Activision had a 90 share in the shooter category. This year, Battlefield 3 is going to take you down to 60 or 70.  At that rate, you’ll be out of the category in 2-3 years.”

And finishing it off like a real gentleman with a knee to the groin, “If you don’t believe me, go to the store and try to buy a copy of Guitar Hero or Tony Hawk.”

Wow. EA clearly isn’t pulling punches, but the question is will Activision be angry, or just disappointed?