Today in an announcement at GDC in San Francisco, Activision confirmed earlier reports that it has acquired Irish middleware technology firm DemonWare. According to the publisher, the acquisition “will enable Activision to gain efficiencies related to online game development and positions the company to take advantage of the growth in online gameplay that will be driven by the next-generation consoles.”

So, long story short, it looks like our friends at Activision are looking to expans upon their online footprint with future titles. While no games or projects were specifically called out in the announcement, it’s at least a safe bet that DemonWare’s tech will find a home in future iterations of Activision’s popular Call of Duty franchise. Activision has utilized DemonWare’s technologies in its games since 2005, most recently in Call of Duty 3.

Under the terms of the agreement, DemonWare will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision and the company’s management team and key employees will sign long-term employment contracts with Activision. DemonWare will continue to be headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with offices in Vancouver, B.C. The transaction is expected to be completed no later than the close of Activision’s first quarter of fiscal year 2008. The closing of the transaction is subject to the completion of certain customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

DemonWare has two main products – DemonWare’s Matchmaking+, which provides advanced community services for multiplayer gaming, including player matching, user profiling and gaming statistics across current-and next-gen consoles and PCs; and DemonWare’s State Engine, a cross-platform network engine that ensures that console-to-console communications are secure and as lag-free as possible.