‘Infinity Ward will rise from the ashes,’ says Activision executive

It began with Activision’s decision to dismiss Infinity Ward’s Jason West and Vince Zampella in March of this year. By May, nearly half of Infinity Ward’s development team had decided to resign, leaving the studio responsible for Modern Warfare 2 in disarray.

But Activision is supporting the developer’s return to its former glory. Speaking to Develop, Activision’s VP Dave Stohl spoke candidly about his company’s plans to rebuild the development studio, saying, “Ultimately, Infinity Ward will rise from the ashes.”

When asked about whether Activision’s strategy is to promote individuals internally or to look for external replacements for the employees who left, Stohl responded: “We’re doing a bit of both. We’re supporting Infinity Ward in that rebuilding process, and I use the term ‘support’ because as much as possible we don’t want to tamper with that group of people. We want Infinity Ward to be Infinity Ward; it’s a very specific culture.”



And a lot of folks are eager to join that culture. “Recuriting for Infinity Ward – I mean we have had… well, let’s just say recruiting is not a problem!... I’m one hundred per cent confident that the studio will come back to what it was, especially considering all the talent we’re seeing rising through and also being recruited,” he continues.

Stohl acknowledges that Infinity Ward lost a lot of talented employees, but is quick to point out that many of them are still there and paints an optimistic outlook for the future of the studio as it fills its staff with new recruits. “I’m not going to sit here and say no good talent left the studio, because obviously a lot of good talent did. But a lot of people who are really passionate about their job are still there. There’s a development philosophy that remains intact, and the studio is attracting amazing new talent. Ultimately, Infinity Ward will rise from the ashes,” says Stohl.

Aug 11, 2010

Source: CVG, Develop

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