Infinity Ward

Infinity Ward is a developer.

Infinity Ward Webpage, Facebook

Infinity Ward is an American studio, founded in 2002 and owned by Activision Blizzard, known primarily for its iconic Call of Duty series. The company is headquartered in Woodland Hills, near Los Angeles, California (USA). Since 2010, Steve Pearce has been the CEO of Infinity Ward.

Since its inception, Infinity Ward has focused exclusively on subsequent installments of the aforementioned Call of Duty series – not only did Infinity Ward create the entire series in the first place but they also produced some of its highest-rated installments, which have established the canon of the modern first-person shooter genre. An extensive multiplayer mode has also become an integral part of the series, later followed by additional gameplay modes such as Special Ops and Zombies. Over the years, the Call of Duty series has evolved significantly, evolving from a classic war shooter to a game set in the modern era, and then increasingly futuristic ones. However, the direction of the series did not always match the expectations of fans. The peak of dissatisfaction was caused by Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, the trailer of which became one of the most disliked videos on YouTube long before the game's release.

History

Infinity Ward's origins date back to 1997, when Tom Koudirka founded the 2015, Inc. studio, known primarily for Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, the first PC installment of the popular first-person shooter series. Shortly after the game's release, due to a conflict with Electronic Arts (sparked by concerns about restricting creative freedom), 22 key employees, led by Vince Zampella, Grant Collier and Jason West, left the studio. The three talented developers decided to found their own studio and debuted with Call of Duty, released by Activision in 2002. It launched a series that would become the Medal of Honor's biggest rival for several years. Collier became the first CEO of Infinity Ward, but a year later he was replaced by Jason West, who led the studio for the next seven years.

The following Call of Duty titles, such as Call of Duty 2 (2005), Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009), propelled Infinity Ward to the forefront of modern first-person shooters and established a new standard for the genre, combining dynamic action with an emphasis on teamwork with AI-controlled teammates. However, the developers were not destined to exercise full control over the best-selling series, as Activision also engaged Treyarch to work on subsequent installments in 2005. Initially, they were responsible for the console version of Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, but the following full-fledged games were developed interchangeably by both studios in two-year development cycles.

The first major crisis in the team's history came in 2010, when two co-founders, Zampella and West, were fired from Infinity Ward due to a conflict with Activision Blizzard. Shortly after that, they founded Respawn Entertainment. Over the following weeks, over 40 more people left the studio and Steve Pearce and Steve Ackrich of Activision Blizzard temporarily took over the team. In November 2010, it was announced that Infinity Ward had been reconstructed, but fearing for the future of the next Call of Duty, the publisher involved two other studios in the development process: Raven Software and Sledgehammer Games, which had been working on a spin-off action/adventure installment. After the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011), Sledgehammer Games joined the series as full co-creators; thus, the three teams working on it switched to a three-year production cycle.

Despite significant disruptions and concerns about the future of the studio, Modern Warfare 3 proved to be another commercial success of the new Infinity Ward team. However, the first attempt to refresh the series' universe ended in failure. Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013), developed in collaboration with Raven Software and Neversoft Entertainment, proved to be the lowest-rated installment in the series to date. In May 2014, the Neversoft team, previously known primarily for the Tony Hawk's and Guitar Hero series, was incorporated into Infinity Ward. Despite the relatively poor reception of the new title, the studio decided against continuing the Modern Warfare trilogy and instead, took another step toward refreshing the franchise with Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016), which took a leap into a very distant future. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered was released at the same time, as the studio's first remaster.

More than two years had to pass since the release of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare for players to get any news about the next Infinity Ward project. This time, the team decided to return to the Modern Warfare sub-series and prepared its reboot, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. The game was scheduled for a PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One release at the end of October 2019 and was advertised by its seemingly great commitment to realism. Among other things, the authors wanted to allow players to shoot women and children (as part of the so-called collateral damage, which means unintended civilian casualties or destroying property as a result of warfare). This sparked fierce controversy (for example, two Iraq veterans protested), which led the developers to cutting certain parts of content. It is also worth noting that the title was based on a new engine, IW 8.0. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare debuted on time, i.e., October 25, 2019. As expected, the title was warmly received by the industry media, as evidenced by the average rating of around 80/100 (according to Metacritic). Interestingly, this time we didn't have to wait long for the next Infinity Ward game. On March 10, 2020, the multiplayer Call of Duty: Warzone, distributed in a free-to-play model, was released. The title stormed to the top of the charts, thus giving rise to a new sub-series.

In addition to supporting already released games, Infinity Ward was working on a new project. In February 2022, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II was officially announced, to be released on PCs and 8th- and 9th-generation consoles. The developers' future seemed bright, as their game achieved (pre-)sales success on Steam long before its release. Call of Duty: Warzone 2 was also in production at the same time, although its development was entrusted to Raven Software, the company that co-developed the first game in this sub-series. Meanwhile, in October 2021, Infinity Ward opened a new branch in Austin, Texas.