Activision May Permanently Close Infinity Ward

April 28, 2010 By Ryan Fleming

An analyst is predicting that Activision will close down Infinity Ward after the release of a second Modern Warfare 2 map pack. Development on Modern Warfare 3 will be handled by two new studios.

The game may be over for Infinity Ward. After two months of drama that daytime soap opera fans would find hard to accept, Activision may have just tactically nuked it right out of business.

Rarely has a more successful company crumbled as quickly as Infinity Ward. After releasing one of the best-selling video games of our time, a pair of firings quickly snowballed into legal warfare that pitted the former developer heads against the publisher. The courts soon became the venue of choice for both sides, but that became secondary to the battle over the future of the Modern Warfare franchise. A third entry is already underway, but the question of who would be left to make it rang with resonance as 28 of the 93 original IW employees have since left the developer after their bosses were fired in March.

Then yesterday the most recent bomb was dropped, and 38 current and former IW employees officially sued Activision, claiming that the publisher had withheld their contractually obligated bonuses in order to force them into working on the new Modern Warfare title. It now seems like that may have been the final straw, and Activision is allegedly making plans to close down Infinity Ward and push the development of Modern Warfare 3 off to two new studios.

CVG is reporting that Janco Partners industry analyst, Mike Hickey, has told investors to expect Activision to close down Infinity Ward as soon as a second Modern Warfare 2 map pack has been released. No info has been released on when the second map pack is due out (although rumors suggest mid-summer).

“Continued defections from their Infinity Ward studio have created meaningful uncertainty around the future of their Call of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise. A reported 26 developers have left the studio behind, with an original studio size of roughly 100,” Hickey told investors. “It was revealed yesterday that 38 Infinity Ward employees filed a lawsuit against Activision over royalties and alleges that they were held ‘hostage’.

“We expect Infinity Ward studio will be essentially closed after their next map pack release,” Hickey wrote, “with development work on Modern Warfare 3 spread between two studios not historically tied to the franchise.”

Activision has yet to comment. Although this is just one analyst’s advice to investors, with 28 employees having left the staff that was maxed out at 93, it seems not only possible, but likely that Infinity Ward will soon be a memory. No word yet on where the employees will end up, but if irony has a say in it, there is one company that is definitely looking to hire.

Showing 9 comments

Activision seeks $400 million from EA for poaching Modern Warfare staff at 5:53am 22nd December 2010 [...] failing to pay bonuses after the $1 billion success of Modern Warfare 2. There were rumors that the entire studio would be shut down. Activision decided to keep it going and has been hiring new management and completely re-staffing [...]
Black Ops clears $1 billion at 3:03pm 21st December 2010 [...] playing since launch.Kotick is justifiably proud of these figures, following the brutal and well publicized split between developer Infinity Ward and Activison following Infinity Ward’s mega-hit Modern [...]
abc542 at 3:49pm 23rd July 2010 way to go activision, one of the most promising game companies in recent years and your answer is to extort as much money out of them as possible, to the point of forcing them to close/dissolve over financial reasons. activision is trying to take the gaming industry in a regressive direction; switching developers who will most likely make an inferior product in the next game in the series means i will be looking to spend my cash elsewhere. activision certainly doesn't deserve another dime.
Seven Fears Me at 8:21am 27th May 2010 Dude. The games infinity ward makes are GREAT!!!!! The only good thing about treyarc is their nazi zombies, and that shouldn't be in a game like modernwarefare three. My hope is that everyone from infinity ward will go join their new company, respawn entertainment, and they will make a game series that is exactly like modernwarefare, but with a different name. I love the game, even more so after having played bad company two (which had such bad graphics and lighting that I couldn't see anything, let alone know what I should be doing) and I think that, despite all of the problems with hackers and glitters the game is still great. IT BELONGS TO INFINITY WARD. END OF STORY. THEY NEED TO MAKE THREE.
bobby at 6:59am 25th May 2010 infinty ward is what made the Call of Duty series so BIG if activision stops producing games that infinty ward makes under call of duty well id just have to leave activision and buy the games infinity ward makes under a new title anyway infinity ward games are so much better than treyarch except the nazi zombie thing
brian at 7:09pm 4th May 2010 dont close them!
leaf4234 at 11:38pm 30th April 2010 So much for MW2 game quality, the game is already horrible enough without a patch for over a month. I don't see this game getting any better, as of now I am finally a loyal customer who has turned away from the Call of Duty series.
pirkg67 at 9:50am 29th April 2010 wheres my map pack for ps3??
Dan Gaul at 5:04pm 28th April 2010 So basically the next map pack, and game, are going to suck.