The Infinity Ward Exodus Continues as Two More Longtime Employees Leave

By Ryan Fleming April 15, 2010

The hits just keep on coming for Infinity Ward. Kotaku is reporting that lead animator Mark Grigsby and lead character animator Paul Messerly both announced their resignations today. For those keeping score at home, that brings the total to 13 employees to depart since West and Zampella were ousted on March 1st.

Grigsby and Messerly become the most recent pieces of the Modern Warfare drama, and it follows just two days after three more key members announced their intention to quit. Before the firing of West and Zampella, Infinity Ward employed less than 90 people. Activision has not commented on the departures.

More important than the number of people leaving is the experience that goes with them. The list of the recently unemployed includ several names that have been with the developer since its founding in 2002, as well as many of the top talent responsible for the creation of the mega-hit Modern Warfare. Among those are some of the lead animators, engineers and writers responsible for the game.

No word yet on where they will end up, but there is at least one new company that is hiring.

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Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…

Gaming

Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023: how to watch and what to expect

Geoff Keighley presents at Gamescom Opening Night Live.

Geoff Keighley will host his fourth Gamescom Opening Night Live ceremony today, on August 22. This showcase -- which serves as a stopgap of sorts between reveals at Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards -- helps kick off a massive European gaming convention and tends to focus on significant news and updates for games that we already know about. Gamescom Opening Night Live returns in full form this year, with a 30-minute preshow and games like Alan Wake 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, Mortal Kombat 1, and more already confirmed for the event.
It's a pretty big event to keep track of, so we've rounded up all the information you need to know about when Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023 takes place, how you can watch it, and what you should expect from it.

When is Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023
Keighley has confirmed the main show for Gamescom Opening Night Live starts today at 11 a.m. PT (Tuesday, August 22). He's also confirmed that Kyle Bosman will host a 30-minute preshow that runs before the event, so you'll actually want to tune in at 10:30 a.m. PT today if you don't want to miss anything.
How to watch Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023
You have a lot of options if you want to experience Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023. It's actually possible to buy tickets to attend the event in person. But if you don't live near Cologne, Germany, you'll have to watch digitally. You'll be able to do so on Gamescom's or The Game Awards' official YouTube and Twitch channels. We've embedded a YouTube premiere for the livestream below so you can come back to this page today at 10:30 a.m. PT to watch the event live.
gamescom Opening Night Live 2023: Tuesday, August 22 (OFFICIAL LIVESTREAM)
What to expect from Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023
As usual, Keighley has already revealed a lot of what players should expect from Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023. As this is being written on August 18, the following games (and one movie) have all been confirmed to make some sort of appearance during the show, which will be hosted by Keighley and influencer Jasmin Gnu.

Gaming

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III trailer teases a No Russian reimagining

No Russian's reimagining in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III

Activision Blizzard has fully pulled back the curtain on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III following an in-game event in its predecessor. This came alongside new gameplay that concludes by teasing a rebooted version of the series' infamous No Russian mission.
The gameplay trailer focuses on the campaign missions, which got a lot more detail in a post on the game's website. It affirms that the game follows Task Force 141 as they take on Vladimir Makarov and will feature some "Open Combat Missions" that give players multiple ways to complete objectives. The gameplay seems to mainly feature a stealthy run to one of these levels. Of course, the trailer's most shocking moment comes at the end.
Gameplay Reveal Trailer | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
We see Makarov text someone "No Russian," before they pull out a gun on a crowded plane. If you don't remember, No Russian was one of the original Modern Warfare II's most infamous missions, as it had players partake in a mass shooting terrorist attack at an airport with Russians. The level has influenced the tone of this rebooted Modern Warfare series, and it now looks like Modern Warfare III is set to reimagine this mission in some way, following up the Modern Warfare II post-credit scene that referenced it.

While the trailer focused on the campaign mainly, that post confirmed a lot of new info on multiplayer and Modern Warfare Zombies too. Its multiplayer features all 16 launch maps from 2009's Modern Warfare II, two larger Battle maps for Ground War and Invasion, and an even bigger War map for the return of the War Mode introduced in Call of Duty: WWII. Map voting returns, so you can have a say in where you want to play a match. Finally, Activision says Modern Warfare Zombies takes place in a new open world where players will fight Dark Aether Zombies, complete missions, and incorporate Extraction game elements.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III launches on PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on November 10.

Gaming

Activision teases Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’s biggest improvements

Activision has just teased lots of new details about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, which launches this November. That includes the fact that the game will contain a Zombies mode, more open-ended campaign missions, and introduce a new "Call of Duty HQ" that will serve as a hub for all future Call of Duty games.

These details were all revealed in a new blog post posted on the series' website ahead of the in-game event that will give us our first in-depth look at Modern Warfare II. In it, Activision clears up a lot of rumors about the game to try and show that Modern Warfare III is still an "incredible, premium annual game experience across Campaign, Multiplayer and Co-operative modes" despite reportedly starting development as a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II expansion.
Some of the features listed we already knew about, like the fact that this year's campaign features Makarov as a villain and that players can carry over their progression and inventory from Modern Warfare II. Others are new, though, like the fact that the campaign will feature new "Open Combat" missions. That seems to imply that Modern Warfare III's campaign levels will offer more freedom than is typical in a Call of Duty level. When it comes to multiplayer, the post states that players can expect new combat vest, perk, tac-stance movement, and after-market parts systems in addition to some Riochet Anti-Cheat Improvements.
More importantly, it's finally officially confirmed that this year's game will feature a Zombies mode. Titled Modern Warfare Zombies, Activision calls it the "largest Zombies offering to date." Finally, Activision made it clear that it plans on keeping all Call of Duty content closely bundled together going forward. After Modern Warfare III launches, Call of Duty HQ will be introduced and serve as "one access point for your future Call of Duty content."
While there aren't many specifics on all of these things, we at least now have a broader picture of what to expect from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III when it launches on November 10.