Newly rebuilt from the mass exodus of former Modern Warfare 2 staffers earlier in the year, developer Infinity Ward is poised for an entirely new game franchise, according to publisher Activision. In an interview with VG247, Executive Vice President of Studios Dave Stohl outlined the new plan for the “new” studio.
“Recruiting at IW is not a problem,” Stohl stated, “What we’re trying to do is say that IW is a culture, it’s a way of doing things, there’s a lot of people there and there’s still a lot of passion for doing it. We’re trying to rebuild, trying to help them and support them to rebuild. So people are stepping up, new people are coming in and we’re setting the bar so high…We are a big company, you know what I mean? Forget about a company; we’re a development organization and we have a lot of good people in it. We’ve got a lot of really, really hard-working people that are so focused on what they’re doing now,” he said. “And, at the same time, we’ve got a lot of good people that are helping to support them get back to hopefully where they’ll get to, and I think that they will.”
He continued, “I’m not taking anything away from what Infinity Ward was or is, but all I can do it focus on supporting them and setting the bar so high that they keep what they have and what they had, and that’s a focus on excellence and a culture that works the way it does…I think that there’s a short- and long-term view on the whole thing. But I think we’re rebuilding a studio that can go off and build great new franchises in the future.”