Infinity Ward

Infinity Ward, Inc. is an American video game developer. They developed the video game Call of Duty, along with seven other installments in the Call of Duty series. Vince Zampella, Grant Collier, and Jason West established Infinity Ward in 2002 after working at 2015, Inc. previously.[2][3] All of the 22 original team members of Infinity Ward came from the team that had worked on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault while at 2015, Inc. Activision helped fund Infinity Ward in its early days, buying up 30 percent of the company.[4] The studio's first game, World War II shooter Call of Duty, was released on the PC in 2003. The day after the game was released, Activision bought the rest of Infinity Ward, signing employees to long-term contracts. Infinity Ward went on to make Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and the Modern Warfare reboot.

Infinity Ward, Inc.
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
FoundedMay 2002 (May 2002)
Founders
  • Grant Collier
  • Jason West
  • Vince Zampella
Headquarters,
ProductsCall of Duty series (2003–present)
Number of employees
444 (2020)
ParentActivision
SubsidiariesInfinity Ward Poland[1]
Websitewww.infinityward.com

Co-founder Collier left the company in early 2009 to join parent company Activision. In 2010, West and Zampella were fired by Activision for "breaches of contract and insubordination",[5][6] they soon founded a game studio called Respawn Entertainment. On May 3, 2014, Neversoft was merged into Infinity Ward.[7]

History

Infinity Ward was founded as an Activision division by Grant Collier, Jason West, and Vince Zampella in 2002.[8][4] The studio was formed by several members of 2015 Games, LLC., the studio that developed the successful Medal of Honor: Allied Assault for Electronic Arts (EA) in 2002. Dissatisfied with the current contract they had under EA, Collier, West, and Zampella engaged with Activision to help establish Infinity Ward, which became one of the primary studios within Activision for the competing Call of Duty series.[9] Initially, Activision provided Infinity Ward US$1.5 million for 30% stake in the company to start development on the first game Call of Duty, acquiring full ownership after the title was successfully launched in 2003.[10] During this period, the studio was about 25 employees including many who followed Collier, West, and Zampella from 2015. Activision allowed Infinity Ward a great deal of freedom in how it developed its titles.[10]

Shortly after this release, Microsoft contacted Activision to seek a Call of Duty title as a launch title for the upcoming Xbox 360 console.[10] Infinity Ward agreed to prepare Call of Duty 2 for release in the last quarter of 2005. Collier said the request would help them lose the stigma of being only a personal computer developer, and so to make sure the console version was on parity, they tripled their staff to about 75 employees.[10] Much of the focus of Infinity Ward's development was improving its game engine to include realistic special effects, such as smoke grenades to hinder sight, or bullets piercing through weak materials.[10] Call of Duty 2 was a major success, having an 85% attach rate to new Xbox 360 console sales, and selling 1.4 million units its first year.[10] At this point, Activision brought in Treyarch, one of their internal studios, to help develop additional Call of Duty games, with Infinity Ward spending the time and effort to improve the game's engine for one game, and Treyarch using the updated engine to create a new title.[10] Treyarch released the next sequel Call of Duty 3 while Infinity Ward itself developed Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which instead of taking place during World War II, was set in a contemporary period with a fictional conflict between superpowers.[10] At the time of Modern Warfare's release, Infinity Ward had more than 100 employees.[10]

2010 employee firings and departures

Following the critical and financially successful release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in 2007, Jason West (president, co-CCO, and CTO) and Vince Zampella (CEO) began contract negotiations with Activision. They promised to deliver Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in 2009, but in exchange asked for extremely large bonuses and creative control of the Call of Duty series. Activision agreed, but added a clause to the contract that should they be fired, the rights to Call of Duty would fall back to Activision.[11]

Following the execution of the contract in 2008, Activision began seeking ways to find reason to fire West and Zampella to trigger the new clause. This in turn led to West and Zampella look to means to make Infinity Ward a studio outside of Activision's control.[11] Events came to a head in February 2010 when Activision hired a lawfirm to investigate Infinity Ward. On March 1, 2010, West and Zampella were released by Activision for "insubordination", forfeiting the bonuses they had negotiated.[11] The pair went on to form Respawn Entertainment in April 2010 as an independent studio, through working closely with EA on a yet-announced project. Several dozen of Infinity Ward's employees resigned in the following months, many taking up positions at Respawn.[12][13] Activision launched their own countersuit against the pair in May 2010, citing that the pair had breached their contract and were colluding with EA in establishing Respawn.[14][15][11] The lawsuits were ultimately settled out of court, with Activision paying West and Zampella US$42 million .[16]

West and Zampella had been replaced on an interim basis by Activision CTO Steve Pearce and head of production Steve Ackrich.[17] By November 2010, Activision had installed new management at Infinity Ward, and Vivendi chairman and CEO Jean-Bernard Lévy stated that Infinity Ward "got over" their problems and are fully reconstructed and that Activision is very happy with the result. The executive went on to say that there will be three studios working on the Call of Duty franchise including the newly formed studio Sledgehammer Games.[18][19]

Several lawsuits followed in the wake of West and Zampella's departure. The pair themselves initially filed suit against Activision shortly after their release to reclaim "substantial royalty payments" that Activision failed to pay them in the weeks leading up to their firing, estimated to be US$36 million ;[11][20][21][22] this figure eventually rose to over US$1 billion by May 2012, based on Activision's SEC filings.[23] Activision countersued the pair in April 2010, calling their actions to fire them justified and asserting the two were "self-serving schemers".[24] Activision amended its suit in December 2010 to include EA as a defendant, stating that their competitor had worked with West and Zampella to "destabilize, disrupt and ... destroy Infinity Ward", and sought US$400 million in damages.[25][26] Separately, several former and current members of Infinity Ward under the name "Infinity Ward Employee Group" (IWEG) sued Activision for between US$75 – 125 million for unpaid bonuses for work on Modern Warfare 2 and an additional US$75–500 million in punitive damages.[27][28] Ultimately by May 2012, Activision had settled with the IWEG for US$42 million ,[29] while private settlements were separately reached between Activision and EA, and between Activision, West and Zampella.[30]

Departure of Robert Bowling, 2012

On March 27, 2012, Robert Bowling issued the following statement on his Twitter account: "Today, I resign from my position as Creative Strategist of Call of Duty, as a lead of Infinity Ward, and as an employee of Activision". In response to this, Activision issued the following statement, "We sincerely thank Robert for his many years of service. He's been a trusted and valued member of the Infinity Ward team. We wish him all the best on his decision to pursue future opportunities".[31] Bowling allegedly left because he was unhappy with the slow evolution of the game, as he responded with "Too much 'pew pew' not enough new new" to a question on the subject.[32]

Signs of disagreement between Bowling and Infinity Ward arose in a live interview with Machinima when he stated the following: "I feel like we are in a fucking era where everyone is so focused on subscriber numbers and all that stuff that we need to get back to what I feel like we did so much better in the old days of just plain good will, like stuff like the LAN patch, yeah it is lower priority but let's get it out the fucking door. Let's just do it." This could be a contributing factor to his resignation. Another factor could have been from the amount of harsh criticism the fans and players of Modern Warfare 3 gave him when certain aspects of the game, such as bugs and tweaks, appeared.[33]

Reception

Infinity Ward's first title, Call of Duty won 90 Game of the Year awards[34] and 50 Editor's Choice Awards.[35][36] It also continues to be among the highest-rated games, according to GameRankings.[37] Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare enjoyed massive commercial and critical success, selling over 13 million copies from its release in November 2007 through May 2009.[38]

In 2010, Infinity Ward was ranked third by Develop 100 only running up to developer Nintendo and Bungie for the top 100 developers based on the sales of their games in the UK.[39]

Infinity Ward's sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, earned over $550 million in sales in its first five days on the market, with $310 million of those sales made in the first 24 hours after the game's release.[40]

The sequel to Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, sold 6.5 million copies in the US and UK alone and grossed $400 million within 24 hours of going on sale.[41][42] Despite good sales, the game was criticized for being too similar to its predecessor.

Game engines

All of Infinity Ward's Call of Duty games up until Infinite Warfare (2016) use the id Tech 3 (Quake III Arena) engine.[43] The first two games used a proprietary license of the engine with the sequel featuring more powerful visuals and DirectX 9 support. Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare runs on a proprietary game engine (from a version of id Tech 3) with features that include true world-dynamic lighting, HDR lighting effects, dynamic shadows and depth of field.[44] Call of Duty: World at War, Call of Duty: Black Ops II and the James Bond video game Quantum of Solace were developed by Treyarch using modified versions of Infinity Ward's engine.[45]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, uses an upgraded engine dubbed "IW 4.0", which is a generation more advanced than the engine used in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.[46] Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 uses the MW3 Engine, an improved version of the IW 4.0 engine. Improvements on the engine allow better streaming technology which allows larger regions for the game while running at a minimum of 60 frames per second, improvements to the audio of the engine have also been made.[47]

Call of Duty: Ghosts features an upgraded next-generation version of the IW 5.0 seen in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.[48] IW 6.0 is compatible with next-gen systems such as Xbox One and PlayStation 4 so polygon counts, texture detail and overall graphical fidelity has been increased. IW 6.0 is also compatible with Microsoft Windows, Wii U, PS3 and Xbox 360. The IW 6.0 engine features technology from Pixar, SubD, which increases the level of detail of models as one gets closer to them. Mark Rubin has said about the HDR lighting "We used to paint it in and cover up the cracks, but now it's all real-time".[49] Ghosts uses Iris Adjust tech which allows the player to experience from a person's point of view how their eyes would react to changes in lighting conditions realistically. Other features include new animation systems, fluid dynamics, interactive smoke, displacement mapping and dynamic multiplayer maps. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare's IW 7.0 features weightlessness system, game physics improvement, improved AI and improved non-player characters behaviors.[50][51]

Modern Warfare (2019 reboot) uses a brand-new engine for the series, allowing for the use of more detailed environments, advanced photogrammetry and rendering, better volumetric lighting, and the use of ray tracing.[52][53] The new engine had been in development five years prior to the release of the game, and was a collaborative effort between the main Infinity Ward studio in California and the new studio in Poland.[54]

Games

TitleEngineRelease datePlatform(s)
Call of Dutyid Tech 3October 30, 2003Windows, Macintosh
Call of Duty 2IW 2.0October 25, 2005Windows, Macintosh, Xbox 360
Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareIW 3.0November 6, 2007Windows, Macintosh, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2IW 4.0November 10, 2009Windows, Macintosh, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Call of Duty Classicid Tech 3December 2, 2009PlayStation 3 (PSN), Xbox 360 (XBLA)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (with Sledgehammer Games)IW 5.0November 8, 2011Windows, Macintosh, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii
Call of Duty: GhostsIW 6.0November 5, 2013Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Call of Duty: Infinite WarfareIW 7.0November 4, 2016Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare IW 8.0 October 25, 2019 Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Call of Duty: WarzoneIW 8.0March 10, 2020Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

References

  1. https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/311827/Infinity_Ward_is_setting_up_shop_in_Poland_with_new_studio.php
  2. "The Modern Warfare Fight: Your Guide to Activision Vs. Infinity Ward". Kotaku. April 15, 2010. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
  3. "IGN Presents: The History of Call of Duty". IGN. November 6, 2009. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
  4. "Activision Announces Long-Term Exclusive Publishing Partnership With Infinity Ward". PR Newswire. Cision. May 21, 2002. Archived from the original on August 12, 2002. Retrieved June 15, 2019 via Yahoo.com.
  5. McElroy, Griffin (May 24, 2012). "Activision v. West and Zampella case pushed back to June 1st". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on September 20, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  6. Crecente, Brian (March 3, 2013). "Respawn Entertainment co-founder Jason West retires". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on May 30, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  7. Klepek, Patrick (May 3, 2014). "Infinity Ward, Neversoft Merging into Single "Super Studio"". Giant Bomb. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  8. "Activision Announces Long-Term Exclusive Publishing Partnership With Infinity Ward". PR Newswire Association LLC. Cision. May 21, 2002. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  9. Beller, Peter (January 15, 2009). "Activision's Unlikely Hero". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 6, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  10. Takahashi, Dean (March 7, 2010). "The making and unmaking of Infinity Ward". Venture Beat. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  11. Chafkin, Max (June 11, 2013). "MODERN WARFARE". Vanity Fair. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  12. "Who Remains At Infinity Ward ?". Cynicalsmirk.com. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  13. "Who Remains at Infinity Ward?". cynicalsmirk.com. May 25, 2010. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  14. Thorsen, Tor (March 2, 2010). "Top Infinity Ward devs fired for 'insubordination,' lawsuits 'expected' – News at GameSpot". GameSpot. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  15. Fahey, Mike (March 3, 2010). "Report: Modern Warfare Dev Head Leaves Company". Kotaku. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
  16. Dutton, Fred (May 31, 2012). "Activision vs Zampella & West case settled out of court". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  17. Gonzalez, Annette (March 2, 2010). "Activision's Future Plans For Call Of Duty Call For New Developer – News". GameInformer. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  18. Tor Thorsen (November 19, 2010). "Infinity Ward 'reconstructed' – Vivendi CEO". GameSpot. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  19. Tim Bradshaw (November 19, 2010). "Vivendi sees continued success for COD franchise". Barcelona: Financial Times. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
  20. Reilly, Jim (March 4, 2010). "Infinity Ward Founders File Lawsuit Against Activision". IGN. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  21. Kollar, Phil (March 1, 2010). "UPDATE: Infinity Ward Vs. Activision". GameInformer. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  22. Walker, Richard (March 4, 2010). "Future Modern Warfare Releases Could Be Vetoed By West and Zampella". Xbox360Achievements. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  23. Tipps, Seth (May 17, 2012). "West-Zampella claim grows to '$1bn'". Archived from the original on May 20, 2012.
  24. Reilly, Jim (April 9, 2010). "Activision Countersues Former Infinity Ward Execs". IGN. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  25. Alex Pham (December 23, 2010). "Activision sues Electronic Arts, seeks $400 million over Infinity Ward game studio". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
  26. Christopher Grant (December 21, 2010). "Activision claims EA and former IW execs schemed to 'inflict serious harm on the company'". Joystiq. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
  27. Ryckert, Dan (April 27, 2010). "Activision Sued By New "Infinity Ward Employee Group"". GameInformer. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  28. Reilly, Jim (April 27, 2010). "Infinity Ward Group Sues Activision For Unpaid Bonuses". IGN. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  29. Fletcher, JC (May 15, 2012). "Activision pays $42 million to Infinity Ward Employee Group". Engadget. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  30. Conditt, Jessica (May 31, 2012). "West, Zampella settle with Activision in Infinity Ward lawsuit". Engadget. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  31. "Call of Duty's Creative Strategist, Robert Bowling Exits Infinity Ward – Xbox 360 News At". Xbox360achievements.org. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  32. https://twitter.com/fourzerotwo/statuses/234064594170171393
  33. Control, Mission (February 22, 2012). "Robert Bowling on classic maps for MW3: Keep classic maps outside of the DLC model". Call Of Duty Map Packs. Archived from the original on February 14, 2013. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  34. "Call of Duty". Activision. Archived from the original on May 10, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  35. Coleman, Stephen (March 8, 2004). "Call of Duty Wins Game Of The Year in the United States". IGN Entertainment, Inc. Archived from the original on May 13, 2007. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  36. "Sales of Call of Duty 2 for the Xbox 360 Top One Million Units in the U.S." GameSpot. CNET Networks, Inc. September 12, 2006. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  37. "Call of Duty 2 – X720". Game Rankings. CNET Networks, Inc. 2005. Archived from the original on March 15, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  38. Radd, David (May 7, 2009). "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Sells 53 Million". GameDaily. AOL LLC. Archived from the original on May 12, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  39. "DEVELOP 100: THE WORLD'S MOST SUCCESSFUL GAME STUDIOS". Develop-Online. Intent Media. May 7, 2011. Archived from the original on June 17, 2010. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  40. "Activsion Modern Warfare I Earned 550 million in First Day". Joystiq. November 18, 2009. Archived from the original on March 17, 2016.
  41. Mcdonald, Keza (November 11, 2011). "Modern Warfare 3 Has Biggest Launch Of Anything Ever". IGN. Archived from the original on November 13, 2011. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
  42. Magrino, Tom (November 11, 2011). "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 sets new launch records". Gamespot. CBS Interactive Inc. Archived from the original on November 15, 2011. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
  43. Modern Warfare 2 PC update: system specs, id Tech and Walmart price
  44. Shea, Cam (June 13, 2007). "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare AU Interview". IGN Xbox 360. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved March 17, 2008.
  45. Robinson, Andy (June 9, 2008). "News:Call of Duty: World at War – first details in OXM". Computer and Video Games. Archived from the original on June 11, 2008.
  46. Stead, Chris (July 15, 2009). "The 10 Best Game Engines of This Generation". IGN. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
  47. "needhelponatest comments on IAm Josh Olin, Creative Strategist on Modern Warfare 3 AMA". Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  48. Dave Tach. "Infinity Ward, Call of Duty: Ghosts and the nameless game engine that powers a first-person shooter phenomenon". Polygon. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  49. "Call of Duty: Ghosts exclusive first look". T3. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  50. "Call of Duty Infinite Warfare Won't Use A New Engine, But Will Feature Improvements". Gamingbolt. June 5, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  51. "Call of Duty Infinite Warfare Performance Analysis". Gamingbolt. November 4, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  52. Jones, Ali. "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare finally has a new engine, with 4K and raytracing". PCGamesN. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  53. Madan, Asher. "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare engine has been in the works for 5 years, to be used in future games". Windows Central. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  54. Shea, Brian (August 26, 2019). "The Impressive New Tech Behind Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare". Game Informer. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.