Infinity Ward and Neversoft are both responsible for some of the most iconic, generation defining experiences of all time- the latter worked on the Tony Hawk series, and made it the absolute sensation that it was back in the PlayStation/Dreamcast/PlayStation 2 days. The former brought us Call of Duty, and made it into the absolute world conquering behemoth that the franchise is today.
The two studios have already shared a close relationship, having worked together on last year’s Call of Duty: Ghosts, but now they will be even closer- Giant Bomb reports that the two studios will be merged within Activision into one ‘super-studio.’
“As you know, Neversoft and Infinity Ward teamed up for the development of Call of Duty: Ghosts,” wrote Activision CEO of publishing Eric Hirshberg about the merger. “And through that process, it became clear that the two studios have very complementary skill sets. Between these two excellent studios, it seemed like a single ‘super-studio’ could emerge.”
The new studio will be called Infinity Ward- the Neversoft name is being retired.
“The impact of their 20-year run of hard work and success cannot be overstated,” said Hirshberg. “As already mentioned, we are merging these two very talented teams and obviously had to choose a name for the combined studio. Since the Infinity Ward brand is indelibly tied to the Call of Duty franchise, it is the sensible choice. While it will be strange to not see the Neversoft logo on future games, the important things–which are the Neversoft team’s talent, creativity, professionalism and commitment to creative excellence–all remain unchanged as part of this new chapter.”
This now makes a grand total of three studios within Activision working on Call of Duty- Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Sledgehammer, who are working on the upcoming (and rather excellent looking) Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Theoretically, this gives each studio more time to work on a Call of Duty game, while still maintaining an annual schedule, and hopefully, the quality of the games as well.
