Two More Leads Leave Infinity Ward

Two key staffers at Infinity Ward have left their jobs, following the departure of former heads Jason West and Vince Zampella in the wake of trouble with publisher Activision. Consumer weblog Kotaku discovered that lead designer Todd Alderman and lead software engineer Francesco Gigliotti's LinkedIn profiles have been updated to reflect their departure from the Modern Warfare developer after more than eight years and seven years with the company, respectively. In the wake of its dispute with West and Zampella, who were fired for alleged insubordination and breach of contract, Activision reorganized itself to create a separate business unit for the Call of Duty brand. In the shuffle, the 2011 installment in the franchise, to follow Treyarch's upcoming one, was assigned to new studio Sledgehammer. No revealed projects had the Modern Warfare brand attached, and although Infinity Ward has long been believed to be working on an original IP project, the only announced items from the studio are two Modern Warfare 2 map packs: Stimulus Package, which launched last week, and one yet to come. As for West and Zampella, the departed studio heads have not revealed their future plans -- they have, however, signed up to be represented by Hollywood talent firm Creative Artists Agency. The pair are suing Activision over their termination, alleging they were fired so that the publisher would not have to pay them Modern Warfare 2 royalties.