The creator behind Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and Guitar Hero has been merged with Call of Duty studio Infinity Ward, according to an internal memo obtained by Giant Bomb.
Neversoft was originally acquired by the publishing giant in 1999, and most recently teamed up with Infinity Ward to work on last year’s Call of Duty: Ghosts. The pair will now function as a 'super studio' of sorts under the Infinity Ward brand.
"As you know, Neversoft and Infinity Ward teamed up for the development of Call of Duty: Ghosts," said Eric Hirshberg, Activision Publishing’s CEO. "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 impact of their 20-year run of hard work and success cannot be overstated. 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."
Joel Jewett and Scott Pease, who act as Neversoft head and studio director, respectively, confirmed they “have made the difficult decision to retire” from video games.
"As a gamer, all I can say is that I hope both Joel and Scott come of 'out of retirement' someday and develop more great Activision games for us all to play," added Hirshberg. "As a colleague of Joel and Scott's, all I can say is thank you and congratulations on an incredible run."
Infinity Ward later tweeted, “We’re thrilled about our merger with Neversoft! The entire team is excited about the future.”
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