Four more employees have left Infinity Ward, bringing the total to nine since studio heads Zampella and West were fired at the beginning of last month.
Modern Warfare 2 lead designers Steve Fukuda and Zied Reike have departed, according to a source speaking to Kotaku. Rieke joined the studio during its inception in 2002, as did Fukuda who joined after leaving 2015, the developer of Medal of Honor and spiritual predecessor to Infinity Ward.
Both designers are part of the group nominated for a Writers Guild of America award for the story of Modern Warfare 2. This nominated group also includes Todd Alderman, Mackey McCandlish, and Jason West—all former employees of Infinity Ward who have departed since the first of last month.
Additionally, lead artist Chris Cherubini has confirmed that he has resigned, and sources say that programmer Rayme Vinson has also left the studio.
With nine key employees having left and numerous lawsuits going back and forth between Activision and Infinity Ward’s former heads, the troubled studio’s future seems uncertain.
UPDATE:
Modern Warfare 2’s lead animator Mark Grigsby and lead character animator John Paul Messerly have updated their Linkedln profiles, confirming that they have also left the company. Both are long term veterans of the studio, with Messerly having worked on every Call of Duty title produced by the studio.
For those of you keeping score at home, this brings the total to 11 lead developers who have left the studio since the ousting of its heads.
According to Infinity Ward’s LInkedln company profile, they have lost more than 10% of their employees in slightly more than a week.
In his update, Messerly left a note reading "So long and thanks for all the COD."