Chance Glasco, a former Infinity Ward employee and a founding developer of the Call of Duty franchise, has alleged that publisher Activision once put pressure on the studio to create a new entry in the series focused on Iran attacking Israel. Glasco says that the idea was floated by Activision after the studio restructured Infinity Ward and fired its founders, Jason West and the late Vince Zampella. The former dev says that the majority of Call of Duty developers were “disgusted” by the idea and promptly dismissed it.
Last month, the United States and Israel began a large coordinated attack on Iran, sending missile strikes to the country’s nuclear facilities, military bases, and government compounds, the latter of which resulted in the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Hosseini Khamenei. Less than one week after these strikes began, the Trump administration used a clip from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to promote its military operation in Iran. The post, which briefly shows a Call of Duty character calling in a game-ending Tactical Nuke, sparked backlash due to the lack of professionalism over such a serious matter. The video still remains available on the official X account of the White House, but it’s unclear if Activision or Microsoft consented to the use of its IP to promote a real-life war.
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Activision Allegedly Pushed for a Call of Duty Game Based on Iran Attacking Israel
Following the viral clip that saw the White House use gameplay of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, former Infinity Ward employee and one of the founding developers of the Call of Duty franchise, Chance Glasco, took to X to say that it “doesn’t surprise” him. Glasco, who worked at Infinity Ward between 2002 and 2014, developing the original Call of Duty and many of its successors, including all three of the original Modern Warfare games, then claimed that publisher Activision once pressured the studio to develop a new Call of Duty title about Iran attacking Israel. The former dev described the situation as “awkward,” saying that the majority of employees at the time were “disgusted” by the idea and promptly shut it down.
Glasco’s claim says the idea was presented by Activision after it took further control over Infinity Ward, firing the studio’s founders, Jason West and the late Vince Zampella, for “insubordination” in 2010. Much of the studio departed from Infinity Ward following the firing of its founders, with many going on to join them as they created Respawn Entertainment. Following Respawn’s founding in 2010, the studio went on to create some massively iconic titles, including Titanfall and its free-to-play Battle Royale spin-off, Apex Legends. Outside of first-person shooters, Respawn also developed a new Star Wars series, which currently includes Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor.
If Infinity Ward had not pushed back on Activision’s idea to create a Call of Duty game based on Iran attacking Israel, it likely would have been highly controversial and received tons of backlash. However, it wouldn’t be the first time that the series has received flak from its consumers. One user responded to Glasco’s claims by bringing up the infamous No Russian mission in 2009’s Modern Warfare 2, to which the game dev revealed that the mission was once just a plot point/text on a loading screen between levels. However, Glasco says he later realised it was “f’ed up” to brush over a major plot point.
“With Early CoDs we wanted to often remind people that war is hell and not just a video game. If you play the earlier IW CoDs you’ll definitely see that throughout the series. We wanted players to feel disgust and we purposefully sought to make them actually feel bad for war,” he said. “We focus tested the level before release and an extremely high percentage of players just froze when they realized what they thought they were supposed to do. Some of them put the controller down and said they didn’t want to play it. This to me is a much better reaction than 100% of players just going Leroy Jenkins on the level with no emotion at all.”
Recent leaks have suggested that Call of Duty could be heading to Korea for its 2026 installment, which is rumored to be a new entry in the rebooted Modern Warfare series. Although unconfirmed, a trusted industry insider alleged that the shooter’s Campaign will feature both South and North Korea in a “significant role.” It was also claimed that although things will remain “mostly modern,” there will be a few futuristic weapons and tech involved in the gameplay, with the story set to pick up after the events of 2023’s Modern Warfare 3.
