Respawn nabs 40 from Infinity Ward, teases new game

Respawn Entertainment has recruited 40 members of Call of Duty's Infinity Ward team, their website reveals. In addition, the company has teaser images of their first game.

Andrew Yoon

June 30, 2011 2:15 PM

Respawn Entertainment, the new EA-funded studio from former Call of Duty and Modern Warfare co-creators Jason West and Vince Zampella, has revamped the company's official website. The updated site provides an incredibly cryptic tease of the team's debut game, which can be seen above. The team's first game is supposedly a sci-fi shooter. However, not much can be discerned from the screenshot. More revealing is the website's staff listing. Six staffers on the team appear to have come from Sony's God of War team. However, the majority of the team is comprised of former colleagues at Infinity Ward. In fact, 40 members of the original team have made the transition to Zampella and West's new studio. It appears that many are remaining loyal to the former heads of Infinity Ward, even in light of ongoing litigation between Activision and the duo over unpaid royalties for Modern Warfare 2. When the initial departures were first announced, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said, "we are obviously disappointed about this, and we wish we could have convinced some of these incredibly talented people to stay."

A second teaser image offers little on Respawn's debut.

The sheer quantity of Infinity Ward departures had many questioning if the remaining team would be capable of producing Modern Warfare 3. Since the turnover, Activision has assigned Sledgehammer Games to co-develop the title. (via CVG)

Andrew Yoon

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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June 30, 2011 2:15 PM

Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Respawn nabs 40 from Infinity Ward, teases new game.

Respawn Entertainment has recruited 40 members of Call of Duty's Infinity Ward team, their website reveals. In addition, the company has teaser images of their first game.
- pun][sher
  
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  June 30, 2011 4:28 PM
  
  Are we supposed to recognize anything in these "teases"? If it's a new IP, which I assume it is, I don't get why they would release this type of tease.
  - Sailor of Fortune
    
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    June 30, 2011 10:28 PM
    
    It's on a planet with green vegetation
    - tw3kr
      
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      July 1, 2011 7:50 PM
      
      Really? All I see are vaginas.
- jtthe2nd
  
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  June 30, 2011 5:14 PM
  
  Some teaser. One picture that might as well be an abstract painting and another picture blurred beyond recognition. A teaser usually gives people just enough to pique their interest. This crap just annoys me.
  - bozer
    
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    June 30, 2011 5:41 PM
    
    Yeah that is some of the worst marketing ever.
    - the archvile
      
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      June 30, 2011 5:45 PM
      
      I think they just posted it to vaguely prove that they're working on a project, but really really don't want to give any substantive hints on what the setting or gametype is. "Yes, we're working on a game! Nothing more to see here! Stay tuned!"
- cetra00
  
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  June 30, 2011 5:17 PM
  
  Oh boy another FPS development studzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
- Porkasaurus
  
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  June 30, 2011 5:29 PM
  
  That screenshot looks pretty blurry
- Crimsonbeak
  
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  June 30, 2011 5:30 PM
  
  It's a Sci-Fi FPS in the vein of Halo what do you expect.
  - Lucy Labia
    
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    June 30, 2011 7:16 PM
    
    I am kind of surprised people are not more encouraging of Respawn Studios trying to work on a new IP considering they could have stayed at Activision and just made more COD games, or modern shooter games, or a sequel of some sort. Instead they appear to be attempting something new.
    - the archvile
      
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      June 30, 2011 7:41 PM
      
      If they do something that seriously breaks out of the current mold, that would be awesome. How many FPS games have we had in the past three years where there's been a complaint of "Oh, they're trying to beat Call of Duty", or "Nice cover / bullet time / melee mechanic; did you like it when it was in Gears / Max Payne / FEAR?". It may not even have to be something totally different, but a combination of established mechanics in a finely tuned gameplay mechanic.
      
      If we are to believe the exodus story, these are very talented designers who wanted to get away from pumping out 6-hour-long Jesse Stern cold-war fanfics. We'll probably have to wait at least a year for more details, maybe longer if the legal mess goes to trial.
      
      Two things sour me on this:
      - It's EA published (though it's EA Partners, so maybe that means they can be free of Origin and able to use Steam)
      - They may not put out a PC version (not a lot of platform defenders left there; a number of the IWNet defenders from the November 2009 Best Buy chat are there at Respawn).
      - Lucy Labia
        
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        June 30, 2011 7:55 PM
        
        Who knows. The fact that they are an independent studio seems to increase the chances that there will be a PC version and a Steam version if that is important to them.
    - unarmedarsenal
      
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      June 30, 2011 10:04 PM
      
      I think it's more that working on previous CoD games doesn't have much merit to the majority of PC gamers, in fact it might even be a strike towards turning a lot of people off. They probably have quite a bit of supporters and they're receiving at least some publicity which is a lot more than most indie developers have the luxury of when starting out.
      
      I'll save my judgment when some more details arise. I always root for indie devs, good luck Respawn!
- Dragzeela
  
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  June 30, 2011 5:34 PM
  
  The graphics suuuuuck
  
  OR it looks like I took a bunch of water color, threw it onto a piece of paper, then shook it until dry.
- the archvile
  
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  June 30, 2011 5:35 PM
  
  Some interesting non-ex-IW staff additions; Abbie Heppe of G4 fame, Ed Lima (did a lot of sound design in Doom 3).
- pyide
  
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  June 30, 2011 5:40 PM
  
  Medal of Honor
  Call of Duty
  ____ of ____?
  - the archvile
    
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    June 30, 2011 5:48 PM
    
    Above and Beyond. Co-branding opportunity with the trance record label Anjunabeats.
  - tw3kr
    
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    July 1, 2011 7:49 PM
    
    Call of Honor: Modern Battlefield... obviously... can't wait for the Rainbow Recon sequel.
- K1Bond007
  
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  June 30, 2011 5:51 PM
  
  That's a real shitty teaser. Not sure why I'm supposed to be excited here.
- PenicillinX57
  
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  June 30, 2011 6:21 PM
  
  These guys would have been better to just keep their mouths shut until they had something substantial to show.
- DragonSire
  
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  June 30, 2011 6:22 PM
  
  All those going over to West and Zampella kind of put a wrench in Activision's story that W&Z were withholding bonuses from all of those employees.
- spiderfill
  
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  June 30, 2011 6:24 PM
  
  LOL this is the first screenshot Infinity Ward ever released http://image.gamespotcdn.net/gamespot/images/2003/news/04/08/callofduty/paratroopers_790screen001.jpg
  - Damann66
    
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    June 30, 2011 7:32 PM
    
    lol just a bunch of dead cows and splosions
    - the archvile
      
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      June 30, 2011 7:33 PM
      
      Ah, Burnville. So many memories...
- cell9song
  
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  July 1, 2011 11:45 AM
  
  IW are talented but I've about had my fill of their drama.
  
  Get back to work and shut up until you have something concrete to show.