Infinity Ward, the studio behind the original Call of Duty, has appointed new leaders with deep roots in the company. Jack O’Hara, who began his career in production, has been at Infinity Ward since 2012. Mark Grigsby, known for his work in animation, joined the studio in 2005, left for a period at Respawn Entertainment, then returned to Infinity Ward in 2012. Both leaders assure that the studio will stay true to its bold design principles.
“There is still one person at the studio who has been here since the beginning,” Grigsby shared. “The spirit of that original team is still alive in this studio.” He elaborated, “What we created back then, the atmosphere in the studio, it’s something we still strive for with our employees today. It was a vibe, and it still is a vibe.”
Grigsby acknowledged the impact of COVID-19, saying, “Unfortunately, COVID did set us back a bit a couple of years ago. But in 2019, we had a tremendous amount of energy and drive. Then COVID hit the world and disrupted things, but we are still on that trajectory and as passionate as we were in 2003, 2005. It’s still there.”
O’Hara spoke about the studio’s culture, noting, “As the generations have gone on, we just keep accumulating very talented people that are very passionate. Our culture is really about trying to make the best game possible, about being passionate about your craft and excellence in your craft, and making sure that we’re good at giving each other feedback and direct with each other about what needs to get better and how to improve the game, and to make sure we listen to feedback and have no egos in it and just make the best game possible.”
This year’s Call of Duty from Infinity Ward will be the first entry since the tragic death of co-founder Vince Zampella in a car accident last December. The studio’s new leaders are considering how to honour him. When asked if the 2026 CoD would include an “in memory of Vince Zampella” in the credits, O’Hara responded, “A lot of us knew Vince personally, so when his tragic death happened, I think for a lot of us it hit home hard. We all had stories about Vince to remember him by and to share amongst ourselves. So we haven’t finalized any plans for anything, at this point, mainly because a lot of us know his family and so we want to be very sensitive about what we do.”
The 2026 Call of Duty is likely to be announced on or before June 7, as that’s when the Xbox Showcase takes place.
