[GameSpot] - Call Of Duty Veterans Who Worked On Modern Warfare And Infinite Warfare Leave Infinity Ward

[343iBot]

Two prominent Call of Duty developers from Infinity Ward have left the studio to pursue what they are calling a "rare and exciting new opportunity."

Narrative director Taylor Kurosaki and design director Jacob Minkoff left Infinity Ward earlier this year, though the news is only just becoming public now. "It was an honor to be a part of the studio for the last 7 years and we're so proud of what we created together with Modern Warfare and Infinite Warfare. We wish the team nothing but the best," they said in a joint statement.

The statement goes on to explain that Kurosaki and Minkoff are not yet able to announce their next gig, but they remarked that more details should come soon. The joint statement was attributed to both Kurosaki and Minkoff, so they are presumably sticking together for whatever they are working on next.

Hey everyone, @JacobMinkoff and I wanted to share an exciting update. More to come! pic.twitter.com/W8jek72qDs

— Taylor Kurosaki (@taylorkurosaki) May 27, 2021

Before joining Infinity Ward, Minkoff spent years at Naughty Dog where he worked on Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, including its acclaimed train level. He was promoted to lead designer for Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and The Last of Us.

As for Kurosaki, he also came to Infinity Ward from Naughty Dog. He worked at the Sony studio for more than 10 years as a narrative design lead across a number of projects.

Given their experience, it will be interesting to see where Kurosaki and Minkoff land next. The statement says only that they are leaving Infinity Ward and not Activision overall, though that could be a possibility as well. We'll report back with more information as it's announced.

2021's new Call of Duty game is coming from Sledgehammer Games, the developer of Call of Duty: WWII. The new game, which is due out this holiday, is rumored to be another WWII game that may be called Vanguard. This game is expected to integrate with Call of Duty: Warzone in some capacity that hasn't been clarified yet.

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