Former Call of Duty Lead Designer Returns to Infinity Ward

Unpaid bonuses weren't enough to keep Todd Alderman away from Infinity Ward, who has returned to the company after leaving 5 years ago.

Polygon reports that, despite being one of the 38 "Infinity Ward Employee Group" members who sued Activision in 2010, Todd Alderman, the group's former lead designer, has been rehired. The lawsuit was the result of unpaid bonuses due to the members for their work on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which was a tremendous success and ignited the widespread popularity of the COD franchise. It seems that this was just one of many lawsuits that were fired off during this time after Infinity Ward's co-founders Jason West and Vince Zampella were fired. However, Infinity Ward has been changing things around and Alderman is back and looking forward to a fresh outlook on its upcoming games.

"The chance to come back to Infinity Ward and Call of Duty is something I didn't think would ever happen," Alderman said. "It's been five years since I've been here and a lot has changed. There are a lot of new faces and motivated people who want to make something great. It's a really cool game concept that I want to be a part of. I can't wait to see what we do with a three-year dev cycle. I'm excited to be back."

If you're wondering what Alderman is talking about with a three-year dev cycle, Activision currently employs Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games and Treyarch to each release a COD game every three years. Activision simply cycles between the three studios for a new COD every three years, giving each team enough time to make a new game. Since the next Call of Duty is currently in development by Treyarch and expected to launch later this year, Infinity Ward's next game, which is expected to be a new Modern Warfare, will come out in late 2016.