Two of the creative minds Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Narrative Director Taylor Kurosaki and Design Director Jacob Minkoff, have left developer Infinity Ward and publisher Activision after producing two games for the studio to pursue an "exciting new opportunity." It's unclear what state they're leaving the presumed sequel to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in or what level of involvement they had with the rumored game.
A reboot of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare subseries, 2019's Modern Warfare was a huge commercial success and viewed by series fans as a return to form for the franchise, which is widely perceived as having been trending downward critically despite high sales. After the series moved into futuristic settings with Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch) and Infinite Warfare (Infinity Ward), many rejected the new gameplay direction and hoped that Infinity Ward would return to its roots. While it's widely held that Kurosaki and Minkoff helped deliver one of the best campaigns in the franchise with Infinite Warfare, it wasn't until Modern Warfare's reboot that the series received it's most universal critical acclaim since 2007.
Naughty Dog alums Taylor Kurosaki and Jacob Minkoff made a major impact on Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward since arriving in 2014 . The duo's work on Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was widely praised, and many argue that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's campaign may be the series' high-water mark for the series so far. Despite their contributions, the two developers won't be sticking around. Both Kurosaki and Minkoff announced that they've left Infinity War in order to "pursue a rare and exciting opportunity", but they've so far not offered any further details. Their split with Infinity Ward seems to be a perfectly amicable one, though it's unclear what other motivations they may have had for departing, if any.
Some possibilities for the creative pair's mystery project could involve a return to Naughty Dog, opening a new studio, or have helming another project at a different AAA developer altogether. Either way, Kurosaki and Minkoff's talents as storytellers and creators are incredibly valuable and have likely been leveraged well wherever they're headed next. Call of Duty: Black Ops and Modern Warfare have controversially merged universes, so while it's easy to assume that their Infinity Ward exits were possibly driven by creative differences, there's simply no way to know the details of what prompted their decisions without theirs or Infinity Ward's say-so.
It's unknown how much work the duo contributed to the inevitable Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sequel, but the game isn't expected to release until fall 2022. The 2019 entry truly transformed the series, allowing for Infinity Ward and Raven Software to make Call of Duty: Warzone, one of the most popular and revenue-generating games on the market. Without that Kurosaki and Minkoff's expertise, it's possible that Activision cash cow Warzone wouldn't exist - at least not as it does today. The wheels at the Call of Duty publisher keep spinning, however, and Sledgehammer Games has been confirmed to lead development on Call of Duty 2021, which is heavily rumored to be another World War II title.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Source: Taylor Kurosaki, Jacob Minkoff