What's In A Name: Infinity Ward

by Justin McElroy { Sep 16th 2009 at 5:40PM }

Have you heard about this game Modern Warfare 2? It's supposed to be pretty good. And we heard that it's expected to sell at least hundreds of copies this holiday season. How did these young upstarts at Infinity Ward get the name? We've got the story.

Where did Infinity Ward come from?

This is a great story. Nowhere. It means f***ing nothing. [Laughs.]

Wow, that is truly a great story. So how did you come up with it?

We were pitching a bunch of names. Everybody just kind of threw out random ones like, "How 'bout this? How 'bout that?" And it was like, "Ooh, that is terrible. That is terrible. Wait, hmm, I like that one." Infinity Ward floated to the top and stuck.

What didn't make the cut? Do you remember anything that was below the bar?

Oh, geez. I'm going to say "no" to that one.

Because the suggestions were terrible?

Right. Exactly.

-Vince Zampella, studio head of Infinity Ward

Liked this story? Be sure to check out the What's In A Name archives.

Tags: infinity-ward, modern-warfare-2, whats-in-a-name

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

SpyderTaco (PSN: Ar4chNova89) @ Sep 16th 2009 5:44PM

What the hell?
O well, at least they make great games.

Ballistic H @ Sep 16th 2009 6:23PM

Before joining IW, most of them worked on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.

SpyderTaco (PSN: Ar4chNova89) @ Sep 16th 2009 6:43PM

Really? I didn't know that. Interesting.
Wasn't it the Call of Duty series that technically dethroned the Medal of Honor series?
I wonder why they decided to leave/

abelpc @ Sep 16th 2009 8:31PM

You can't Say Great Game and imply Vampire Rain.. That was wasted money there.

abelpc @ Sep 16th 2009 8:32PM

doh.. wrong thread.. ugh.

Jeff @ Sep 16th 2009 5:45PM

I love these stories. Even when they're uneventful like this one, I still find them amusing.

WRYYYYYY @ Sep 16th 2009 5:47PM

The Gearbox/Valve one was the best so far. I hope you guys don't bother doing Bethesda Softworks... They're based in Bethesday, MD, which would make for a pretty boring article.

SpyderTaco (PSN: Ar4chNova89) @ Sep 16th 2009 5:48PM

Way to spoil it.

JeezWhiz87 @ Sep 16th 2009 5:57PM

"What does your name mean?"
>"Nothing"
"Want to tell us anything else about it?"
>"No."

Classic.

JeezWhiz87 @ Sep 16th 2009 5:57PM

Ugh, sorry that wasn't supposed to be a reply. Post fail.

Arrowned @ Sep 16th 2009 6:19PM

You're aware the Gearbox one was a lie, right? Go back and look at it; there's edits to the post talking about how Valve claims the whole thing was fabricated.

The Baron @ Sep 16th 2009 7:15PM

Yeah, Randy Pitchford is in deeeep trouble.. probably.

Traceur_Ryuk (PSN: Ryuk_shinigami) @ Sep 16th 2009 5:54PM

Best interview I have ever read.

bongoes the Black Lantern @ Sep 16th 2009 7:54PM

Indeed.

Or as Kanye West would say

"YO I'MMA LET YOU FINISH, BUT INFINITY WARD HAD ONE OF THE BEST INTERVIEWS OF ALL TIME!!!"

goboColossus (LIVE, PSN - gobopop) @ Sep 16th 2009 5:55PM

I have to hand it to Activision. As much as I despise them, they do have an immaculate track record of letting their acquisitions keep their names and gain their own recognition. I'd love to hear from 2K Boston next.

Autopsy15 @ Sep 16th 2009 6:12PM

It's part of 2K games....based in Boston.

End of story.

goboColossus (LIVE, PSN - gobopop) @ Sep 16th 2009 6:26PM

You're a clever one you are.

I'd be more interested in hearing the story from a distraught founder who misses the days when the immensely talented studio that brought us the likes of System Shock 2 and Freedom Force had a name that wasn't representative of their corporate entity.

Bradwart @ Sep 16th 2009 5:55PM

Now, if you could get Jason Jones to open up about the reason for Bungie, I'd be more interested.

goboColossus (LIVE, PSN - gobopop) @ Sep 16th 2009 6:00PM

If you could get Jason Jones to open up about anything... I don't think I've heard him speak since the Halo 2 E3 demo.

Bradwart @ Sep 16th 2009 6:12PM

From what I've heard he's in semi-retirement. He did do the Director's Commentary on the H1 and H2 cutscenes for the H3 Legendary Edition, though.

WINterfang @ Sep 16th 2009 5:56PM

Short article is short.

sonicspike41 @ Sep 16th 2009 5:56PM

You know, you should have cut the article off after the logo and had the rest as the "continued" section. Imagine all the people clicking the story to find out it's only a few lines!

But either way, I can't believe it was just a random name toss.

Derek @ Sep 16th 2009 5:58PM

This was quite the compelling little ditty.

Lurkero @ Sep 16th 2009 6:02PM

That's how great names are created. Put random cool sounding words together and go with it

Filter @ Sep 16th 2009 6:14PM

and you know this because you stole your name from a pokemon?

WINterfang @ Sep 16th 2009 10:44PM

you mean like WINterfang?

Lurkero @ Sep 16th 2009 11:52PM

@ Filter,

your comment would make sense only if my name was actually spelled Lucario. Make sure your research is correct before trying to insult someone. Not only that, but this alias has been used for several years by me.

Agath @ Sep 16th 2009 6:10PM

wait... at the beginning of the post it says modern warfare 2 is going to sell 100's of copies... i think they're going to sell more than that this holiday season

Bradwart @ Sep 16th 2009 6:14PM

I guess they should have put the /sarcasm tag next to it.

BloodMeridian @ Sep 16th 2009 6:14PM

"Death by Bungie!!!"

If you know the joke, you get it.

ShadowOp @ Sep 16th 2009 6:15PM

try this one on for size; Cerebral Cortex
or
Amygdala
or
Phineas Gage
or
Broca's Area

I've trademarked all of these names...
... ok, that was a lie :(