Call of Duty co-founder says Activision tried to pressure them to make game about Iran's invasion of Israel

Our world has gone beyond parody as the official White House account posts Call of Duty footage to celebrate the ongoing United States military operations in Iran. Raid shots are overlaid with Call of Duty points and killstreak bonuses.

In response to this post, Chance Glasco, one of the founding members of Infinity Ward, revealed that the studio's parent company, Activision, tried to get Infinity Ward to make a game about the Iranian invasion of Israel.

Political motivations

“I'm not surprised,” Glasco wrote in response to the White House's post. “I remember after Activision took over post-Respawn there was a very unpleasant push from Activision to make another Call of Duty about Iran attacking Israel. Fortunately, the vast majority of our developers were disgusted by the idea and it was shot down.”

Founded by Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and the late Vince Zampella, Respawn Entertainment was formed in 2010 after the pair parted ways with Activision over unpaid bonuses.

This split occurred in 2010, after the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. At the time, relations between the United States and Iran were strained because Iran had a confrontational president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was hostile to the West and outwardly refused to stop the country's work on its nuclear program.

As always, tensions between Israel and Iran were high during this period. The nuclear program greatly concerned Israel, which commissioned its Mossad intelligence agency to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists to try to halt their progress.

In response to a user who wondered why an Iranian invasion of Israel would be different from other Call of Duty settings, Glasco wrote: “My point is that the government is happy to use entertainment, including video games, as a way to sway public opinion on major issues. The push for war with Iran has been across administrations for decades. The scenarios you mentioned, not so much.”

The next Call of Duty game released was the original Black Ops, set in the 1960s against the backdrop of the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Vietnam War.