Some five years after leaving developer Infinity Ward amid a storm of nasty legal business, Activision confirmed to Polygon today that Todd Alderman, former lead designer of the Call of Duty franchise, has returned to the team as multiplayer project director.
For his part, Alderman was one of the 38 members of the ”Infinity Ward Employee Group” that sought legal action against Activision in early 2010 for between $75 million and $125 million in unpaid bonuses.
Since that time, Alderman held a position at Titanfall developer Respawn Entertainment before nabbing a position at Riot Games, whereupon he remained until recently.
“The chance to come back to Infinity Ward and Call of Duty is something I didn’t think would ever happen,” Alderman communicated to Polygon in a prepared statement. “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.”
The re-hiring of Alderman comes at a turbulent time for Infinity Ward.
Once regarded as Call of Duty’s ‘A-Team’ when it came to developing the franchise, the team has since had to contend with friendly competition from the rapidly improving Treyarch and new kid on the block Sledgehammer Games who impressed critics with last year’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
For what it’s worth, this year’s Call of Duty is set to be developed by Treyarch and, like Advanced Warfare before it, has had the benefit of a full, three-year development cycle.
No other details are known at this point.
