Infinity welcomed Sledgehammer, a decision "born out of necessity" and were a "high octane partner" creatively. MW3 has "gotten better" because of the two.
Infinity Ward was the dedicated studio behind Modern Warfare as it created the 'spin-off' series. However as the studio's two bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella were forced out by Activision, the developer hit a rough patch with many staff leaving.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a product of partnership between Infinity and Sledgehammer Games, headed up by former EA Visceral Games heads.
Hirshberg was pleased how Infinity welcomed in Sledgehammer "and that was probably a decision born out of necessity - nobody probably would have designed it that way proactively, but because they were going through a rebuilding right in the middle of this development, they welcomed a pretty high octane partner into their creative process."
"Sledgehammer truly has treated them as partners, and the game is a reflection of a combined vision between those two studios. And to my great delight it is a one plus one equals three situation. The game has gotten better because of these two very strong, creative forces working together," continued the Activision Publishing boss.
"A lot of the guys working on Modern Warfare 3 are the same guys who worked on Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare," he said. "A lot of them are Infinity Ward sort of lifers and have been there from the beginning."
"I only got to work with the new Infinity Ward, and all I can tell you is while they went through a huge transition, and while there was a lot of rebuilding that had to happen and they had to bring in some new talent to replace some of the people that had left, this is one of the most dazzlingly creative group of people I've ever met in my life," added Hirshberg.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 releases on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC November 8th. Are you impressed with the reveals for the latest Call of Duty from Infinity Ward and co.?