Five more individuals have left the floundering Infinity Ward studio, according to reports from Kotaku. This brings the number of departed staff to 18. The latest to depart made up part of the design and programming teams.

For those who haven’t been keeping up, the saga began when Infinity Ward studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West were fired by Activision on what the two contest were highly dubious grounds. The pair have since made legal motions against Activision, claiming that the studio owes them large sums of money in the wake of Modern Warfare 2’s release.

West and Zampella have also announced the formation of their own studio – the aptly named Respawn Entertainment – and are currently negotiating a publishing deal with EA. Of the 18 staff that have left Infinity Ward, seven have been confirmed to be joining Respawn, including a number of design, animation and programming leads.

Activision may be determined to maintain Infinity Ward as a viable production studio brand in the wake of Modern Warfare 2’s commercial success, but the studio will only be a hollow shell of its former self. MyGaming will continue to bring updates as the saga continues.

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