Despite Activision’s assurances that morale was high at Infinity Ward and that they would remain a strong and important part of the publisher’s future, the developer has been hemmoraging employees left and right in the wake of IW-Gate, many of whom have since gone on to join up with former bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella at Respawn Entertainment.

Now, one industry analyst has gone on record as saying that this gutting will likely spell curtains for the developers behind the blockbuster Call of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise.

“Continued defections from their Infinity Ward studio have created meaningful uncertainty around the future of their Call of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise,” said Mike Hickey of Janco Partners, last week. “We expect Infinity Ward studio will be essentially closed after their next map pack release, with development work on Modern Warfare 3 spread between two studios not historically tied to the franchise.”

Seeing as the recent release of the Stimulus Pack maps is the first of two promised content updates for Modern Warfare 2, it feels very likely that whatever comes next will likely be the studio’s swan song.

Mind you, nothing is saying that Activsion might not hold onto the name and try to rebuild the studio, but with so many key personnel gone, it would be like your favorite classic rock band touring when the drummer is the only remaining original member. Sure the name is there, but the rest of the band is just going through the motions for a paycheck.

[Via: Gamasutra]