In brief: After the original founders of Infinity Ward left to form Respawn Entertainment, Activision reportedly asked Call of Duty developers to make a game about Iran invading Israel. According to developer Chance Glasco, the publisher placed "awkward" pressure on the team to pursue the concept. In the end, most of the developers were disgusted by the idea, and the virtual Iran-Israel war project was never made.
Glasco, a co-founding developer of both Infinity Ward and the Call of Duty franchise, now works as a consultant in the video game industry. He shared his recollection of Activision's pressure on social media, joining an ongoing discussion about the unusually blunt way the Trump administration is embedding video game footage in pro-war clips.
This doesn't surprise me. I remember after Activision took over post-Respawn formation there was a very awkward pressure from Activision for us to make the next CoD about Iran attacking Israel. Luckily the vast majority of our devs were disgusted by the idea and it got shot down. https://t.co/taTIsQUklI
– Chance Glasco (@ChanceGlasco) March 4, 2026
Glasco later elaborated on his statements, revealing that the publisher's team attempted to influence the studio during pre-production meetings. Developers working on Call of Duty were reportedly appalled because the requests from Activision Blizzard appeared to resemble political messaging rather than standard game development guidance.
After Activision took over Infinity Ward post-Respawn formation, there was pressure from Activision in our preproduction meetings for the next IW CoD to be about Iran attacking Israel. A lot of us devs were appalled because it felt like political propaganda being pushed by…
– Chance Glasco (@ChanceGlasco) March 4, 2026
When asked about other controversial narrative choices involving countries and conflicts depicted in the Call of Duty series, Glasco said that governments around the world increasingly use entertainment media to influence public opinion on major issues such as war.
He added that, compared to other hypothetical scenarios like the controversial "No Russian" mission in Modern Warfare 2, a potential Iran – Israel conflict has reportedly been a real policy focus across multiple US administrations.
My point is that the government would happily use entertainment, including video games, as a way to sway public opinion on major issues. There have been decades of pressure for a war with Iran across multiple administrations. The scenarios you mentioned, not so much.
– Chance Glasco (@ChanceGlasco) March 5, 2026
Early Call of Duty titles were allegedly designed to convey that war is not entertainment but a harsh and destructive reality, Glasco said. In the controversial "No Russian" mission, players were given the option to skip the level entirely or avoid harming civilians during gameplay. Glasco added that he later lost his Russian passport after the scenario leaked and is still uncertain whether he remains barred from traveling to the country.
The Trump administration has repeatedly demonstrated how video games can function as communication channels for promoting its policy messaging. Before using Call of Duty footage to highlight its claims of a "winning streak" in operations involving Iran, the White House used an appearance by the Halo character Master Chief to support recruitment efforts for Immigration and Customs Enforcement . Even the Pokémon franchise was referenced in messaging related to immigration enforcement activities.