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Infinity Ward & Respawn co-founder reportedly hired by Epic

Geoff Keighley has tweeted out some industry news. Epic Games quietly hired Jason West, co-founder of Respawn and Infinity Ward, last month according to Geoff.

Asif Khan

April 12, 2019 8:40 AM

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Epic Games has been flexing its financial muscle fueled by the wildly successful Fortnite battle royale game. The company has apparently been acquiring talent as well as companies, with a rumor circulating the Internet that Infinity Ward and Respawn Entertainment co-founder Jason West has been quietly hired to work with the team at Epic. Geoff Keighley broke the news via Twitter.

Some game industry scoop: @EpicGames has quietly hired Jason West, @InfinityWard and @Respawn co-founder, to work on its game development efforts. From what I hear West, who lives in North Carolina, has been in the office for about a month. pic.twitter.com/nhR0zPq0mB

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) April 12, 2019

Jason West has his name all over the Call of Duty series, serving as CTO of Infinity Ward. West and his partner Vince Zampella later went on to form Respawn Entertainment which has gone on to have huge success with Apex Legends after stumbling financially with the critically-acclaimed Titanfall series. The team at Respawn has also been tapped by EA to take on the new Star Wars game, Jedi: The Fallen Order. It would appear that Tim Sweeney and the team at Epic Games value West's experience in the FPS genre, which fits right in with the folks behind the Unreal Engine. 

At this point, the hiring of Jason West by Epic Games is a rumor. We don't really know what to expect yet, but a Keighley Bomb was dropped on Twitter. One thing is certain, Epic Games knows that they have a lead with the success of Fortnite, and they want to keep the momentum going.The company has been making a ton of disruptive moves in the industry, announcing Epic Online Services at GDC as well as the continued onslaught of Epic Games Store exclusives directly targeting Steam's market share of PC software sales. It will be interesting to see what West ends up doing at Epic Games, if the rumors are true. We will be sure to keep our readers updated on this news and everything battle royale as it breaks from the frontlines of the launcher wars.

Asif Khan

CEO/EIC/EIEIO

Asif Khan is the CEO, EIC, and majority shareholder of Shacknews. He began his career in video game journalism as a freelancer in 2001 for Tendobox.com. Asif is a CPA and was formerly an investment adviser representative. After much success in his own personal investments, he retired from his day job in financial services and is currently focused on new private investments. His favorite PC game of all time is Duke Nukem 3D, and he is an unapologetic fan of most things Nintendo. Asif first frequented the Shack when it was sCary's Shugashack to find all things Quake. When he is not immersed in investments or gaming he is a purveyor of fine electronic music. Asif also has an irrational love of Cleveland sports.