A single contract decision in 2001 or 2002 sits at the center of one of gaming's most unexpected origin stories. Michael Condrey, co-founder of Sledgehammer Games and a veteran of the Dead Space and Call of Duty franchises, has revealed that Vince Zampella and Jason West were considered to handle the PC port of 007 Nightfire before EA ultimately went a different direction. That choice, mundane on its surface, may have set the entire Call of Duty franchise in motion.
Condrey shared the story with writer Cade Onder as part of a documentary on the making of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The conversation surfaced a moment that most industry historians would never have thought to look for.
Use code TRYHARD33 at checkout to redeem this offer before code expires again.
Get 33% Off GAMES+ Subscription
From Bond to bullets: how 2015, Inc. ended up pitching EA
At the time, Zampella and West were running 2015, Inc., an Oklahoma-based studio that had just delivered Medal of Honor: Allied Assault in 2002 to significant critical and commercial success. EA published that game, but was already planning to bring the Medal of Honor franchise in-house. That left 2015, Inc. looking for their next project.
Condrey, who spent eight years at EA producing James Bond titles including The World Is Not Enough, Agent Under Fire, and Nightfire, was shopping for a PC developer to handle the console-to-PC conversion of 007 Nightfire. The studio was focused on console development and needed an outside partner for the port.
"They presented us 2015," Condrey said. "They were shopping for their next gig; they needed funding. They pitched to do [007 Nightfire] PC. I still have Vince's card, God rest his soul."
EA passed on 2015, Inc. and instead brought in Gearbox Software for the PC port. The result was widely panned and picked up a lasting reputation as one of the worst PC ports of its era.
The chain of events that built Infinity Ward
With the Medal of Honor franchise pulled in-house and the 007 Nightfire PC contract going elsewhere, 2015, Inc. found themselves without a clear path forward. Activision stepped in with a deal that led directly to the founding of Infinity Ward and the creation of the Call of Duty series. The first game launched in 2003, and the rest is the kind of history that generates billions of dollars annually.
Here's the thing: Condrey isn't just speculating about a minor detour. He's describing a scenario where Zampella and West would have been under contract with EA during the exact window when Activision came calling. A funded, active project with a major publisher likely would have kept them occupied long enough to change the trajectory entirely.
"Had we hired Vince and Jason and 2015 to do James Bond PC, who knows what?" Condrey said. “That's a weird moment.”
Condrey himself would later leave EA after working on the original Dead Space, and founded Sledgehammer Games in November 2009 alongside Glen Schofield. Sledgehammer would go on to co-develop Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 alongside Infinity Ward in 2011, bringing Condrey into the same franchise that might never have existed if his earlier hiring decision had gone the other way.
What most players miss about this story
The bigger picture here isn't just a fun piece of trivia. It's a reminder of how fragile the foundations of massive franchises actually are. Call of Duty has generated over $30 billion in lifetime revenue across its history. The entire series traces back to a studio looking for work and a licensing deal that didn't come through.
Gearbox's 007 Nightfire PC port, the game that actually got the contract, is remembered poorly by anyone who played it. EA chose the wrong partner by most accounts, and that mistake inadvertently handed Activision the team that would define military shooters for the next two decades. Make sure to check out more:
