A plan for an origin campaign is underway at Infinity Ward, fleshing out the story behind the masked enigma, Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley – giving some base to the characters’ more low-key, superficial appearance.
Prior to the release of Modern Warfare 2, Infinity Ward’s narrative team expressed some interest in the idea and entertained the possibility of an offshoot campaign centered around one of Call of Duty’s most cemented characters. In an interview with IGN, Head Writer at Infinity Ward, Brian Bloom, stated:
“There are others who would like to do that too […], and we think that would be really interesting. And again, that’s kind of where this interview started, that there’s something about that character that’s iconic, but the mask and some of those more superficial elements, as we’ve attempted to build them out here in our current release, where did some of those things come from? And exploring that, and looking at that would be something I think the audience would love, and we would love to get into.”
A Look Into Ghost’s Life
Now, fresh off the launch of Modern Warfare 2, plans are reportedly in progress for building out and conceptually bringing this story to life. An associate explicitly revealed that throughout development the team had approached Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley’s actor, Samuel Roukin, with the notion of further developing his character beyond the boxed release. Whether this spin-off develops into Modern Warfare 2’s alleged premium expansion for 2023 remains a mystery – We reached out for comment on whether this was being considered, though I’ve yet to confirm any suggestive response.
The character, Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley quickly gained some virality hot off the release of Modern Warfare 2. Fans were quick to draw up their own art, templates, and trending short-form videos across several popular apps like Tiktok and Twitter, providing great reception for the game. Amazingly, the strong reaction to the character acted as a partial reason for the idea to go-ahead.
In conversation with an associate, Modern Warfare 2’s sophomore DLC expansion will expand the Campaign’s story with an intimate, episodic look behind Call of Duty’s more established characters, factions, and new blood. Infinity Ward’s approach to single-player content for 2023 was likened to Supermassive Games’ ‘The Dark Pictures anthological series.
