Activision struck gold in 2007 with the first Modern Warfare and was willing to dig deep into their massive pockets to ensure that the sequel lived up to the hype. Infinity Ward, on the other hand, wasn’t willing to get caught up with the expectations. Their first order of business was to decline Activision’s exorbitant budget for Modern Warfare 2.

Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling told Develop Online about just how far Activision was willing to go to guarantee Modern Warfare 2’s success. “Much like we don’t let ourselves get distracted by hype, if you have excess you feel like you should use excess,” Bowling said. Even though Activision “estimated out a ridiculous budget” early on, Infinity Ward “didn’t let the budget affect its mentality.”  Infinity Ward apparently didn’t take the money.