Activision announced the decision following controversial comments made by Jeff Leach being resurfaced.
Activision Fires Ghost Voice Actor
Ghost, otherwise known as Lieutenant Simon Riley, is a British special forces operator and is best known for his skull-patterned balaclava. He has appeared as the main character in numerous Call of Duty games. Most recently, Ghost was included in the 2019 reboot of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and was added as an operator back in February 2020 as part of the Season 2 update. To say that Ghost has been one of the most popular and iconic figures in Call of Duty would be fitting. As such, when you’re the voice actor of Ghost, you’re already considered a public figure and thus will have to live life a bit more carefully. Otherwise, you might just end up being like Jeff Leach. News of the firing comes from Activision after previous sexist comments made by Jeff Leach surfaced online. Leach has been a target of the online community in recent weeks, with numerous streamers questioning why companies were still supporting Leach. Most recently, he was signed by Facebook Gaming as an official partner. One of the biggest pieces of evidence against Leach comes from a Twitter thread that compiles all of the comments made by Leach against a female streamer named ZombiUnicorn, among others. ZombiUcorn has also since posted a video response on her own Twitter account. In her reply, she questions why Activision and Facebook continue to partner with Jeff Leach. Following all this, Activision sent out a statement to CharlieIntel saying that they “condemn” all of Leach’s actions and that they have since cut ties with him. At the moment, Facebook Gaming has yet to comment about the status of Jeff Leach’s partnership or provided any comment about what Jeff Leach was caught saying. The future of the Ghost operator persona in Call of Duty also remains in question.
What’s Next for Call of Duty?
There are a total of nine different studios working on multiple Call of Duty titles right now. This includes Sledgehammer Games, which is set to take a lead development role for the first time in years. The studio, which worked on 2014’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and 2017’s Call of Duty: WWII, will helm the next Call of Duty game. Similar to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare reboot and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the next Call of Duty will also be a part of the Warzone ecosystem. It is currently unknown when the first trailer for the next Call of Duty game will drop. Activision has also yet to confirm its title, however with them set to appear at E3 2021, Activision might reveal the trailer by then.
