Seemingly every big game publisher and developer is avoiding November 2026 like the plague when it comes to launching games. Even a massive franchise like Call of Duty.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is launching on Oct. 23 this year, which isn’t totally out of the norm (it’s happened a handful of times before, although most games have come out in November), but it’s likely still leading to a big showdown when it comes to player choice at the end of this year, especially for casual gamers.

I couldn’t help but wonder how it feels to be a developer of a game, even a massive game like CoD, with seemingly the whole industry turning their eyes to Nov. 19 and the long-anticipated GTA sequel. And so I asked MW4 lead developer Infinity Ward’s co-studio head Mark Grigsby about it, wondering if he feels like there’s any added pressure this year.

“I always feel pressure,” Grigsby said to me in a fancy hotel penthouse suite in New York City today. “I’ve been in this industry for 28 years, and every product that I have put out, I have the weight of the world, even not as a studio head, as a developer. It’s a lot of pressure to make sure that you’re creative enough to entertain the masses.”

I’ve played and covered CoD games for a very long time, and I think Grigsby and his team are saying and doing a lot of the right things when it comes to MW4. But there’s no doubt been a souring on sentiment around CoD over the past few years, so the pressure is there to perform and launch a successful game, whether Grigsby says so publicly or not. GTA 6 grabbing the attention of the masses likely only furthers that.

But for the co-leader of Infinity Ward, he says that GTA is not adding to any of that standard game dev pressure.

“As far as GTA, I’ve been a fan of GTA since the top-down [games] back in the day,” he said. “And I’m looking forward to playing it. Afraid of it? No. But, you know, the world is the world. And I think it’s healthy for the industry to have juggernauts like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty and Fortnite, and whatever other major studio or product that comes out, to uplift. So, I’m looking forward to it. And, you know, it’s a little head-to-head, that’s great. But I love the industry, I love that product.”

“Pressure is pressure, but we’re always trying to maintain and make sure that we are delivering a top-notch, top-of-the-line product,” he said.

CoD fans can get their hands on MW4 for the first time this week at Fanatics Fest in New York City, including the new Kill Block map and mode.