[2] It was the first title that designer Gary Grigsby planned to create for Matrix Games, a wargame studio he had joined that year.

[4] In January 2001, Grigsby co-founded 2 by 3 Games with collaborators Joel Billings and Keith Brors, where War in the Pacific continued development under a new deal with Matrix.

[5][6] 2 by 3's debut Uncommon Valor was intended as a stepping stone and teaser for War in the Pacific that covered the subject at a smaller scale.

[9] The initial plan to import the Uncommon Valor artificial intelligence (AI) code proved unsuccessful, as the system broke down when applied at the War in the Pacific scale.

[12] The game was nominated for the 2004 Charles S. Roberts Award for "Best 20th Century Era Computer Wargame", but lost to Battles in Normandy.