Deja Vu Surrounds Infinity Ward Rumors, Studio heads lose jobs


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Strange, hazy things are happening at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward. This wouldn't be the first time for the studio.

In 2002, nearly a dozen developers walked out of Tulsa-based studio 2015, the team behind the PC game Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Rumor has it that the developers did not want to be chained to Medal of Honor and be at EA's beck-and-call.

Those developers went off to Encino and established Infinity Ward. Ironically, the developers were then acquired by Activision and began making Call of Duty games, starting with Call of Duty in 2003. That was followed with Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in 2007 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in 2009.

Activision roped in another developer, Treyarch, to work on Call of Duty 3 and Call of Duty: World at War.

Yet here was Infinity Ward locked in with the Call of Duty franchise. There's DLC and the inevitable pressure of working on yet another Call of Duty game. Infinity Ward has become the CoD guys. Pigeonholed, sure, but the diehard fans of the series would not have it any other way. But, maybe Infinity Ward has been ready to move on?

There have been rumors since early this year that Infinity Ward is not working on the still-unannounced, yet-totally-inevitable Modern Warfare 3. Instead, apparently another studio (not Treyarch) has been brought in to work on the title.

However, last fall the LA Time reported an unconfirmed story that a third team had been brought in to work on the Call of Duty series. If true, that would mean that Activision would have brought in two external teams to work on Call of Duty, the franchise that Infinity Ward created.

Considering the enormous sales of Modern Warfare 2, Activision could be eager to strike while the CoD is hot.

The relationship between Activision and Infinity Ward has been recently described as "tense". According to website G4, a source has stated that a "bunch of bouncer-types" showed up outside Infinity Ward offices unannounced earlier today. Studio heads Infinity Ward studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West apparently met with Activision today as well. According to his Facebook page and Linked In page, West is now unemployed.

Source: http://kotaku.com/54...ity-ward-rumors

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I would love to see 'em part ways, IW is such a massively talented studio and them being used as slave workers on projects

they aren't feeling a 100% is such a waste. I'm sure they are ready to try something new, something not related to the Call of Duty name.

Although, I still think it's dodgy all this is happening on the release of a touted MW2 'killer' but that's just me.

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Activision Cites Infinity Ward "Insubordination"

Jason West and Vince Zampella, two lead developers at Infinity Ward, met with Activisionearlier today. Then they seemed to disappear and "bouncer-types" showed up at the studio. This Activision filing might explain why.

"The Company is concluding an internal human resources inquiry into breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward," Acitivsion states in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. "This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation. At present, the Company does not expect this matter to have a material impact on the Company."

Activision also adds that it will be releasing another Call of Duty game this year. That game is believed to be developed Treyarch.

According to West's Facebook and Linked In pages, he is currently no longer working for Infinity Ward.

Source: http://kotaku.com/54...insubordination

A source close to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 developer just informed me that a "bunch of bouncer-types" just showed up outside of the Infinity Ward offices unannounced. When approached by employees, the non-uniformed "bouncers" were unwilling to disclose why they were there.

"Everyone is on edge," said my source.

Infinity Ward studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West reportedly met with Activision this morning and have not been seen by Infinity Ward staff members since. My source did not delve into specifics, but described the relationship between Infinity Ward and Activision lately as "tense."

The mood around the Infinity Ward offices is currently described as "freaked out" and "confused."

Source: http://g4tv.com/thef...eaked-Out-.html

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Its sad theyve lost their jobs with the job market as it currently is but they have the talent to just start up on their own, this can only be a good thing as Activision is going to destroy Call of Duty franchise.

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meh, MW2 was lacking anyway.

I would say "Sorry to see them fired" but we have no idea why they have been or the exact story behind it. Would like to hear more before wish them well :shiftyninja:

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From Shacknews.com:

Update: Earlier today, Activision filed an SEC report that mentioned Activision looking into "breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward." The filing also states that "this matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation."

Additionally, a post on Facebook by Jason West, confirmed to be legitimate, mentions being newly unemployed. West has also updated his LinkedIn profile with a March 2010 end-date for his position at IW.

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meh, MW2 was lacking anyway.

I would say "Sorry to see them fired" but we have no idea why they have been or the exact story behind it. Would like to hear more before wish them well :shiftyninja:

Blobby Kopri*k probably has his hand in it, they want Infinity Ward to do a subscription based CoD and IW told them to piddle off, hence fired.

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Blobby Kopri*k probably has his hand in it, they want Infinity Ward to do a subscription based CoD and IW told them to piddle off, hence fired.

IW still have standards to adhere to? Ha.

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IW still have standards to adhere to? Ha.

What they did with the PC version was probably orchestrated by Acti. i think IW wanted dedi servers and Acti said No we want this. IW were fine with that but maybe it was over the sub based system.

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And the plot thickens, Activision :laugh:

Infinity Ward Has Not Received Royalties for Modern Warfare 2

As

anyone who follows my Twitter is aware, I spent the better part of Monday night (Tuesday morning on the East Coast) calling everyone I knew who was associated with Activision. Most of them didn't tell me much of anything. To those people, I apologize for continuously bugging you at all hours of the night. However a few people were willing to give me some information on what was going on at Infinity Ward so long as they were anonymous.

First, the backstory: For those of you who aren't yet aware,

Activision locked down the Infinity Ward offices after a meeting with (former) Infinity Ward bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella. When the story first broke nobody had any Earthly clue why Activision would ****can the studio co-founders and lock the Infinity Ward offices down like they were trying to quarantine a zombie outbreak, but after several hours of arm twisting I've been able to get a few nuggets of information.

1.) Infinity Ward has yet to be paid a single dime in royalties for Modern Warfare 2, which has earned Activision

over one billion dollars in revenue.

2.) It's (fairly) common knowledge that Infinity Ward is not owned by Activision, but is under contract with the publisher. This contract expires in October, which explains why Activision has (

allegedly) been looking to dump Modern Warfare 3 off to another developer. The probem with this is that Infinity Ward still technically owns the rights to the Call of Duty franchise (at least partially). Some people close to the situation see Activision's current actions as a power play to try and bully Infinity Ward into either staying with Activision in one capacity or another (buyout or contract extension) or to at least acquire the Call of Duty name.

3.) Theoretically speaking, after Infinity Ward's contract expires in October the company is free to rehire both West and Zampella.

But the most interesting fact?

4.)

SEC paperwork filed by Activision claims that there were "breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward." According to a source inside Activision, it is believed that Infinity Ward may have been in discussion with a "rival publisher" about signing a similar publishing agreement that IW currently has with Activision.

When pushed for more specific details, all they would assure me is that it was NOT believed to be Electronic Arts. Whether or not there is any merit to this belief is anyone's guess.

More information is expected to come out throughout the day as Activision has a lot of explaining to do. We will continue to keep you updated on this increasingly bizarre story, whether news breaks here or elsewhere. Also keep tabs on

G4's Patrick Klepek, who has done a phenomenal job staying on top of the situation.

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From the article:

2.) It?s (fairly) common knowledge that Infinity Ward is not owned by Activision, but is under contract with the publisher. This contract expires in October, which explains why Activision has (allegedly) been looking to dump Modern Warfare 3 off to another developer. The probem with this is that Infinity Ward still technically owns the rights to the Call of Duty franchise (at least partially)

Interesting. That actually wasn't common knowledge for me, I had no idea. I imagine that Kotick would want to fight tooth and nail to get the rights to the CoD franchise, considering how hot it is (was?). I still don't understand what firing two people has to do with that, though.

As for the royalties thing, that's insane, assuming that it's actually true. It almost seems too unbelievable. Maybe the royalties ended up in Kotick's food budget (sorry, I couldn't resist).

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I wish Microsoft or Electronic Arts would buy Infinity Ward and refuse to license Call of Duty out to Activision. End the franchise on that note, and give Infinity Ward the levity to do whatever the hell they wanted.

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I'm still a little confused. Were these types that showed up bouncer-like? I don't think it's clear. wacko.gif

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Tim Schafer responds to Activision/Infinity Ward scandal

You may recall that Tim Schafer and Activision aren't particularly fond of one another. After all, Schafer's latest project, Brutal Legend, was supposed to be published by Activision last year. However, it was unexpectedly dropped when Activision merged with Vivendi. Then, of course, there was the whole entire debacle where Activision tried to sue Schafer when Electronic Arts agreed to publish Brutal Legend.

Keeping that in mind, Schafer has posted on his personal Twitter page his reaction to the ongoingscandal that's unfolding between Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward and mega-publisher Activision.

"Getting mad at Activision for this kind of thing is like getting mad at an ape for throwing feces. It's just how the beast communicates," Schafer tweeted.

According to Kotaku and numerous other news sources, Infinity Ward president Jason West and studio head Vince Zampella have been fired by Activision, bouncer-like security guards have taken residence in the office and all hell has broken loose. Activision is allegedly citing "insubordination" for the reason behind West and Zampella's abrupt departure.

Source: http://www.examiner....ty-Ward-scandal

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How funny would it be if they soon will get hired by EA to head the next Medal of Honor title? (not the one this year)

Valve and IW cooperate on Counter-Strike 2? Keeping it arcadey but looking awesome? One can only dream.

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