West, Zampella fired from Infinity Ward... move on to form new dev studio w/ EA

[Arbys Roast Beef Sandwich]

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/702911/Security-Appears-Unannounced-At-Infinity-Ward-Studio-Heads-Missing-Staff-Freaked-Out-.html

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."

[The Fake Shemp]

Why would anyone get fired?

More likely, people are quitting and Activision is trying to muscle in to protect whatever they can salvage.

The most important question: will this impact DLC?

[ToxicAdam]

Who is Patrick Klepek? Exxy?

[Beezy]

Who is Patrick Klepek? Exxy?

Wow, I haven't heard that name in years.

[The Fake Shemp]

He's a "journalist" now.

[Sho Nuff]

Boy I sure am not gonna fall into the trap of replying to this and creating buzz for what is surely a publicity stunt

[demi]

I would so buy the map pack

[The Fake Shemp]

I hope this is resolved quickly, so if Infinity Ward is being shutdown, I can trade-in Modern Warfare 2 knowing that there probably won't be any DLC.

[Stoney Mason]

They would never be shut down.

A logical guess is that the two studio heads are having issues with Activision and have either quit or been fired. It could be about anything including compensation. When a game sells 15 million copies right out of the gate, royalty issues and compensation are two reasonable guesses. Of course it could also be other issues with Activision. IW was formed out of the wake of a group that split from EA so I'm sure there is an independent streak within the heads there anyway.

[The Fake Shemp]

Don't lie, Infinity Ward is getting shutdown. Studio heads bolted, Activision is trying to stop defectors. They're going to shutdown the studio and Treyarch will be making Call of Duty games for life!

[Mr. Gundam]

He's a "journalist" now.

Doesn't he also work for G4? Dude's managed to make a living doing it. Good for him.

[The Fake Shemp]

I wasn't implying he hasn't accomplished anything, but working for G4 as a games "journalist" is just that - a fake journalist. I don't judge him either way.

[Stoney Mason]

Treyarch will be making Call of Duty games for life!

Now that would be painful.  

There has always been an undercurrent of tension between IW and Activision. You can tell it from the comments in the past from Zampella and just the history of certain things. How Activision wanted them to keep churning out WW 2 when they wanted to keep advancing. It easily could be something where Activision is once again being stupid because they think they know what they are doing when clearly they don't. My loyalties of course lay completely with IW and not Activision. Hopefully Activision steps aside and lets the studio do their work but Activision in general is pretty stupid. See Tony Hawk Ride 2 as a prime example.

[The Fake Shemp]

BOBBY KOTICK: "COME ON IN BOYS, SHOW ME WHAT YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN WORKING ON."

[demo footage of completely original IP]

BOBBY KOTICK: "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?! I ASKED FOR DUDEBRO 3, NOT THIS SHIT! I LEAVE ALL THAT SPACE SHIT FOR BLIZZARD!"

[cool breeze]

Watch Microsoft snatch these guys up and THEIR "future shooter" actually turn out to be a Halo game

[bork]

I wasn't implying he hasn't accomplished anything, but working for G4 as a games "journalist" is just that - a fake journalist. I don't judge him either way.

He's at G4 now?  Dude moves around a lot...what was it, 1up, then MTV, and now this?

[Mr. Gundam]

I wasn't implying he hasn't accomplished anything, but working for G4 as a games "journalist" is just that - a fake journalist. I don't judge him either way.

He's at G4 now?  Dude moves around a lot...what was it, 1up, then MTV, and now this?

He's done stuff for X-Play.

[demi]

I wasn't implying he hasn't accomplished anything, but working for G4 as a games "journalist" is just that - a fake journalist. I don't judge him either way.

He's at G4 now?  Dude moves around a lot...what was it, 1up, then MTV, and now this?

Game Journos arent the most secure jobs...

[The Fake Shemp]

ENDLESS QUARTER and MICROSOFT GAME STUDIOS
present
H A L O
F U T U R E  W A R F A R E

[Stoney Mason]

Perfect example of what I'm talking about.

"Activision…did not want Modern Warfare," Infinity Ward chief creative officer Vince Zampella told Britain-based Official PlayStation Magazine in an interview, relayed by UK gaming site CVG. "They thought working on a modern game was risky and [thought], 'Oh my god you can't do that, it's crazy!' They were doing market research to show us we were wrong the whole time."

Call of Duty project lead Jason West went on to note, "We had to fight for everything. They wanted it to be World War II. Again."

In fact, Zampella said that Infinity Ward was ready to leave the WWII setting after the original Call of Duty, which received glowing reviews upon its release for the PC in 2003. Notably, Activision announced that it had acquired the Encino, California-based developer for an undisclosed sum one day after the original COD shipped in October of that year.

"With Call of Duty 2, we were dead set against it being World War II," Zampella said. "But Activision really wanted it, the compromise sort of being that we'd get some dev kits for consoles in exchange for doing a World War II game. We always wanted to be on consoles and Activision saw us as more of a PC developer."

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/callofduty4modernwarfare/news.html?sid=6232123

[demi]

We always wanted to be on consoles and Activision saw us as more of a PC developer.

It writes itself, folks

[ManaByte]

2015 runs away from EA and becomes Infinity Ward
Infinity Ward runs away from Activision and becomes

[ManaByte]

[demi]

Wow I am so surprised

[ManaByte]

Yup. Apparently he updated his LinkedIn too:

President/Game Director/CCO/CTO
Infinity Ward
Public Company; ATVI; Computer Games industry

January 2001 – March 2010 (9 years 3 months)

[brawndolicious]

so...the guy was likely fired for trying to get IW to finally make something other than CoD games?

well that sucks.  now he has to start over again.

[Stoney Mason]

Pretty odd/dumb decision from the outside looking in, especially if Zampella is gone also.

They have basically created a rival who if offered money from an outside publisher could potentially poach dev talent and or create a rival ip much like what happened to EA. Seems like a stupid move to can the studio heads who have created two of the biggest fps games in history.

It will be humorous to see the Activision PR spin on this tomorrow.

[chronovore]

so...the guy was likely fired for trying to get IW to finally make something other than CoD games?

well that sucks.  now he has to start over again.

I wonder if ACTI freaked out over the whole DICE/Mirror's Edge floppage. "NO, you must make COD."

[duckman2000]

Perfect example of what I'm talking about.

Well, I don't take anything at face value. It wasn't long ago that these same studio heads were praising the WWII era and talking up how they were perfectly happy with it as it had so many stories left to tell. Now it turns out they were at that time unhappy with it, shocker! Also something something about the awesomeness of the mod community, a mindset that was completely gone two years later.

I think blaming the publisher has become a little bit too convenient of an out for developers these days. Everyone already hates the publisher for one reason or the other, so I think its accepted that the publishing end gets to be "the guy" whenever shit goes down. Maybe it really is that way, but that doesn't make for much of a reason to trust the developers to ever speak their minds. Also see: Jaffe being "honest" about Heartland.

[Stoney Mason]

Nobody knows the inside story unless they were there. That much is obvious.

I can say from first hand experience the role of the publisher is to try to keep as much power as they can and lock you into a box as a dev. Your job as a dev is to still try to create good stuff whether the publisher is forcing you or not. And Activision even more so than most is a rigid publisher who tries to keep their devs in check and control from the top level. Firing the two heads seems right in line with that philosophy. They aren't the only ones. They are simply the leading edge of it currently.

A perfect example of the relationship between a publisher and dev is ODST. I can guarantee you that was something Bungie wasn't overly into. But the publisher pulls the strings. If they say do it, then you do it. And at the end of the day you go out and try to do the best you can and say the right things and market it appropriately and not tell people that you hated being forced to do it and you didn't want to do it.

[duckman2000]

Nobody knows the inside story unless they were there. That much is obvious.

I can say from first hand experience the role of the publisher is to try to keep as much power as they can and lock you into a box as a dev. Your job as a dev is to still try to create good stuff whether the publisher is forcing you or not.

Which is fine, until it manifests itself as PR bullspeak filtering down to the trusting audience. Then you're someone who obviously can't be trusted to speak the truth to your customers, lest the pimp hand come down with a vengeance. That's why I, as a customer, don't buy anything they say, including the supposedly critical comments regarding the publishers. It feels like a blame push that has been engineered from the top down, like everything else in whoreville.

To use another somewhat Jaffe related example, Warhawk. There was a lot of bitterness regarding the Warhawk mess, the brunt of which was directed towards the publisher, Sony. When in reality it was a management fuck up on studio level (not on the part of Jobe though, as far as I know), but that is still not the common truth.

[ManaByte]

Bungie was into ODST when it was called Peter Jackson's Halo Chronicles.

[Stoney Mason]

I'm not really sure what we are arguing. And it's probably immaterial either way.

My point in posting that was to say that there was tension between West and Zampella and Activision. It's obvious and that article isn't the only example. There was another interview I remember from GameTrailers where Zampella basically was asked do they have enough creative freedom under Activision and he basically said we'll see after Modern Warfare 2 although based on their track record you would think they would. It was a pretty clear indication that he was having issues of some sort with them way back when.

I'm not really trying to make an argument of who you personally should side with one or the other. I'm saying who I side with and why and that Activision is a fairly short sighted publisher with a track record that shows as much. And my experience dealing with publishers from the dev side. I believe Zampella and West when they say what they said because it rings true to me. That's not to say they aren't above going out there and shilling a game behind a shit eating grin if they have to. We all do that. That's life.

Publishers aren't always wrong. See 3D Realms as a great example. But when a studio is cranking out well reviewed, well selling stuff and has a solid track record and history, I tend to side with the dev and not the publisher when something fucked up happens.

[duckman2000]

I'm not arguing anything, just saying that the IW dudes are liars and whores.

[Stoney Mason]

I'm not arguing anything, just saying that the IW dudes are liars and whores.

I don't really care whether they are saints or sinners. All I care about is getting new games. Getting good games. They ran the studio that created the games I liked. if they leave and IW still creates games I love. Then Cool. If they go off and do something else and it's awesome. We'll thats cool too. I have faith in them based on their track record and body of work. That's all I care about.

I don't have faith in Activision. They just write the checks and make the commercial. Hence my stance that I stand by the devs in this case until proven wrong.

[duckman2000]

I'm not arguing anything, just saying that the IW dudes are liars and whores.

I don't really care whether they are saints or sinners. All I care about is getting new games. Getting good games. They ran the studio that created the games I liked. if they leave and IW still creates games I love. Then Cool. If they go off and do something else and it's awesome. We'll thats cool too. I have faith in them based on their track record and body of work. That's all I care about.

That's nice, and hey, at least we agree that they are liars and whores.

[archie4208]

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/702911/TheFeed.html?utm_source=g4tv&utm_medium=twitterblog&utm_campaign=so-0907-twitterthefeed-702911&cmpid=so-0907-twitterthefeed-702911#ixzz0h0BmoXuJ

UPDATE 11:20 PM: It turns out Activision may have showed their hand in this matter earlier today.

In an SEC filing made earlier today, Activision cited a human resources investigation into "into breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward."

Based on the information we currently have, at least one of those employees may have included Infinity Ward CTO Jason West. It's possible Vince Zampella is the other unmentioned employee.

"This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation," read the Activision's filing. "At present, the Company does not expect this matter to have a material impact on the Company."

yikes

[treythemovie]

So how many more hours until EA tries to negotiate a deal with them (again)? Of course there's always a small chance that a black horse will sweep them up in the aftermath. I bet Warner or Disney would love to have Metal of Honor Call of Duty Modern Warfare's successor.

[M3wThr33]

Whoa this is... unexpected.

Why would Kotick fire the guys responsible for 2009 best selling game?

Because they won't work on the 2011 best selling MMOFPS. For publishers it's always about the next big thing and this cuntrag of human waste doesn't have a fucking clue what he's doing outside of making games worse for everyone.

[pilonv1]

I said in another thread here, that Activision has it's brands and obviously feels like any developer can churn a game out for them. They see their value as the IP, not the developer.

It might work for a while but once people start to notice the drop in quality it's too late.

[brawndolicious]

My money's on THQ sweeping them up.

what about ubi?  I'd imagine they could have some success with an arcadey tc game.

[Stoney Mason]

http://www.bingegamer.net/2010/infinity-ward-has-not-received-royalties-for-modern-warfare-2/

Lots of rumours here. Who knows what the truth is.

[The Fake Shemp]

That post is largely incoherent.

[maxy]

Meh,not as funny as PS3 demise.

We shall see if anybody follows those two...

[Stoney Mason]

That post is largely incoherent.

Agreed although I doubt the REAL STORY™ will be forthcoming anytime soon.

[duckman2000]

Maybe they can join Glen and Co and make a military horror shooter.

[Diunx]

Meh, don't care about the cod games.

[The Fake Shemp]

Maybe they can join Glen and Co and make a military horror shooter.

Doesn't Schofield work for Activision now?

[duckman2000]

They left for Activision, seriously?

Well, I guess IW did too at one point.

[duckman2000]

Borys bringing the all out distinguished mentally-challenged. Again.

[The Fake Shemp]

They left for Activision, seriously?

Well, I guess IW did too at one point.

Visceral still stands, and a lot of the creative folks stayed behind, but Schofield (and someone else?) left for Activision awhile ago. I thought Internet rumors pegged them as working on a Call of Duty spinoff?

They might be up for a promotion now.

[Himu]

God Activision sucks.

[M3wThr33]

God Activision sucks.

"Now all my life I've seen myself as flying an X-wing with the Rebellion. Then, one day I woke up and I'm on the Death Star."

[dark1x]

I just can't understand how ANYONE could EVER think it is a good idea to leave your publisher for Activision.  They will always inevitably fuck you over.

I'd love to see the whole Infinity Ward team jump ship and go elsewhere.  Let Activision run Modern Warfare into the ground like they do with EVERY OTHER popular franchise they own.

[Don Flamenco]

I just can't understand how ANYONE could EVER think it is a good idea to leave your publisher for Activision.  They will always inevitably fuck you over.

I'd love to see the whole Infinity Ward team jump ship and go elsewhere.  Let Activision run Modern Warfare into the ground like they do with EVERY OTHER popular franchise they own.

back in 2003, EA was still the bad guy and Activision was kinda in the background. 

[Stoney Mason]

I just can't understand how ANYONE could EVER think it is a good idea to leave your publisher for Activision.  They will always inevitably fuck you over.

I'd love to see the whole Infinity Ward team jump ship and go elsewhere.  Let Activision run Modern Warfare into the ground like they do with EVERY OTHER popular franchise they own.

All publishers kinda suck from the perspective of a dev and EA was just as bad a couple of years ago as Activision ever was which is why they left in the first place. It's simply a matter of picking your poison.   

[ManaByte]

This pretty much puts the nail in the coffin for CoD and opens the way for MoH/Battlefield to regain the FPS crown.

[duckman2000]

Borys bringing the all out distinguished mentally-challenged. Again.

I just can't see what you must be seeing in MoH: Reboot.

Military shooter based on Operation Anaconda. Bloody serious consultation from bloody serious dudes. Lean. DICE doing MP. What's there not to like about it? Seriously now.

[Stoney Mason]

This pretty much puts the nail in the coffin for CoD and opens the way for MoH/Battlefield to regain the FPS crown.

Yeah I wouldn't jump to any such conclusion especially if we are talking about a sales perspective. The job of a studio head is to faciliate an environment where by the best games can be made. That is a big deal and Zampella and West were the guys who made that happen. They deserve a lot of respect and credit. But they aren't designers and they aren't coders. You can continue doing good work when there is a change in head of managment. There are many franchises where the head of the food chain left and they continued on to do good work. A dev team isn't one person.

Of course if Actvision keeps sticking their nose in the process, that could indeed lead to studio defections or an environment where making the best game possible isn't possible anymore.  

[cool breeze]

I would say most people don't care/know the difference between Infinity Ward/Treyarch.

That said, I don't think we will ever know exactly how MW2 would fare of Treyarch made it.  If Treyarch releases MW3 this year, you could have shooter fatigue and less people buying.  The last game was essentially CoD4 in WW2, and it was popular enough, but again it was going back to WW2 and might not have had as much appeal as modern war.  I think Activision will push out barely changed sequels until they stop selling, then find another franchise to exploit.  See:  Tony Hawk, Spider-Man, Guitar Hero, etc.

With any luck, they give up near the end and give it to a decent smaller dev who makes the first good CoD game in years, only it was really rough despite the right ideas.  But then they will destroy that studio.  I want Web of Shadow 2  :'(