Activision WWS boss Dave Stohl said he’s “100 percent confident” that Infinity Ward will rise to the occasion and “come back to what it was,” but the publisher doesn’t want to “tamper with” the studio’s culture.
Kotick comments on the Infinity Ward firings
On May - 7 - 2010
Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, used a financial conference call today to discuss the firing of Jason West and Vincent Zampella, saying he had no choice but to fire them.
“The decision to remove the Infinity ward executives was not taken lightly, and was not done to deprive them of their bonuses,” quotes Eurogamer. He goes on to say that he saw no other solution but to fire them: “Once you begin to understand what has occured, there was no grey area. There was no way to retain their services, as talented as they might have been.”
Kotick also mentions that he considered West & Zampella friends, and that their behavior was a betrayal of that friendship, and that he is upset about the all the people that have left Infinity Ward so far, but that he still has confidence in the remaining team, and the unannounced project they are working on. (My expert opinion: It will have either “Call”, “Duty” or both in the title.)
According to Cynical Smirk’s updated list, 39 out of 101 employees have left or been fired from Infinity Ward so far, and more are expected.
Eight more leave Infinity Ward, no one’s surprised
On April - 27 - 2010
,Holy understated shock, Batman, more people are leaving Infinity Ward! Someone update Modern Warfare 2′s end credits again, please?!
In addition to the five who left this weekend, an additional three – level designer Keith Bell, designer Charlie Wiederhold and level designer Preston Glenn – packed up and left Infinity Ward at the end of last week.
However, fire more employees decided to leave IW yesterday: lead character artist Joel Emslie, weapons artist Ryan Lastimosa, artist Brad Allen, lead programmer Robert Field and HR/recruitment specialist Kristin Cotterell.
That’s a whopping 26 employees in total to leave Infinity Ward since the debacle with Activision began. According to Kotaku this constitutes “the bulk of the studio’s creative and programming ‘brains trust’”.
Senior software engineer Chris Lambert and designer Brent McLoud have joined up with Respawn Studios since leaving Infinity Ward.
Infinity Ward loses more staff yet again
On April - 26 - 2010
More and more people are leaving Infinity Ward by the day, and the number is slowly creeping up to that magical 20 already predicted by Michael Pachter.
Senior designers Mohammad Alavi, Chad Grenier and Brent McLoud have left the company, along with programmer Chris Lambert and designer Jason McCord. That brings the total up to 18 employees. This was confirmed in a report by Kotaku.
Eight of the former IW staffers have joined up with Zampella and West’s new studio, Respawn Entertainment, with programmer John Shirling, designer Mackey McCandlish and lead software designer Francesco Gigliotti being the last to join according to G4.
What all of this has to say for the future of Modern Warfare remains to be seen. And yes, that banner never gets old!
Seven ex-Infinity Warders join Respawn Entertainment
On April - 23 - 2010
Respawn Entertainment was founded not two weeks ago, and already former staff members at Infinity Ward are being hired. I bet no one saw this coming.
Seven former members of Infinity Ward have joined up with Vince Zampella and Jason West’s new development studio: Programmer Jon Shirling, lead designer Mackey McCandlish, lead game designer Todd Alderman, lead animators Mark Grigsby & JP Messerly, Chris Cherubini and software engineer Rayme C Vinson.
Does this mean Respawn Entertainment will become the new Infinity Ward? Only time will tell, but Respawn’s certainly gaining quite the star line-up.
More people might leave Infinity Ward
On April - 22 - 2010
Michael Pachter already predicted it, but now it’s been semi-confirmed. Activision blogger Dan Amrich believes more people will leave developer Infinity Ward, perhaps to join Respawn Entertainment.
In a discussion on Facebook in a Activision/Bobby Kotick hate group, Amrich said the studio still has some talent left in it, despite numerous employees taking their hats and leaving.
“More people will probably go too, looking for new situations,” he said, “Maybe they will join Respawn, maybe not. I’m confused, because by leaving, they are giving up their bonus — and the more people that leave, the bigger the bonus gets for the people who stay.”
Amrich also added he had no idea of what really happened between Activision and the former heads of IW, except what was released into the public domain.
“First thing I asked myself was, “What really happened?” Why would Activision fire the guys so publicly after so much success?,” he said.
“What brought that drastic measure about? And until Activision goes to court over it or files its own legal paperwork in a countersuit or something like that, we will not know. We know one side, but like you, I am dying to learn the other.”
Michael Pachter predicts 20 people will leave Infinity Ward
On April - 16 - 2010
The buzz is still on Infinity Ward this week and it’s time for Michael Pachter to step in and offer his incredible insight on the gaming world.
The Wedbush Morgan analyst has stated that up to at least 20 steff members could decide to leave Infinity Ward. Yesterday animators Mark Grigsby and Paul Messerly left the studio, rounding out the full dozen that has quit their job since the firing of Vince Zampella and Jason West.
“We think that recent Activision share weakness has been compounded by additional departures at Infinity Ward which accelerated this week, and we expect another 10 – 20 employees to depart over the next few months,” Pachter said in a note.
“In the past month, Infinity Ward has lost eleven employees (a designer, a lead animator, a lead artist, a lead character animator, three lead designers, two programmers, a senior animator, and a software engineer).”
He further added: “In our view, the company will likely replace the departed employees with skilled developers, and while increased competition may impact sales of future versions of Modern Warfare, we expect the company to put out a competitive product.”
West & Zampella form new studio, gives it a symbolic name
On April - 12 - 2010
Jason West and Vincent Zampella, the two executives that were unceremoniously fired from Modern Warfare studio Infinity Ward by owner Activision, announced today that they are forming a new studio, under Activisions biggest rival, EA.
The pair have formed the studio Respawn Entertainment, a name I would usually deem generic, but seems to fit their situation pretty well. This makes them the second newly formed studio to make a thinly veiled jab at their former employer.
After being fired on the spot by Activision, and escorted out by security, the two filed a complaint against Activision, and signed up with a Hollywood talent agency. Activision filed their counter-suit before the weekend, of which Kotaku has a pretty good summary. This move does lend credence to the claim by Activision that the execs were going behind their backs talking to EA, but it is of course entirely possible that they made the deal with EA after being fired.
Two more leave Infinity Ward
On April - 6 - 2010
We’ve heard little from developer Infinity Ward since the debacle surrounding the departure of founders Jason West and Vince Zampella, but now it seems even more employees are picking up their hats and leaving.
Todd Alderman, lead designer and one of the key personnel involved in MW multiplayer and MW2′s story, and Francesco Gigliotti, lead software engineer, have both left the studio after eight and seven years of employment respectively. Read the rest of this entry »
Pachter: West, Zampella “unlikely” to win Modern Warfare IP rights
On March - 5 - 2010
In the one time Michael Pachter may actually be right, he chimed in to say that in the current “war” between Infinity Ward and Activision, Jason West and Vince Zampella may be “unlikely” to get the rights to the Modern Warfare name (via Critical Gamer).
Internal Activision memo suggest talks between IW and EA
On March - 5 - 2010
A leaked Activision memo might give some insight onto why Jason West and Vince Zampella were fired from Infinity Ward.
Activision dismisses Infinity Ward suit as “meritless”
On March - 4 - 2010
Well, it just keeps going, doesn’t it?
Seeking $36 million from Activision, Activision has responded to the claim and said that they are “disappointed.”
Ex-IW bosses seek $36 million in suit
On March - 4 - 2010
Bloomberg announced that West and Zampella are seeking “at least $36 million” from Activision in the lawsuit.
The $36 million is sought in addition to control over the Modern Warfare name, which is seen as “a subset of the ‘Call of Duty’ combat games, according to a copy of the complaint,” according to the Bloomberg piece.
First part of today’s IW vs Activision news here.
Ex-IW heads get legal
On March - 4 - 2010
The shitstorm still goes on as ex-Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella seek action against Activision for unpaid royalties.
Rumour: Infinity Ward not paid royalties for Modern Warfare 2
On March - 2 - 2010
According to BingeGamer, Activision has not paid royalties to Infinity Ward over the success of Modern Warfare 2.
The article cites sources “associated with Activision” who says this could be one of the reasons for the confrontation between publisher and developer earlier today.
BingeGamer also mentions that Infinity Ward have been looking for a new deal with another publisher.
IW is contracted to Activision as a developer until October, and it’s rumoured that Activision’s move is a power play to try and bully Infinity ward into staying with Activision. Both developer and publisher owns equal parts of the Call of Duty Franchise, so Activision might be moving to acquire IW’s half of the CoD name.
