The past twenty four hours may prove to be 2010’s most dramatic day for gaming. It all began Monday evening when G4’s Patrick Klepek began reporting on a “tense” situation at Infinity Ward. Non-uniformed security personal had taken up position outside the developer’s offices. The situation between the Modern Warfare 2 dev and publisher Activision was described as being “tense” as of late. Studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella had met with Activision Monday morning and hadn’t been seen thereafter by anyone at IW.
Several hours later, things started breaking loose. Jason West updated his Facebook status with a message that read “Jason West is drinking. Also, unemployed.” West’s Linkedin profile was also updated, indicating his position as President/Game Director/CCO/CTO at Infinity Ward had ended as of March 2010. It was also discovered in an SEC report filed Monday morning, Activision stated, in part:
“In November 2009, the Company released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, a game developed by one of the Company’s wholly-owned studios, Infinity Ward. As noted above, Modern Warfare 2 was the best selling console title in the U.S. and Europe in 2009. Consistent with past practice, the Company intends to release a Call of Duty game in 2010 developed by another wholly-owned studio. The Company is concluding an internal human resources inquiry into breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward. 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.”
By Tuesday morning things were beginning to coalesce. Vince Zampella’s Linkedin profile had also been updated to reflect his departure from Infinity Ward. Speculation mounted about tension between the studio and publisher over the Call of Duty franchise. Infinity Ward had reportedly not been pleased with the idea of any other developer working on a Call of Duty title. When the studio renewed its contract with Activision in 2009, one clause affirmed that only IW be allowed to make CoD games in a contemporary setting. With Infinity Ward on a game-every-two-years production cycle and Activision wanting a new CoD title annually, its not difficult to see where the friction over outside devs working on Call of Duty would have entered the fray. As it turns out, when they finally showed their hand, Activision’s plans went far beyond a third party developer and new Call of Duty title during Infinity Ward’s off year.
In a press release on Tuesday, March 2nd Activision “announced new strategic plans for the Call of Duty® franchise” that included the formation of a CoD business unit, a new entry in the franchise from Treyarch in fall 2010, a new game expected in 2011, and that the publisher was in “discussions with a select number of partners to bring the franchise to Asia, one of the fastest growing regions for online multiplayer games in the world.”
We also learned that wholly-owned subsidiary Sledgehammer Games (helmed by Dead Space alumns Glen A. Schofield and Michael Condrey) is working on a new title that will expand the Call of Duty franchise into the action-adventure genre. The press release confirmed that while Jason West and Vince Zampella are no longer with the studio, Infinity Ward would still deliver the first two DLC map packs for Modern Warfare 2 sometime this year. Activision hasn’t elaborated any further on the charges of “insubordination” or the legal proceedings alluded to in the SEC filing.
So that’s it gang. In the last twenty-four hours the two men most directly responsible for one of the biggest franchises in gaming history were handed their hats and shown the door. The apparent reason is that Activision wanted to expand the Call of Duty franchise into a immense, multi-tiered brand while West and Zampella didn’t.
So what do you think? Did Activision screw themselves or cut dead weight that was holding them back? Did the former heads of IW get the sharp end of the stick or were they just too narrow minded to grasp the big picture? Will this negatively impact the Call of Duty series or turn it into the first mega-franchise of the modern console era? Cry havoc and let us know what you think about this remarkable series of events.
The past twenty four hours may prove to be 2010’s most dramatic day for gaming. It all began Monday evening when G4’s Patrick Klepek began reporting on a “tense” situation at Infinity Ward. Non-uniformed security personal had taken up position outside the developer’s offices. The situation between the Modern Warfare 2 dev and publisher Activision was described as being “tense” as of late. Studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella had met with Activision Monday morning and hadn’t been seen thereafter by anyone at IW. This is what followed.
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