To the surprise of none, former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella have today announced the formation of a new studio, Respawn Entertainment, and a subsequent worldwide, exclusive publishing deal with none other than chief Activision rival Electronic Arts.

BOOM!

“Respawn Entertainment marks a fresh start for Jason and me,” said Vince Zampella, General Manager of Respawn Entertainment. “For the past decade we led a great development team and poured our hearts into creating an epic game franchise. We’re very proud of what we built – and proud that so many millions of fans enjoyed those games. Today we hope to do it all over again — open a new studio, hire a great team, and create brand new games with a new partner, EA.”

Frank Gibeau, President of the EA Games Label commented, “This is the start of a great publishing partnership – one that I expect will develop blockbuster game franchises. Jason and Vince are two of the top creative leaders in the entertainment industry. At EA, we’re honored to be their partners and to give them the support they need to hire a team and return to making incredible games.”

According to the press release, the company will focus on “creating state-of-the-art gaming experiences for global audiences” while it is currently assembling a world-class team of designers, artists and engineers. They apparently still need folks though, and even opened their inbox to resumes via jobs@respawn.com.

“We’re excited,” added Jason West, President of Respawn Entertainment. “Now that the team is in control of the games and brands, we can ensure that the fans are treated as well as they deserve.”

So, there ya go…It should be interesting to see how this all develops as we wait for the next lawsuit to respawn…