Activision Storms Infinity Ward: Studio Head Laid Off
Publisher-developer relations said to be "tense".
Infinity Ward is facing the wrath of Activision, with the studio having had an unannounced visit to the studio headquarters by "a bunch of bouncer-types" yesterday. Game Director and CTO Jason West is now unemployed as a result of the visit, with fellow studio head Vince Zampella feared to have seen a similar fate.
G4 first reported the sighting of security at Infinity Ward's offices. The relationship between the Modern Warfare 2 developer and Activision was said to be "tense" at the time. Shortly after, West's Facebook and LinkedIn profiles had been altered to suggest that he is no longer working at the company.
According to an SEC filing, dated 1st March, Activision cites an investigation 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."
SPOnG contacted Activision on the matter - the publisher responded; "no comment".
Infinity Ward is also saying nothing, with Community Manager Robert Bowling writing on Twitter; "I should also say, while I appreciate all the calls, tweets, messages and hearing my ringtone a lot, they're in vain - as I have no info."
Will the departure of IW's studio heads have a big impact to the success of future Call of Duty games? Let us know what you think in the comments box below.
G4 first reported the sighting of security at Infinity Ward's offices. The relationship between the Modern Warfare 2 developer and Activision was said to be "tense" at the time. Shortly after, West's Facebook and LinkedIn profiles had been altered to suggest that he is no longer working at the company.
According to an SEC filing, dated 1st March, Activision cites an investigation 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."
SPOnG contacted Activision on the matter - the publisher responded; "no comment".
Infinity Ward is also saying nothing, with Community Manager Robert Bowling writing on Twitter; "I should also say, while I appreciate all the calls, tweets, messages and hearing my ringtone a lot, they're in vain - as I have no info."
Will the departure of IW's studio heads have a big impact to the success of future Call of Duty games? Let us know what you think in the comments box below.
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Comments
Rutabaga 2 Mar 2010 11:15
1/3
Send Soap in to take out Kotick. It's the only solution.
Serpream 2 Mar 2010 11:16
2/3
To be honest i think this is a great step for healing the COD franchise. MW2 used the same engine as COD4 and in result every glitch and engine issue that wasent fixed was transfered over. Even now there are still some serious glitches overlooked which is a tad too late now as Bad Company 2 is out and the war of the franchises almost seems one sided.
Bukkow 2 Mar 2010 13:05
3/3
It won't have an effect on the success of CoD, it could be developed by an entirely new team and be set on a desert island with 60 hours of wandering around without any combat or encounter of any kind, and it would still sell millions.
The unwashed masses won't know the difference.
The unwashed masses won't know the difference.