I just hope Activision don't screw Bungie over, even though they have the contract they want...
And Takis, did you mean Melon instead of Enciada?
I was saying the company as a whole give of an arrogant vibe to me 'cos they "own the most bucks" in the industry. Don't take that to heart, just what I think...
Heres Tha Facts , Activison Sued Infinity Ward for ALL Profit of Modern Warefare 2. Reason is because they didnt include Activision in Tha game , an When you play That game it says Modern Warefare 2 , Not Call of Duty Modern Warefare 2, Get it?
Infinity Ward Members Left to Join this new Group called Sledge Hammer, Which are the people who are Creating Mw3. Sledge Hammer has Almost 3/4 of Infinity Wards Team , Few from Activision, Treyarch has like 1-3 , An EA is Tha Publisher I Believe ..
Hope This Clears it up, Also More news coming SOON !
Zombie Assassins Founder: ZA was born on December 24th, 2009.
UPDATE #3: A source close to Infinity Ward told G4 that Activision CEO Bobby Kotick will address development leads at the studio in a meeting today. Details on the meeting are unclear, but likely related to the events that have transpired overnight (read below). The source says there will also be a second meeting to address the studio as whole. We're certain some interesting developments will unfold once we hear the outcome of these meetings. Stay tuned for updates.
UPDATE #2: News has surfaced that reveals Infinity Ward as not having received any royalties from Activision for Modern Warfare 2. Additionally, the developer may have breached their contract with Activision by holding meetings with other publishers.
According to Binge Gamer, it’s not yet known whether Infinity Ward and Activision made agreements that royalties would be paid, but every source has mentioned that the developer has received no additional compensation.
The same article also points to Infinity Ward as having talks with “rival publishers.” If this is true, then it may indeed mean that Activision’s contract with the Modern Warfare 2 developer was breached.
More news as it develops.
[Via Industry Gamers]
UPDATE #1: G4 has updated their story with a new discovery. It seems Activision hinted at this news earlier today in a telltale line buried in an SEC filing:
"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."
G4's report speculates that at least one of the senior employees mentioned is Jason West, since it seems clear that he has left the company for some reason. The above line also seems to indicate that there may be lawsuits involved, which likely means we'll have more information on what "breaches of contract and insubordination" were going on soon.
ORIGINAL STORY: Just in case the ApocalyPS3 nonsense from earlier in the day wasn't crazy enough, the beginning of March continues to offer up some utterly insane happenings in the world of video games. The latest comes from Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward, who appear to have some bad things happening at their studio.
G4TV reports from "a source close to the...developer" that Infinity Ward studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West met with Activision earlier today and then disappeared from the building. Shortly after that, "a bunch of bouncer-types" arrived in the office.
Though no official comment has been provided regarding the situation, G4TV's report describes the mood around the Infinity Ward office as "freaked out and confused," understandably.
We can see the business class case study on Activision now: "In retrospect, threatening your employees and withholding their rightfully earned bonuses may not be the best course of action when dealing with your most talented studio." The list of veteran developers resigning from prized studio Infinity Ward continues to expand in the wake of Activision's strong-armed negotiation tactics, with a few more defections being reported by Kotaku.
To put things into perspective, here is the list of senior staff IW members who have walked away in the aftermath of the Jason West and Vince Zampella firings thus far:
Francesco Gigliotti - lead engineer
Jon Shiring - engineer
Rayme Vinson - engineer
Todd Alderman - lead designer, writer
Steve Fukuda - lead designer, writer
Mackey McCandlish - lead designer, writer
Zied Reike - lead designer, writer
Chris Cherubini- lead artist
Mark Grigsby - lead animator, lead rapper
Paul Messerly - lead animator
None of the refugees have stated where they plan to work next, but we can wager one good guess. Good luck, boys. Stay frosty.
