Activision Vs Infinity Ward. Last good CoD game ..gone?

t. · March 2, 2010

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I've been cruising around various gaming blogs and news sites over the past 24 hours having caught wind of rumours that there were issues involving the leaders of Infinity Ward. (Besides laughing at the PS3 date lockout lolololololol)

This morning it was confirmed that IW head Jason West had been released from his position at IW with partner Vince Zampella still MIA.

There have been various rumors since the turn of the year that Activision was bringing in a new developer for Modern Warfare 3, taking IW's prize IP from under them and possibly ruining the franchise, after all gamers aren't all stupid and have avoided the Treyarch versions of the franchise previously.

There is a large amount of Deja Vu about this situation, after all a very similar situation caused the creation of Infinity Ward to begin with. In 2002 15 employees of the development team 2015, Inc walked out following the release of Medal of Honor: European Assault. Rumour behind this walkout was that the developers didn't want to be tied down to the MoH franchise and be at EA's beck and call. These 15 people formed Infinity Ward, which was then acquired by Activision.

So what's going on this time?

Well again kind of the same, it's still rumours but it's said that IW may have been wanting to establish a new IP, making a game besides CoD. Why would this bother Activision? Who knows, seems odd but one can only assume that they didn't want anyone being distracted from working on their main cash cow. Employing two new studios to run a franchise they created may have contributed also. (Treyarch and the currently unknown developer of MW3).

While Infinity Ward is likely to live on as a studio under the control of Activision, whether it produces the same quality of games is unknown, as is where West and Zampella will now go.

Activision has also announced that there will be yet another CoD game later this year, likely to be developed by Treyarch (CoD 3 & CoD WaW developers). Modern Warfare 3 is believe to be in the early stages of creation also, but not by Infinity Ward.

To sum it up, it seems Infinity Ward weren't happy with what Activision wanted to do and refused, at the cost of the MD's job. Exactly why, who and what is yet to come out.

Some of what I've been reading;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinity_Ward

http://kotaku.com/5483427/activision-cites-infinity-ward-insubordination?

http://kotaku.com/5483412/deja-vu--surrounds-infinity-ward-rumors?

http://kotaku.com/5483348/report-strange-things-are-afoot-at-infinity-ward-president-ousted?

TimBud · March 2, 2010

Good effort matey!

hopefully this could mean a new dev that could well produce some better COD style games?! Maybe with a longer SP campaign too ;)

EW · March 2, 2010

If IW go then I personaly wont be buying cod games.... I hate treyarch ***** games and if IW leave it will be the end of the Modernwarfare francishe noone will buy MW3 if treyarch have anything to do with it.

Imo Activision = Fail

Simply put.

T0M722 · March 3, 2010

I agree with Woody, Treyarch isn't as good as IW even though IW have some major flaws.

t. · March 3, 2010

Treyarch maps > Infinity Ward maps all day.

Infinity Ward gameplay > Treyarch all day.

Immelmann · April 13, 2010

Activision Vs Infinity Ward. Last good CoD game ..gone?

There was a good one?

HOAX · April 13, 2010

From the Wikipedia link in first post:

...it was reported that two more senior developers had resigned. The Linkedin profiles of both Lead designer Todd Alderman and lead software Francesco Gilgiotti indicated that the two had left the company earlier in April.

...the departure of three more Infinity Ward employees was revealed. Programmer Jon Shiring, Senior Animator Bruce Ferriz, and Modern Warfare 2 lead designer Mackey McCandlish all announced they had left the studio, but declined to elaborate on their reasons for doing so.

...the LA Times reported West and Zampella forming a brand new independent gaming studio known as Respawn Entertainment. They are seeking funding from EA through the EA Partners Program, but no details were revealed regarding future releases under the new company.

I have read before that they have allready signed up with Creative Artists Agency in Hollywood, so they are probably heading for a new direction, at leased business wise. I guess they are still thinking FPS (refering to their company name, Respawn Entertainment).

It could be they have done something excelent, but I don't think so. Losing all their best co-workers means it won't be the same. Allmost every movie coming from Hollywood these days are just crap. Everything is just 100% animation and FX. Could be that kinda thinking is good for games but since I don't like Hollywood films anymore then my guts tells me this will just be another poop flushed down the toilet.

The thing that is for sure, firing IW's top heads is no good business for Activision. But if the rumors are true, then I would've done the same. The rumors says they where "talking" to rival studios, which isn't a good thing. It's like being criminal. You won't snitch on yo homie, right?

Anyways, a countersuit was filed the April 6 on them by Activision. A case management conference for West And Zampella vs Activision is scheduled for June 21, 2010 so we will see then what the real reason was for firing Zampella and West.

@Him Himself - If you are thinking about MW2 for PC then I agree. The multiplayer was crap. A FPS game without dedicated servers was a big mistake. SP was pretty good tho. Since tWm. has an xbox tag then I guess he is playing MW2 MP on Xbox, which was alot better than the PC version. MW1 was pretty good.

The upcoming Call of Duty's are CoD 7 (Treyarch), CoD "Untitled" (Sledgehammer Games) and CoD: Modern Warfare 3 (game was announced right after release of MW2 and has never been "officially closed").

I agree that Treyarch has not delivered any good titles so far but everyone gains experience. We should give them a chance. Sledgehammer was behind Dead Space so we know they have quality. MW3 is probably closed or at leased put on hold until they find someone else to take over IW's work, if not IW is still working on it, since they are claiming that the MW serie are theirs.

T0M722 · April 13, 2010

There was a good one?

Bump again :lol: No worry to me but I'm just noticing a pattern here :fp:

Immelmann · April 15, 2010

lolwut?

T0M722 · April 15, 2010

Don't worry :)

FizzPagan2000 · April 21, 2010

good cod game?

i saw a good friend leave tdu to play cod4 and he came back a complete pleb along with plebs in tow.

i'm not a particularly aggressive player - i usually play to relax.

i really don't think i'm well suited to cod games.

i guess it can't be true that all cod players are plebs. twm and woodruff seem to like it and they're a couple of the brightest sparks (nerds - jk) around...