Infinity Ward studio heads sacked?

[semitop]

Wonder what this will mean for future CoD games. If it was their idea to do a MW cod in the first place the future of this noob infested game is even bleaker than I thought.

Infinity Ward president Jason West and studio head Vince Zampella appear to have been sacked by the studio's owner Activision amid dramatic scenes and claims of breach of contract and insubordination.

G4 reported late yesterday that "bouncer-type" security had showed up at the offices of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare developer following a meeting between the two studio heads and Activision, and that West and Zampella hadn't been seen by staff since.

G4 then turned up a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Activision earlier in the day indicating that the publisher was investigating senior staff at Infinity Ward, and expecting to sack and sue them.

"The Company is concluding an internal human resources inquiry into breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward," the filing read. "This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation."

Meanwhile, Kotaku turned up a Facebook status update from West that read, "Jason West is drinking. Also, no longer employed." His profile on the professional networking site LinkedIn also appeared to have been updated, showing his role as "President/Game Director/CCO/CTO at Infinity Ward" as a "Past" employment.

Zampella's status at the moment is unclear. Neither Activision or Infinity Ward has offered an official comment as yet. Infinity Ward's vocal spokesman Robert Bowling simply said "I have no info" on his Twitter.

Zampella and West were among the founding members of Infinity Ward who had previously worked on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault for EA. At their new studio, they created the immensely successful Call of Duty series of first-person shooters for Activision and continued to develop key entries in the series, culminating in the recent smash hits Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2.

West is credited as the director of Modern Warfare 2, which was 2009's best-selling game worldwide and which racked up a billion dollars of sales in two months.

Game creator Tim Schafer, whose Brutal Legend was dropped by Activision before being picked up by EA, commented on his Twitter: "Getting mad at Activision for this kind of thing is like getting mad at an ape for throwing feces. It's just how the beast communicates."

There are a bunch of links in the article for those who want to read more into it.

Eurogamer.net

[En1gma]

yeah...that's true but could also mean a new studio and even better quality "PC" games..

[KoyoteGambit]

yeah...that's true but could also mean a new studio and even better quality "PC" games..

I'm all for that. But its business, people come and people go. If he was infact the director of MW2, he should have no problem finding employment, likewise his partner.

[semitop]

yeah...that's true but could also mean a new studio and even better quality "PC" games..

True but it's the cod series I want to know the implications for. I personally hope
it slowly drifts into nothingness so some of the people who still play it can mature and move on.

It would be interesting to see what these guys can come up with outside of call of duty though. Maybe they were being held back by the publisher in how they could develop cod. really could see something interesting. The problem is activision might press charges on them (probably for dissing activision god kotick or something like that) making their situation a bit worse. Breach of contract and insubordination

[BlackCryptoKnight]

True but it's the cod series I want to know the implications for. I personally hope
it slowly drifts into nothingness so some of the people who still play it can mature and move on.

What did MW2 do to you to make you constantly spew such hate at it? It isn't half as bad as you make it out to be. The way you talk it's like MW2 held you down and humiliated you or something. lol

[semitop]

Yeah I'm just being mean. It's not that its THAT bad its that people make it out to be THAT good. (mw1 and 2 that is)

It has a huge impact on the gaming world btw and to some that might be a good thing... to me it's terrible. Games will always be compared to it if they are of the same genre and gamers, the more they play it, will hold it as a standard despite whatever advancements are made They will always subconsciously wonder "does it play like cod?".... but seriously, fk cod.

i'm clearing my list of irrationally disliked things and making CoD the sole occupant of that list. Thus I can make statements like these - If you like CoD (any game in the series) you are retarded The level of your appreciation for the cod series is inversely proportional to how much sense you have.

To be honest I probably just got tired of the series and not understanding why it is still relevant. But ignore this last paragraph... focus on my unrelenting hatred up top.

[BlackCryptoKnight]

Bwoy semi, you are a real sample.

I've only played MW2. I enjoy it. It is far from perfect, but it is accessible, and allows for some nicely paced, fun gameplay. The control scheme is rather good I think. I was surprised at how well I was able to handle things with the controller. I typically dislike console FPS because controllers retard effective FPS gameplay for me. MW2 pleasantly surprised me with that. So of course it's impacted console FPS significantly. They came up with some innovative, and effective things with that game. Good stuff I say.

In their next endeavour, hopefully, those guys can continue to innovate.

[semitop]

A sample of what?

I know what u are saying about mw2 and thats pretty much what my theory was; Its noob friendly. You will say thats not a bad thing, and it isn't... but is it really much more than that?

The learning curve is pitiful and making gamers accustomed to that will be bad for other games that attempt more. Too much learning in the initial phase of comparison to mw = fail to a gamer. The controller isn't moving like they like it, the guns aren't shooting nicely, the guy isn't moving like they are used to, they can't play without thinking like they are used to, the buttons aren't laid out the same etc etc. Brain ends up in a Kernel panic to reboot and back to mw

[BlackCryptoKnight]

A sample of what?

A sample of a character with a "different" thought process

I know what u are saying about mw2 and thats pretty much what my theory was; Its noob friendly. You will say thats not a bad thing, and it isn't... but is it really much more than that?

The learning curve is pitiful and making gamers accustomed to that will be bad for other games that attempt more. Too much learning in the initial phase of comparison to mw = fail to a gamer.

To me, being n00b friendly, as you put it, is not a bad thing. Making the game more accessible from a control perspective makes it easier for players to focus on playing the game and having fun with it. The only area in which n00b friendly controls not be desired, is if you are creating a sim. When you check it out though, considerably less persons like the strict sim experience since it makes the games more difficult to play and thus less enjoyable for many.

Games don't have to be complicated to be fun. If you can make a fun game, with simple controls, but with gameplay that is innovative, engaging and rewarding, then that is the stuff of win. Infinity Ward did that with the MW series.

As for what the future holds for COD after the departure of those execs? I dunno. If Infinity Ward decides to put out another COD/MW game, and they actually listen to the feedback from the community about the previous games, then I don't see why another great game can't be produced. They have a good formula. They just need to find a way to keep it fresh. Maybe a fresh set of eyes/hands is what they need to do that.

[semitop]

Looks like IW really is done for cod

Activision's New Plans For Call of Duty Include New Developer, New Genres

Publisher Activision announced today new "strategic plans" for the Call of Duty franchise, announcing a new developer for the shooter franchise and confirming the departure of key Infinity Ward staffers.

Activision announced it will form a "dedicated [Call of Duty] business unit that will bring together its various new brand initiatives with focused, dedicated resources around the world." It plans to expand the Call of Duty brand "with the same focus seen in its Blizzard Entertainment business unit" placing a focus on "high-margin digital online content and further the brand as the leading action entertainment franchise in new geographies, new genres and with new digital business models."

As previously announced, Activision will release a new Call of Duty game from series co-developer Treyarch, responsible for Call of Duty 3 and Call of Duty: World At War, this fall. Developer Infinity Ward is still scheduled to release two downloadable map packs for Modern Warfare 2 this year.

In 2011, Activision will release another new Call of Duty game from Sledgehammer Games, the recently formed studio lead by Dead Space creative leads Glen A. Schofield and Michael Condrey. The title will "extend the franchise into the action-adventure genre."

The previously mentioned Call of Duty business unit will be led by Philip Earl, who currently runs Activision Publishing's Asia Pacific region. Activision Publishing's Steve Pearce, chief technology officer, and Steve Ackrich, head of production, will lead Infinity Ward on an interim basis. Former studios heads Jason West and Vince Zampella are no longer with Infinity Ward, officially.

"Activision doesn't comment on HR matters related to its studios," said reps when asked for comment about the departures and allegations of insubordination. The two former Infinity Ward heads are said to have butted heads with their publisher creatively over the direction of the Call of Duty franchise.

Activision Publishing also announced that the company is "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."