Zapp Brannigan
-
Posts
124 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Gallery
Posts posted by Zapp Brannigan
-
-
Obviously the two founders of Infinity Ward left the company, and in the past few weeks, a large number of other people have left too (including team leads and other veteran developers).
It's not looking good for Infinity Ward right now, especially since the former founders set up their own company which will be working with EA. I'm sure they will lure some of the Infinity Ward people away.
http://kotaku.com/5517346/todays-update-on-the-great-modern-warfare-developer-bailout
-
I don't even care anymore. MW2 is horrible, and is without a doubt Activision's fault. They've ruined IW and CoD, I just hope that something can be salvaged from the ruins of IW and that the developers that were fired start up a new FPS franchise.
What I don't get is why people like MW2. It seems as if they've been brainwashed by all the hype to the extent that they blindly defend a video game with all of their effort. If you complain about it, people either say you suck at the game or completely ignore your complaints with false information.
I don't know why people continue to play a game they supposedly hate, why they even bought it in the first place after seeing some indications how bad it would be, or why other people just plain think it's a good and well done game. Beats me. Whatever, guess Activision got its money and that's all they care about, even if they started to run CoD into the ground.
Also:
Infinity Ward Founders Suing Activision Over Unpaid Royalties
Jason West and Vince Zampella, the men at the centre of this week's drama at Call of Duty developers Infinity Ward, have filed suit against Activision over claims they are owed "substantial royalty payments".
"Activision has refused to honor the terms of its agreements and is intentionally flouting the fundamental public policy of this State (California) that employers must pay their employees what they have rightfully earned," said the pair's attorney, Robert Schwartz, of law firm O'Melveny & Myers. "Instead of thanking, lauding, or just plain paying Jason and Vince for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public, last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual 'investigation' into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of 'insubordination' and 'breach of fiduciary duty,' which then became the grounds for their termination on Monday, March 1st."
West and Zampella are coming out swinging. "We were shocked by Activision's decision to terminate our contract," Jason West says. "We poured our heart and soul into that company, building not only a world class development studio, but assembling a team we've been proud to work with for nearly a decade. We think the work we've done speaks for itself."
"After all we have given to Activision, we shouldn't have to sue to get paid", Zampella adds.
Interestingly, in addition to seeking the unpaid royalties, the pair are also after "the contractual rights Activision granted to West and Zampella to control Modern Warfare-branded games". Whether that means they want to make "Modern Warfare" games without Activision, or would seek to have the brand buried if it's without their input, is unclear. We'll update when we hear more.
-
Nnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Yeah, World at War (Treyarch), wasn't as fun for me as MW1 (Infinity Ward). And the way that MW2 ended up, had to have been the result of Activision putting their foot down. IW has historically been against things like no dedicated servers, and with all the glitches in MW2, it had to have been rushed out as well.
Glad I skipped MW2, but still sad to see IW getting crushed by Activision. Activision sure likes to ruin franchises (Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk, now CoD). Good thing for them that they have Blizzard and WoW though, otherwise they'd have nothing.
-
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 game in the Call of Duty series from an unspecified developer. It also announced plans for another Call of Duty-based title from developer Sledgehammer Games, the recently formed studio lead by Dead Space creative leads Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey. The Sledgehammer-helmed 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."
Looks like Infinity Ward is done with the Call of Duty series. I enjoyed the first Modern Warfare but never did pick up #2, because of design decisions which I'm sure were Activision's ideas. Oh well.
-
Scandal Hits Call Of Duty Devs: What We Know [update]
While most of you slept, drama struck Infinity Ward, the creators of the Call of Duty series, with allegations of "insubordination" from publishers Activision and the rumoured departure of the studio's two top men. This post will be updated throughout the day. The news first hit yesterday afternoon, when G4 reported that IW heads Vince Zampella and Jason West had met with Activision, after which neither were seen from again by staffers and "a bunch of bouncer-types" showed up outside Infinity Ward's offices.
The situation between the developer and publisher had been described as "tense" for some time.
Things got interesting a few hours later, when updates to Jason West's Linkedin page revealed that he had ceased employment at the developer.
And then got really interesting when an SEC filing from earlier in the day revealed that Activision had launched an investigation into some allegedly iffy conduct at Infinity Ward, including "insubordination" and "breaches of contract" that affected "two senior employees" at the studio.
That's everything we've heard, so far. Fascinating stuff for the innocent bystander. But what do we actually know?
What's Been Rumoured
- That IW bosses Vince Zampella and Jason West have been fired. Neither the pair nor Activision have issued statements regarding the issue, so the nature of their employment (or departure) is yet to be confirmed; remember, the Activision SEC filing only mentions "two senior employees", it doesn't name names. Indeed, we haven't heard anything from Zampella regarding the situation.
- That Activision sent security guards to the Infinity Ward offices. Who those men are, who sent them and more importantly, what they were doing there have yet to be determined. All we have are reports that they were "bouncer-types", nothing more.
What We Know
- The Activision SEC filing is legit, and is concrete information. They are serious allegations, and will probably result in a major lawsuit.
- Jason West no longer works at Infinity Ward. His Linkedin profile page is legitimate, and clearly states that he ceased employment at the studio in March 2010. We just don't know why/how he no longer works there.
That's it. Be sure to separate the two when considering the situation, as things are still incredibly murky. We will of course update you (and this post) throughout the day as we hear more on the situation.
Update 1: CEO and studio head Vince Zampella's Linked In account updated about 9 a.m. Mountain time this morning. The profile now shows his job at Infinity Ward as previous employment. Under experience Zampella lists his job ending at Infinity Ward this month, after 8 years and three months with the company. His current job and title are listed as TBD.
-THE OFFICIAL-*******Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2*******-THREAD-
in Off-Topic General
Posted · Edited by Ralph_Wiggum13
I'm not posting about the founders leaving as that happened a while ago, I was posting about the numerous other people who have left since then.
THIS VIDEO demonstrates who has left since this all started. Obviously some names are duplicated due to people holding multiple positions, but it's still an interesting representation of the important people who have resigned.