Big Trouble in Little Infinity Ward

[MaximusR3]

Gamepro reports security officers have arrived at and secured Infinity Ward's office and two high ups have not been heard from since a meeting prior that day. Are IW secretly storing weapons of mass destruction? Has someone stolen the coffee pot lid? Did someone say bomb in an airport? has one of the employees been photographed after not having shaved and months and fresh out of the shower with a towel on their head?


lol i'm curious and i'm sure the gaming world will keep us posted

check out the short article at GamePro.com

[Pakman3000]

Looks like Activision wanted to flex against highlevel IW staff who didn't want the studio to be pigeonholed into being a COD factory. Artist always want to branch out and work on something new. Stay tuned.

[MaximusR3]

Gamepro has now updated their article with the little bit of new information available, still a lot of confusion as to what's going on over there.

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.

someone not wanting to do Modern Warfare 3 and getting the axe?

[MaximusR3]

Another updated article as information and details unfold:

Analysis: How the Infinity Ward scandal affects Call of Duty


senior executives Vince Zampella and Jason West are officially gone and i'm not sure how the series is going to fare after this. IW already declined to work on MW3 so that one is being handled elsewhere.

[River_Rat_459]

The plot thickens!

[jack]

there goes the neighborhood

[Pakman3000]

Looks like Activision wants to turn COD into the fucking Guitar Hero of FPS games.

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."

http://kotaku.com/5484026/activision...per-new-genres

[Timmy_2_Tones]

Well even if the COD trend is about to tank. I saw this in that article and thought it was fairly interesting.

COD Vietnam? This truly has been my dream for many years now. So tired of COD WWII (again, and again, and again)

[MaximusR3]

extend the franchise into the action-adventure genre

.....uhhh....what? I'm having trouble visualizing that



as for a Vietnam title, i'd give that a shot, i'm really looking forward to something new. Put a good 60's soundtrack to that and it has a lot of potential. Imagine storming enemy positions while hearing surfing bird :mrgreen: Plus a good 75% of gear we used in the Marines was old enough to have been used during Vietnam so i'd feel right at home with it lol

[Crusty]

Vietnam version would be cool. and they could steal the scene from Apocalypse Now when they are flying in to the tune of Flight of the Valkyries. Since COD does love to steal their scenes from movies ...

Maybe have a Dafoe in Platoon moment with one of the guys running through the jungle and out onto the LZ getting shot up and then throwing his arms up into the air.

[jack]

Looks like Activision wants to turn COD into the fucking Guitar Hero of FPS games.

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."

http://kotaku.com/5484026/activision...per-new-genres

after reading this rather disappointing release , i differ back to a statement that i made about infinity ward.... regarding the new step they were making in online play. they can go screw themselves with a broom handle sideways. :mrgreen:

[RedCon-ONE]

Hmm. Maybe Vince Zampella and Jason West can go and work for Zipper Interactive on MAG 2. 8-)

[jack]

yeah it will give them a fresh chance..... to completely whore out another franchise.

[MaximusR3]

there's been a little word here and there about this situation; Vince Zampella and Jason West suing Activision, Activision counter suing. Just legal stuff that i take little interest in, but now something interesting has come up.

Vince Zampella and Jason West Have now formed a company called Respawn Entertainment and signed with EA. Now the question is, how many Infinity Ward members will defect to Respawn? Two more senior members have already left but not sure if they have gone to Respawn yet or if they intend to.

So now we may have a new company to keep an eye on and hopefully they can start producing something new since COD is no longer theirs.

Read more details at GamePro.com

[Pakman3000]

there's been a little word here and there about this situation; Vince Zampella and Jason West suing Activision, Activision counter suing. Just legal stuff that i take little interest in, but now something interesting has come up.

Vince Zampella and Jason West Have now formed a company called Respawn Entertainment and signed with EA. Now the question is, how many Infinity Ward members will defect to Respawn? Two more senior members have already left but not sure if they have gone to Respawn yet or if they intend to.

So now we may have a new company to keep an eye on and hopefully they can start producing something new since COD is no longer theirs.

Read more details at GamePro.com

After reading up, I'm gonna go on the record as saying that the 2 IW guys are douchebags who wanted more dough and creative control. Activision has damning emails and are claiming corporate espionage with a "huge rival". Them signing with EA today proves it.

[River_Rat_459]

Their first title will be called "Call of Who He?: Modern Glitchfest".

[jack]

after all the issues's that have risen, regarding glitches in this game I view it like this. If it tanks because of this corporate spring cleaning… good riddance I wont miss it. :mrgreen:

[ASignorelli]

EA is gonna own face now. nuf said.

[DaCajun]

So is that why MW2 was a glitch fest because they wanted this to happen so they can start there own company and break away from Activision for more money. Not that I would blame them since Activision just seems to want to pump out crap as fast as they can as long as the fanboys will eat it up buying it by the millions.

[jack]

So is that why MW2 was a glitch fest because they wanted this to happen so they can start there own company and break away from Activision for more money. Not that I would blame them since Activision just seems to want to pump out crap as fast as they can as long as the fanboys will eat it up buying it by the millions.

You know Cajun I wouldn't be surprised