The scary case of Infinity Ward

as much as this is a bad thing, i'm looking forward to the consequences this will create for activision in the future.

Quote from Furyo

It's also silly to blame him for everything Activision does, just like people blame Gabe Newell whenever they're not happy with Valve. They don't take all the decisions, that's why they have delegated responsibilities...

ultimately a green light is necessary from the higher ups in order to proceed with actions such as these. while he may act in the best interest of shareholders, he is still wholly responsible for whatever actions he takes in accordance with any business strategy or other will of the shareholders. shareholders just want to make more money; they don't care how. the CEO decides the how.

yeah but I'm referring to the specifics. The CEO will give you your objectives, maybe the plan, but that's up to the execs below to implement that. In the case of these two guys leaving IW, I wouldn't be surprised if Kotick only got the memo once the day passed.

i doubt that. it seems like a conspicuous complot to remove whatever lead there has been at IW in order to let the rest of the plan work out. in the same way the don of a mafia would know and "green light" an assassination, the CEO would know what, exactly, would happen. it is not a known custom to send security in to remove a head of a division.

"Former Infinity Ward heads Vince Zampella and Jason West are bringing a lawsuit against Activision for breach of contract and other claims, after Activision terminated their employment on March 1. The press release announcing the suit claims that Activision was scheduled to pay "substantial royalty payments," but fired them before the date of the payment.

"Instead of thanking, lauding, or just plain paying Jason and Vince for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public," attorney Robert Schwartz said, "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."

In addition to compensation, the suit seeks to return the contractual rights Zampella and West previously had to the Modern Warfare brand."

Full version here: http://kotaku.com/5485295/infinity-ward ... -royalties

So yeah, the move to SledgeHammer Games has absolutely nothing to do with it

at any rate this has shown me that i won't bother working for activision, ever.

what a bunch of cocksmokers. I doubt zampella/west will win their legal battle against a giant pile of lawyer money, but I'm rooting for them.

My guess is they settle for something less out of court.. unless they stick to their guns about getting their rights to the MW brand back. Doubt activision cough that one up without brute force.

Quote from twiz

what a bunch of cocksmokers. I doubt zampella/west will win their legal battle against a giant pile of lawyer money, but I'm rooting for them.

Their chances will improve substantially if they hire Cooper & Norman's services.

Quote from Sentura

at any rate this has shown me that i won't bother working for activision, ever.

You shouldnt, unless you like to live under the thought that you can be fired any minute if your project don't promise to cash in at least 5.000.000 dollars

Kotaku got their hands on the 16 page lawsuit:

http://kotaku.com/5485703/ousted-infini ... s/gallery/

Someone in the comments made some bullet points with the major points:

Quote

In a nutshell: Activision wants to rape the series and leave it for dead. West and Zampella contested this, so Activision removed them from the frame.Summary:

- Activision fired them to avoid paying royalties and gain control over Infinity Ward.

- Infinity Ward had been granted full creative control over the series, and Activision decided that they no longer wanted this to be the case.

- West and Zampella apparently invited to a sham meeting and accused of false charges, which Activision used as basis to fire them.

- Activision CEO quoted as saying that best way to run a studio is to engender a culture of "skepticism, pessimism and fear".

- West and Zampella want the royalties they were set to receive as outlined in their contracts, and want ownership of the "Modern Warfare" brand.

- Activision agreed to let West and Zampella run IW freely as an independent studio.

- Activision broke the agreement by pressuring IW into making Modern Warfare 2 (which they never wanted to make), and by issuing "aggressive schedules".

- IW employees have apparently not been paid fairly.

- Contract gave West and Zampella complete control over studio, complete creative control over brand and "explicitly provides that no such game can be commercially released without the written consent of West and Zampella". West and Zampella were to receive royalties over titles, the brand and the unique technologies used in the "Call of Duty" and "Modern Warfare" games.

- Agreement intended to provide West, Zampella AND studio employees with compensation for their work.

- Royalties were due to be paid on 31 March 2010. Activision said to have launched a phony investigation on 3 February 2010 to provide a basis on which to remove West and Zampella and break their previously arranged agreements.

- They were not told of any acts of apparent wrongdoing, and were told that refusing to cooperate would result in "insubordination" and justify termination.

- All employees were interviewed, dealing much emotional distress. Any attempts by West and Zampella to console them would constitute "insubordination".

- West and Zampella suing for "Breach of Contract", "Breach of Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing" and "Wrongful Termination".

- Activision are the biggest assholes of the game industry. Ever.

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I was surprised to hear they did not want to work on MW2. If a lot these allegations are true, pretty shitty of Activision.

If even the third from the bottom is true, I'm glad my interview went so bad over two years ago. Never would want to work for such pricks.

Which studio did you interview for?

Your interview didn't go that badly Furyo, we just suck at interviewing. I hope it wasn't too bad.

Well the method used clearly was unique, even now I have yet to see a studio round up 35 people to grill you at once

Either way, I came in unprepared for that, and I deeply regretted it for many months after this. The team and the games you guys make are just absolutely stellar for their production values, and I can only hope to work with you guys at one point in the future.

Now for Jason and Vince to create a new indie studio....

Quote

"This is potentially explosive," wrote Purewal on the company site Gamerlaw. "West and Zampella are arguing they have contractual creative control over the Modern Warfare brand. The details will have to come out in the litigation, but it could see West and Zampella demanding a veto over Modern Warfare 2 DLC as well as any other Modern Warfare games."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/z ... e-releases

Messy court fights in the public spotlight upcoming. Way to go Activision!

Quote from Furyo

Well the method used clearly was unique, even now I have yet to see a studio round up 35 people to grill you at once Either way, I came in unprepared for that, and I deeply regretted it for many months after this. The team and the games you guys make are just absolutely stellar for their production values, and I can only hope to work with you guys at one point in the future.

Now for Jason and Vince to create a new indie studio....

Well that answers it =P. And yeah, that does seem intimidating.

like i said before, the outcome of this case will definitely have consequences for activision; and rightfully so. with such greed, there's no place for them in the games industry.

Quote from Furyo

Well the method used clearly was unique, even now I have yet to see a studio round up 35 people to grill you at once Either way, I came in unprepared for that, and I deeply regretted it for many months after this. The team and the games you guys make are just absolutely stellar for their production values, and I can only hope to work with you guys at one point in the future.

Now for Jason and Vince to create a new indie studio....

Dude wtf, why wouldn't you tell us more, make a separate thread if need be I wanna know everything, which studio, what the exact method was, how it all went, how it compared to other interviews.

Also doesn't pericolos work for actibliz, didn't people here berate sentura for not wanting to work for them.

Quote from Sentura

like i said before, the outcome of this case will definitely have consequences for activision; and rightfully so. with such greed, there's no place for them in the games industry.

I so hope you are right on this. At least, Activision needs another CEO, that prick is getting on everyone's nerves.

And Gloglebag, why would Furyo want to create a thread about his interview with IW 2 years ago, and tell us everything about it? It's his private life man... And he already said how it went, it was bad with 30's guys around him making questions. Anyone would feel intimidated, even fucking Dr Gregory House.

I hope you guys at IW are not using this interview technique, cos it just doesn't work, that's not how you get to know people. You wanna know someone, put him in a relaxed environment.

When I got interviewed at Crytek they showed me around the office, the project, I've seen what everyone was working on, followed by a nice lunch on a Italian restaurant. I felt at home and within friends, and I'm sure Furyo can say the same when he was here.

Yes, Peris works at Blizzard and he sounds happy.