Activision and Infinity Ward Meltdown

[Leminnes]

If any of you have been on the internet lately, I'm sure you've seen this legal shitstorm.

Activision, after a meeting of some sort with the two heads of Infinity Ward (CTO Jason West and president Vince Zampella,) fires both of them for insubordination. The rumorang has been going around, but apparently West and Zampella were insisting on Activision giving them royalties for Modern Warfare 2 and Activision was refusing and instead accusing West and Zampella of courting other publishing companies because their contract with Activision was over in a few months.

SO, West and Zampella are fired and are now suing Activision over the apparent verbal and psychological beatings they've been getting from Activision for the past few months, also for the royalties Infinity Ward and themselves never received and firing them without a decent reason. They are also insisting that they signed some sort of contract with Activision that does not allow them to publish another Call of Duty game without West or Zampella's signed consent.

For a great breakdown of it Patrick Klepek has been keeping fantastic tabs on this.

Personally, I'm rooting for West and Zampella. If what they said is true (big if here, as it's really vague right now exactly what is going on,) I believe they have some ground to stand on. Apparently their lawsuit seems a bit rushed and very broad, which might not stand up well in the court, and also the contract they allegedly signed has not been seen or quoted in any way. However, the actions by Activision seem very reactionary and greedy, which seems to be their M.O. lately.

But really, there's likely something we haven't heard yet that might turn this one way or another. I know public opinion is currently in West and Zampella's favor, but the court might be a whole other matter. It really depends on the legal repercussions of this contract they signed, if it is shown.

 

[nik]

as I said

THIS WOULDN'T HAPPEN AT VALVE

 

[Leminnes]

as I said

THIS WOULDN'T HAPPEN AT VALVE

Hah, well of course, Valve is owned by Valve. They don't need to be held accountable to anyone other than themselves.

 

[PMAvers]

as I said

THIS WOULDN'T HAPPEN AT VALVE

Well, yeah.

Gabe would just eat them.

 

[Radaka]

I love Valve so much. SO. FUCKING. MUCH.

 

[chickenm4n]

go activision. i hate infinity ward. they are a terrible company

 

[YM]

Well, yeah.

Gabe would just eat them.

aaaand episode 3 gets delayed again.
:facepalm:

 

[eyefork]

go activision. i hate infinity ward. they are a terrible company

Activision is probably one of the worst companies in the gaming industry. Let me introduce you to a man known as Bobby Kotick.

 

[Retroid]

"The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks that we brought into Activision 10 years ago was to take all the fun out making video games. I think we've definitely been able to instill in the culture the skepticism and pessimism and fear that you should have in an economy like we're in today." - Bobby Kotick.

There's some legal docs over at Kotaku: http://kotaku.com/5485703/ousted-in...ainst-activision-the-court-documents/gallery/

Really don't know if they're real or not, they seem incredibly bad written but I suppose if they were in a rush...

 

[Leminnes]

"The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks that we brought into Activision 10 years ago was to take all the fun out making video games. I think we've definitely been able to instill in the culture the skepticism and pessimism and fear that you should have in an economy like we're in today." - Bobby Kotick.

There's some legal docs over at Kotaku: http://kotaku.com/5485703/ousted-in...ainst-activision-the-court-documents/gallery/

Really don't know if they're real or not, they seem incredibly bad written but I suppose if they were in a rush...

His speech recently (at that recent conference that I can't remember its name) kind of retconned those words. I still believe he believes that to a certain degree, and the speech (the retconning one) was kind of lame and seemingly fabricated just to get the negative sigma of him, but I'm unsure how much it helped. I certainly still think the guy is business guy, not a video game developer guy. Whether or not that is a good thing is debatable. He certainly knows how to get Activision to make money. He can really thank MW2 and Blizzard for that, though.

 

[Shmitz]

Normally I would want to support the Infinity Ward guys, but if there is any truth to them chatting up EA about future deals, I would fully support Activision's side of things. Lesser of two evils, and all that.

 

[Leminnes]

Normally I would want to support the Infinity Ward guys, but if there is any truth to them chatting up EA about future deals, I would fully support Activision's side of things. Lesser of two evils, and all that.

I dunno, Dead Space, Mirror's Edge, and BC2 have all been really good recently. Maybe they should just go to Ubisoft. O-wait.

 

[Icarus]

I've been finding it really hard to hate EA recently. They've been churning out great game after great game lately.

 

[Shmitz]

I've been finding it really hard to hate EA recently. They've been churning out great game after great game lately.

Don't confuse EA games with EA published games. EA basically just buys up companies that makes good games and slowly corrupts them into crap ovens over a period of a few years.

 

[Rikka]

EA has long lost it's place at the table of evil gaming . Sure they still have practices that you cringe when you hear about, but it's unrealistic to expect every company to be able to behave like Valve.

As for Kotick, I think his speech at DICE had some honesty. He can't be the hip, young gaming businessman when he's the CEO of a company like Activision, which haven't reach their position off a platform of being kind to consumers and constant innovation. But even if there is truth Kotick is still the man is he today and Activision is still the company it is today.

And for the case, well, the truth is always somewhere in the middle. It depends on who's side it leans more to.

 

[Shmitz]

EA has long lost it's place at the table of evil gaming

I will believe that when they stop plastering their stupid logo at the beginning of every game they're even remotely involved in.

Really, EA is the table of evil gaming.

 

[Leminnes]

Don't confuse EA games with EA published games. EA basically just buys up companies that makes good games and slowly corrupts them into crap ovens over a period of a few years.

Well, DICE was purchased in 2004, and they are still putting out fantastic games like Mirror's Edge and Bad Company 2 (which is better than Bad Company 1.)

Visceral Games has been owned by EA since 2003 and Dead Space was a fantastic game and I expect Dead Space 2 to be good as well. Even Dante's Inferno, even if it was a God of War clone, was sufficiently entertaining.

Bioware was purchased in 2007 and they've put out Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and Dragon Age since that time, all amazing games.

The only thing EA has done that disappointed me was dissolve Pandemic Games without letting them finish Saboteur but even that game was fairly good (to a point, although very unfinished.)

There's also The Sims which has been consistently good for years, even if milked a little too much. Not to mention Red Alert 3, Boom Box, Black, and Burnout Paradise.

It's seriously difficult for me to hate EA these days.

I will believe that when they stop plastering their stupid logo at the beginning of every game they're even remotely involved in.

Really, EA is the table of evil gaming.

Doesn't everyone do this? I mean, they DO publish and/or develop them, they do deserve some credit and I kind of like their Tags usually. They've been getting super creative with them lately.

/offtopic

 

[Cerious]

The only thing EA has done that disappointed me was dissolve Visceral Games without letting them finish Saboteur but even that game was fairly good (to a point, although very unfinished.)

Sorry to nitpick, but it was Pandemic Games that got liquidated (which also means that EA axed the Mercenaries series too).

 

[Radaka]

I will believe that when they stop plastering their stupid logo at the beginning of every game they're even remotely involved in.

Not only that, but they put it BEFORE the actual developer's logo/name.

It really irritates me; it's almost like they are trying to take all the credit for the game being good.

 

[Leminnes]

Sorry to nitpick, but it was Pandemic Games that got liquidated (which also means that EA axed the Mercenaries series too).

Oh, right right. Sorry. :facepalm: I doubt they axed the series, they'll probably have another studio do it. Also, if I remember Pandemic is still around by name, just the studio is non-existant. They're probably planning on releasing games that were Pandemic's games (like Mercenaries) under the Pandemic name, while being developed under other studios. Which might be a bit backhanded and sneaky, but it is a good idea for monies. I'm highly torn between game studios being companies and being basically art studios. They need to make money, but I also expect quality from them. It seems they're having a difficult time doing both.

Not only that, but they put it BEFORE the actual developer's logo/name.

It really irritates me; it's almost like they are trying to take all the credit for the game being good.

It's never bothered me. It seems everyone does this to my knowledge. 2K is the first company that comes to my mind that seems to do that. Except maybe on GTA... I can't remember. And either way, people generally still know who made the game and if they don't, they don't usually associate games with the studio but more with the name. (Thus while all CoD games still sell pretty well, even though Infinity Ward's usually sell a bit better just because they're better games.)