Activision axes Infinity Ward bosses

[Hendo]

Can someone explain in layman's whats going on because I don't get it?

There's a good article here.

The thing with Activision is that you cynically suspect that big corporations act a certain way behind closed doors, because, well, money is the only thing a publicly trading company is interested in - but most companies at least have the decency to attempt to be seen as a more human being. Everything recently from Activision's PR just takes all those cynical theories and blow them up.

The real sadness is knowing how Activision started up, as the first 3rd party company, made to look after the interests of software developers from the evil corporation of Atari.

[HandsomeDead]

Okay, I have a better idea. That is shit by anyones standards but its just attention directed towards Activision because of who they are, I don't have sympathy at all but I can't help feel that this controversy exists because of the negative attention Kotick and Activision receive over everything they do, if Sierra or Codemasters did the same thing, no-one would give a shit. Does anyone remember that time when Nintendo sacked most of Retro Studios? Probably not.

I'm not saying its unfair to Activision, I just get sick of this need for a villain.

[Hendo]

I don't think the truth behind Retro ever came out did it?

Anyway, well worth listening to the first 40 minutes of the Bombcast, especially when they hear Activision's press release for the first time. I would provide a link but their site seems down at the moment.

[David]

Oh man, can't wait to hear the bombcast this week. Kinda hoping 1up also get some wind of what happened, they usually seem to know quite a lot about rumours and things as well.

[DANGERMAN]

I don't think the truth behind Retro ever came out did it?

Anyway, well worth listening to the first 40 minutes of the Bombcast, especially when they hear Activision's press release for the first time. I would provide a link but their site seems down at the moment.

They make a fair point about IW publicly dissing Activision, does kind of leave them open to being fired legally. Shame because I really want Activision to get fucked over

[David]

Bombcast bit was awesome. They seem to think that EA are going to make a play for these two, and that supposedly a deal could be signed before GDC, at least according to Giant Bomb.

Crazy stuff.

[TopGunKnacker]

freedom of speech? if youre unhappy with your employer, surely you have the right to say so

[Sly Reflex]

Which bombcast is this one dudes? I will download, listen and laugh. In that order.

[Hendo]

The most recent one from last night - http://media.giantbomb.com/podcast/giantbombcast-030210.mp3

Worth it alone for Jeff Gerstmann's Ricitello impression.

Also later on they talk specifically about Bad Company 2.

[HandsomeDead]

I don't think the truth behind Retro ever came out did it?

Thats kind of my point. If Nintendo were public enemy number 1 like Activision are then more coverage would of been made, we'd probably know all the details. But thats just speculating I guess.

Will check out Bombcast later.

[Hendo]

I can understand your point - I never agreed with EA being seen as the big evil machine like everyone else seemed to - but it's hard to see Activision as anything else these days. It's not for the need of looking to want to have a villain, when you get the CEO of the company going on the record that he's going to try to make the game developments process as depressing as possible, to instigate fear that they will always be likely to lose their jobs, to make sure they have no fun while making the games, to actually use the word "exploit" in public when talking about what they plan to do to their franchises, to drop games that were once attached before the merger because they were likely to be one-off games and not long running franchises, that they were likely to never make just one game in a series, unless it completely bombed.

I don't know how you can look at any of these things (that are all publicly known about, not rumours or made-up) and still think of them as being made out to be a pantomime villain. I remember when games were made by people out of passion as well as for money, and this is about as far as you can get from that situation. We've come a long way.

[HandsomeDead]

I remember those things he said being around the internet. I can't remember the specifics but just before MW2 came out he was reported on saying things that pissed the gaming community off no end, maybe something to do with milking franchises, I think it was some leak that was meant to stay within the company, I wish I could remember than I'd probably able to make my point better, but the point is that when I came across the original report it was just a load of business, yeah, it was cynical and not something you want to see in a creative medium but its business that didn't seem too bad from that perspective.

Gaming websites and blogs just took select parts of the report than made Kotick and friends sound like Satan, they were completely misquoted, for hits and to keep their message boards busy I imagine, it just made me very weary of what had been said about them in the past.

I don't think Activision are okay with the things they've done, I don't like the business and marketing end of most publishers, its the nature of building a business out of a creative medium, music, film and literature, they will always be at odds.

[Hendo]

I don't much like to see people pretend to know whats happened because they've played a few of their games.

I don't think anyone here would claim to know what's really going on, it's all hearsay and theories. But that's why it's so interesting for a lot of people, because it's such a big thing and we don't know what's really going.

It's one of the biggest stories in gaming news for a long time - I don't know why anyone who posts in gaming forums regularly would not find this whole thing fascinating, regardless of whether you took a side or not.

There's another funny bit on it on this week's Idle Thumbs too.

[Hendo]

From an anonymous Twitter account:

IW: "We want to make a game where you shoot people in the future."

AB: "You are going to make a game where you shoot people in the present."

IW: "We're being artistically stifled. We are SO out of this fucking place."

AB: "You do remember that non-compete clause? That won't be happening soon."

IW: "Fuck you. We are artists. Artists gotta go other places with their buds to be artists."

AB: "Making a wannabe Michael Bay movie doesn't count as artistry. Aside from the cult of personality, thousands could do what you do."

IW: "You are insulting all my buds. Buds gotta be buds to make money and be great."

AB: "Creative bankruptcy suits a wannabe Michael Bay film, but it undermines a wannabe Steven Spielberg film."

IW: "We're outta here, and we'll use our capital to creative a narrative in which you are the egomaniacal Satanic assholes."

AB: "You're fired. And we will legally ensure that you do not further threaten our organization with unprofessional antics."

More or less that is what went down with IW-Activision. And "a wannabe Steven Spielberg film" is a nice way of saying "wannabe Halo."

In case I wasn't clear enough the first time: West and Zampella are egomaniacs--particularly the latter, who is a West Coast Mark Rein.

[Sly Reflex]

The most recent one from last night - http://media.giantbomb.com/podcast/giantbombcast-030210.mp3

Worth it alone for Jeff Gerstmann's Ricitello impression.

Also later on they talk specifically about Bad Company 2.

We are trend setters! They use the wii channel music.

[David]

"God of Warfare"

[retroed]

The most recent one from last night - http://media.giantbomb.com/podcast/giantbombcast-030210.mp3

Worth it alone for Jeff Gerstmann's Ricitello impression.

Also later on they talk specifically about Bad Company 2.

We are trend setters! They use the wii channel music.

And the superior DSi shop music.

Bombcast was great, I really enjoyed listening to their take on the breaking news.

[Cyberpunk]

Maybe those two guys should set up their own software label, and publish their own modern shooter. Hang on, ain't that how Infinity Ward got started?

[David]

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.

http://kotaku.com/5485295/infinity-ward-founders-suing-activision-over-unpaid-royalties

This just gets better and better. I think it's safe to say this has been building up for a LONG time. Needless to say, if Activision did lose Call of Duty, the only big game they would have anymore is Blizzard's stuff!

[Craymen Edge]

While all this is standard-issue publishers being arseholes to studios they own (albeit one that has made them 100s of millions of dollars), the real example of Activision being arseholes is the way they shut down the fan-made King's Quest game this week, despite Vivendi having given them a license to do it on a not-for-profit basis a couple of years previously.