Infinity Ward Closing

[Krakalakachkn]

For those of you who don't know, the founders of Infinity Ward (Jason West and Vince Zampella) were fired by Activision (Infinity Ward's owner).  The firing is because of several reasons, but mainly Activision was being a bunch of douchebags and trying to pull some shit to make money.  They owe West and Zampella a bunch of money and wanted to fire them so they didn't have to pay, but also so they could keep rights to the Modern Warfare franchise and do whatever they wanted with it.  However, they're being sued, and hopefully West and Zampella will be triumphant.

 

Here's some information:

 

Publicly available analyst comments don't get any more tongue-in-cheek amusing than this gem from Janco Partners' Mike Hickey: "Continued defections from their Infinity Ward studio have created meaningful uncertainty around the future of their Call of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise."

 

The studio's issues have been reported on ad nauseum here and elsewhere, but with 20 key Modern Warfare 2 team members including several leads and the company's co-founders now gone, Infinity Ward as we knew it is all but dead already.

 

Hickey added, "We expect Infinity Ward studio will be essentially closed after their next map pack release, with development work on Modern Warfare 3 spread between two studios not historically tied to the franchise." Surely you jest, sir! Activision wouldn't run a franchise into the ground by handing it to another developer and making them release endless sequels.

 

Hickey's firm is projecting a fiscal fourth quarter 2011 release for Modern Warfare 3 and $738 million in sales.

 

p.s. - click on the links, they're funny.

[Krakalakachkn]

West and Zampella have created a new company, Respawn Entertainment with EA.  EA wouldn't be my first choice, but hey, EA is the biggest publisher there is.

 

Today, Jason West and Vince Zampella, creators of the multi-billion dollar Call of Duty franchise, announced the formation of a new development studio — Respawn Entertainment. The move positions the Respawn Entertainment leadership team as the owners of the intellectual property they create. The company will focus on creating state-of-the-art gaming experiences for global audiences. The studio is currently assembling a world-class team of designers, artists and engineers. Applicants can submit resumes to jobs@respawn.com.

Respawn is pleased to also announce that it has awarded Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), through the distinguished EA Partners program, exclusive worldwide publishing and distribution rights to future games. Terms were not disclosed. West and Zampella are represented by Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

 

“Respawn Entertainment marks a fresh start for Jason and me,” said Vince Zampella, General Manager of Respawn Entertainment. “For the past decade we led a great development team and poured our hearts into creating an epic game franchise. We’re very proud of what we built – and proud that so many millions of fans enjoyed those games. Today we hope to do it all over again — open a new studio, hire a great team, and create brand new games with a new partner, EA.”

 

“We’re excited,” added Jason West, President of Respawn Entertainment. “Now that the team is in control of the games and brands, we can ensure that the fans are treated as well as they deserve.”

 

Frank Gibeau, President of the EA Games Label commented, “This is the start of a great publishing partnership – one that I expect will develop blockbuster game franchises. Jason and Vince are two of the top creative leaders in the entertainment industry. At EA, we’re honored to be their partners and to give them the support they need to hire a team and return to making incredible games.”

[Silver]

Hey, EA has been rockin it for the past while. New IPs, new attitude. Sure, they had a VERY bad past but they've turned over a new leaf and such. The new people to hate now is Activision.

[Spiffiness]

Has it been confirmed that IW is actually closing? Those quotes seem like just commentary. That said, those still left at IW are also suing Activision, so I wouldn't doubt it in the end. Also, Respawn's deal with EA is only EA Partners. EA won't have any rights to their IPs, similar to what they have with Valve. EA IS helping them start up, though, so they probably get a higher cut of whatever future profits they make or something.

[Krakalakachkn]

Well, the creators and masterminds behind Infinity Ward have already started their own business, almost the entire IW staff has already defected to Respawn, and Activision will most likely lose its rights to the Modern Warfare franchise.  Besides, even if it remains with Activision, they will most likely just use Treyarch for any more sequels.

 

I think it's pretty much set in stone that Infinity Ward will close.

[Blig Blog]

I read about this in Game Informer. I think it's a load of crap and I'll be happy if West and Zampella win. Either way, any more Modern Warfare games that come out I'm going to take a closer look at them and probably rent before I buy.

 

Modern Warfare 2 is good but I like Bad Company 2 better...even at that I still like MW2 and think that that team could have made a good MW3. If they keep the rights and use Treyarch then it'll be a noticeably different game.