And we have an ending for the second act, ladies and gentlemen.
It all started around early March. Promising to be just another month of the year, we had but little hope that anything of excitement would occur besides the usual Pre E3 buzz. The sky was blue and the grass was green. All was good with the world. Then it happened.
Nicknamed: Infinittwardämmerung by the Escapist, the event was something unseen or unheard for quite a lot of years. Getting ahead of the situation though. So let’s start at the beginning, to make sure that everyone here is on the same page. This article wouldn’t be interesting if you were sitting there going: “durrrrrrrrrrrrr, whut’s he tolkin’ aboot?”
Infinity Ward is a game developer under the Activision banner. Helmed by Vince Zampella and Jason West, IW has brought us the gem of a game: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and its successor. The successor, Modern Warfare 2, has cashed in several Game of the Year awards and several more nominations as well. Even though the whole “deserved victory” debate is a whole different can of worms, you can’t argue with the fact that it did at least earn the nominations. Because, after all, the game was in fact the highest grossest game … ever. Like it was directed by James Cameron or something.
Now, if the name of the game doesn’t ring a bell, Modern Warfare 2 is also known to the be proud owner of a level entitled: No More Russian. A level where your under the cover character is accompanied by Russian terrorists whilst they are shooting up an airport.
On that day in March, the entire gaming world was shocked and awed to learn that a “bunch of bouncer-type guys” had entered the IW offices. This was told to us by an anonymous source who also said that this might have something to do with the latest tension between Activision and the head honchos of the company. After that, the next news we had gotten was that both Zampella and West had announced they were no longer employed at Infinity Ward.
More news quickly followed when G4 uncovered an SEC filing that mentioned that is "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. At present, the Company does not expect this matter to have a material impact on the Company."
Then the more than awesome Tim Shäfer twittered that he is: "Getting mad at Activision for this kind of thing is like getting mad at an ape for throwing feces. It's just how the beast communicates." You might now Tim as the man behind the already legendary Brütal Legend.
Following this was a report saying that all of it might have something to do with Activision not paying due royalties for Modern Warfare. Seeing as that game sold for more than a Holymotherofjesusazillion dollars, I’d say that something was going on. Seeing as this would have been a breach of contract on Activision’s part.
Call of Duty was then transferred to another company named Sledgehammer, the competent men and women who worked on the Dead Space franchise. However, news then reported that Call of Duty was still in IW’s hands and that Sledgehammer was only developing a spin-off.
It was a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad, mad world I tell ya. Next we heard of this entertaining, yet awful, event was when the former Infinity Ward bosses filed a lawsuit against Activision. Followed by Activision flinging a lawsuit right back at them like a monkey with poo. Basically, both sides were slinging mud at each other, doing their best to make themselves look like innocent victims whilst making the other guys look like complete assholes.
Both had a pretty wordy and lengthy claim. Zampella and West said that Activision refused to pay royalties on the game and that they want Activision to honor the rest of their contract and give them Modern Warfare back. Activision on the other hand claimed that the Dynamic Duo were being closely watched because they had "morphed from valued, responsible executives into insubordinate and self-serving schemers who attempted to hijack Activision's assets for their own personal gain." And they’re not done there, folks. Activision also states that the Duo had flown over to San Diego to have a meeting with a rival company, thus breaching the contract on their side. This rival company was of course E.A., their former partners.
And now we have an ending for the second act, ladies and gentlemen.
Zampella and West have now founded a very new and shiny game studio named Respawn Entertainment. And much to nobody’s surprise, they signed an exclusive deal with E.A. Zampella had to say this about the situation: "Respawn Entertainment marks a fresh start for Jason and me. 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."
"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."
This was a great move on their behalf, to move on and go on to make new and better games. Of course, legally, they just shoved their own foot up their own asses. This doesn’t exactly say: “I’m innocent” now does it.
Here’s to Zampella and West! May Respawn Entertainment bear many fruits that will break as many records as Modern Warfare 2 did. I wish them the best luck in the world and let’s hope that the third act of this Hollywood blockbuster won’t kill the studio.
I for one can’t wait to see this third act start. The court scene, I mean. Because I can guarantee you that it’s going to be suhweeeeet.
Reporting to you live from my comfy chair, this was Puddle Jumper for Greyarch Entertainment News.
Nicknamed: Infinittwardämmerung by the Escapist, the event was something unseen or unheard for quite a lot of years. Getting ahead of the situation though. So let’s start at the beginning, to make sure that everyone here is on the same page. This article wouldn’t be interesting if you were sitting there going: “durrrrrrrrrrrrr, whut’s he tolkin’ aboot?”
Infinity Ward is a game developer under the Activision banner. Helmed by Vince Zampella and Jason West, IW has brought us the gem of a game: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and its successor. The successor, Modern Warfare 2, has cashed in several Game of the Year awards and several more nominations as well. Even though the whole “deserved victory” debate is a whole different can of worms, you can’t argue with the fact that it did at least earn the nominations. Because, after all, the game was in fact the highest grossest game … ever. Like it was directed by James Cameron or something.
Now, if the name of the game doesn’t ring a bell, Modern Warfare 2 is also known to the be proud owner of a level entitled: No More Russian. A level where your under the cover character is accompanied by Russian terrorists whilst they are shooting up an airport.
On that day in March, the entire gaming world was shocked and awed to learn that a “bunch of bouncer-type guys” had entered the IW offices. This was told to us by an anonymous source who also said that this might have something to do with the latest tension between Activision and the head honchos of the company. After that, the next news we had gotten was that both Zampella and West had announced they were no longer employed at Infinity Ward.
More news quickly followed when G4 uncovered an SEC filing that mentioned that is "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. At present, the Company does not expect this matter to have a material impact on the Company."
Then the more than awesome Tim Shäfer twittered that he is: "Getting mad at Activision for this kind of thing is like getting mad at an ape for throwing feces. It's just how the beast communicates." You might now Tim as the man behind the already legendary Brütal Legend.
Following this was a report saying that all of it might have something to do with Activision not paying due royalties for Modern Warfare. Seeing as that game sold for more than a Holymotherofjesusazillion dollars, I’d say that something was going on. Seeing as this would have been a breach of contract on Activision’s part.
Call of Duty was then transferred to another company named Sledgehammer, the competent men and women who worked on the Dead Space franchise. However, news then reported that Call of Duty was still in IW’s hands and that Sledgehammer was only developing a spin-off.
It was a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad, mad world I tell ya. Next we heard of this entertaining, yet awful, event was when the former Infinity Ward bosses filed a lawsuit against Activision. Followed by Activision flinging a lawsuit right back at them like a monkey with poo. Basically, both sides were slinging mud at each other, doing their best to make themselves look like innocent victims whilst making the other guys look like complete assholes.
Both had a pretty wordy and lengthy claim. Zampella and West said that Activision refused to pay royalties on the game and that they want Activision to honor the rest of their contract and give them Modern Warfare back. Activision on the other hand claimed that the Dynamic Duo were being closely watched because they had "morphed from valued, responsible executives into insubordinate and self-serving schemers who attempted to hijack Activision's assets for their own personal gain." And they’re not done there, folks. Activision also states that the Duo had flown over to San Diego to have a meeting with a rival company, thus breaching the contract on their side. This rival company was of course E.A., their former partners.
And now we have an ending for the second act, ladies and gentlemen.
Zampella and West have now founded a very new and shiny game studio named Respawn Entertainment. And much to nobody’s surprise, they signed an exclusive deal with E.A. Zampella had to say this about the situation: "Respawn Entertainment marks a fresh start for Jason and me. 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."
"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."
This was a great move on their behalf, to move on and go on to make new and better games. Of course, legally, they just shoved their own foot up their own asses. This doesn’t exactly say: “I’m innocent” now does it.
Here’s to Zampella and West! May Respawn Entertainment bear many fruits that will break as many records as Modern Warfare 2 did. I wish them the best luck in the world and let’s hope that the third act of this Hollywood blockbuster won’t kill the studio.
I for one can’t wait to see this third act start. The court scene, I mean. Because I can guarantee you that it’s going to be suhweeeeet.
Reporting to you live from my comfy chair, this was Puddle Jumper for Greyarch Entertainment News.
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