Posted 03/05/10 at 09:37:50 PM by Nathan Grayson

Well, we suppose it was inevitable. After being handed their walking papers earlier this week, former Infinity Ward bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella have rallied their lawyers for what promises to be the court equivalent of a train wreck colliding with the last two Matrix movies and the remnants of M. Night Shyamalan’s movie career.

“We were shocked by Activision’s decision to terminate our contract,” said West. “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 added.

And boy, are they trying to get paid. The duo hopes to come away from the suit with “at least $36 million” in addition to full rights to the Modern Warfare brand.

Activision, meanwhile, has dismissed the lawsuit as “meritless.”

“Activision is disappointed that Mr. Zampella and Mr. West have chosen to file a lawsuit, and believes their claims are meritless. Over eight years, Activision shareholders provided these executives with the capital they needed to start Infinity Ward, as well as the financial support, resources and creative independence that helped them flourish and achieve enormous professional success and personal wealth,” said a statement from the publisher.

Modern Warfare 3 who? Looks like World War 3’s going to be waged in a courtroom. Grab some popcorn, folks. It’s time for fireworks.

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Posted 03/03/10 at 11:17:54 PM by Nathan Grayson

Yesterday, we brought you word of a rapidly escalating quarrel between Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward and publisher Activision that culminated in the firings of two Infinity Ward bosses. On one side of the spat, there was Activision -- playing the part of the dejected parent who was forced to administer some tough love to its “insubordinate” child. Meanwhile, Infinity Ward positioned itself on the receiving end of Activision’s volley, claiming to be “confused” and “freaked out.”

Were Activision’s seemingly shady actions warranted, though? And is Infinity Ward really the innocent little lamb to Activision’s money-hungry wolf? A few analysts gave their two cents on the situation.

First up, speaking with GamePro, videogame industry legal expert Tom Buscaglia took Activision to task for what he believes to be an underhanded “last resort.”

"I did employment law for 20 years," he said. "In my experience, insubordination is a justification of last resort because it's completely subjective. If I see that [in a wrongful termination lawsuit], it's usually complete bullshit."

"In any game, somebody has to be the keeper of the vision," Buscaglia said, speaking of former IW bosses Zampella and West. "So now [Activision’s] killed the goose, but they have a golden egg."

However, Infinity Ward may not have been playing entirely by the rules either. Speaking with Joystiq, analysts Michael Pachter and Jesse Divnich pointed out that Activision’s rumored refusal to fork over IW’s royalty fees was far from abnormal.

"I couldn't speak to what the royalty agreement between Activision and Infinity Ward is,” Divnich said. “If royalties haven't been paid out yet, I wouldn't consider that too alarming. The game has only been out for a little over 90 days. Additionally, it is common to see royalty agreements based upon factors such as hitting release date, review scores (a.k.a. 'Metacritic Clauses') or revenue milestones. I think if you just replace the word 'royalties' with 'bonus' it should make some more sense."

So there you go: a couple more threads for an already extremely tangled web. Oh well. Closure’s overrated anyway, right?     

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Posted 03/02/10 at 11:14:02 PM by Nathan Grayson

The past 24 hours have not been kind to Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward.

It all began yesterday evening when rumors surfaced that Activision ordered security personnel to go check in on Infinity Ward in what we’re sure was a polite, completely non-threatening gesture. Infinity Ward employees were “freaked out” and “confused” by the nasty turn of events.

It only got uglier from there.

Apparently, Activision was investigating "breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward." These two senior employees were later identified as none other than the company’s heart and soul, respectively, bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella. Both men are now jobless.

Shortly after, in a move that seems a bit too convenient for our tastes, Activision announced the creation of a Call of Duty business unit, which will be headed-up by Philip Earl, who currently runs Activision Publishing’s Asia Pacific region. Meanwhile, Activision vets Steve Pearce and Steve Ackrich will take up the reigns over at Infinity Ward until suitable candidates are found to permanently steer the wagon. Again, fishy.

This came after Activision CEO Bobby Kotick flew in for an emergency meeting with Infinity Ward’s remaining staffers this afternoon.

So, what exactly caused this plate-flinging, staying-at-mother’s-house-for-a-month lover’s spat? Activision’s not talking, but the Internet’s made a valiant effort at putting together the pieces. For one thing, rumor has it that Activision’s been withholding royalty fees from Infinity Ward. Meanwhile, Infinity Ward's apparently been shopping around for a new publisher despite a deal with Activision that doesn't expire until October. And the developer's hoping to take the Modern Warfare franchise with it, as it's a partial owner of the Call of Duty franchise. Also, earlier this year Infinity Ward was rumored to have decided to focus on a new franchise instead of developing Modern Warfare 3 – a move that, we’re sure, had Activision’s piggy banks squealing in desperate fear of starvation.

But here’s the kicker: earlier today, after announcing a new action-adventure entry in the Call of Duty series developed by Sledgehammer Games, Activision said that Infinity Ward is still “central” to the Call of Duty franchise. An odd thing to say about a studio that hopes to develop a new IP. Now, maybe we’re reading into things a bit, but if your billion dollar horse was bucking, we bet you’d consider doing some fairly unscrupulous things to whip it back into line.

We wish the best of luck to everyone at Infinity Ward. Keep fighting the good fight, guys and gals. 

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Posted 11/19/09 at 01:36:54 AM by Nathan Grayson

Of all the crimes Activision could be accused of, extreme restraint isn’t one of them. If a property in its stable of games fattens its way into bonafide cash cow territory, you can bet that Activision will milk it bone-dry. But if you’ve ever tried chugging an entire gallon of milk, you know that people’s tolerance for the stuff is a bit lacking. Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero are already facing diminishing returns from consumer fatigue, and at this rate, it won’t be long before Call of Duty wears out its welcome – especially if yet another developer hops aboard Activision’s favorite money train.

The LA Times, however, is reporting just that. “Although Infinity Ward and Treyarch have produced sequels in alternating years since 2005, the publisher now has a third development studio working on future versions,” read the publication’s article on Modern Warfare 2’s launch.

As for this third mystery developer’s purpose, little is known. Speculation says that the series newcomer could be digging the development trenches on a Call of Duty MMO – something Activision boss Bobby Kotick has expressed interest in on multiple occasions. Or maybe Call of Duty: World at War’s ever-popular Nazi Zombies are finally getting their own game. We really have no idea.

Or – and this is crazy, but work with us here – maybe, after nearly a decade of working on the same series, Infinity Ward is ready to move on to greener pastures, and Activision’s called in a new team to pick up where the Call of Duty creator left off.

Naaaaah.

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Posted 11/14/09 at 02:37:58 AM by Nathan Grayson

Surprising absolutely no one on the entire planet -- since damn near all of humanity was counting down the milliseconds until the game was clasped between their grubby mitts – Modern Warfare 2 now officially holds the record for biggest launch in entertainment history. We’re not just talking games, either. Books, movies, and music – none of them stood a chance against Activision’s not-so-secret weapon.  

Last year, Grand Theft Auto IV stole the show, moving 3.6 million units and raking in $310 million – all after a mere 24 hours. Modern Warfare 2 also lured $310 million from the safety of gamers’ wallets, but sold 4.7 million units. On top of that, Modern Warfare 2’s day-one sales came only from the US, Canada, and UK. GTA IV’s numbers, meanwhile, stem from a worldwide launch. Thus, all things considered, it’s a photo finish, with Modern Warfare 2 sporting slightly longer legs.

So, on a completely unrelated topic, what’s everyone playing this weekend?

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Posted 11/05/09 at 01:33:22 AM by Nathan Grayson

When it rains, it pours. And for a game that was – a mere few weeks ago – a sure bet for nearly ever gamer on the face of the planet, the storm’s only getting bigger. See, if you’re used to the deafening chaos of Modern Warfare 1’s 32-man skirmishes, Modern Warfare 2 might strike you as a tad barren. Why? Infinity Ward’s Mackey McCandlish explained in a chat with the Best Buy community:

“The max number of players on all platforms are 1v1 through 9v9. This is the number of players we focused on when we were balancing map size, perks, classes, challenges, etc.”

Unfortunately, it would appear that nothing short of a Jedi Mind Trick will sway Infinity Ward from its current course of action. Not even a 178,000-signature petition. Infinity Ward’s Vince Zampella joined McCandlish in shooting down PC gamers’ final push.
 
“All I can say is that we changed it to make it a better and easier experience. Also, not all of the names on that list are legit,” said Zampella.

“402 signed it 4 times I heard,” McCandlish chimed in.

Hey readers, you guys wouldn't happen to know any Jedi, would you?

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Posted 10/06/09 at 10:56:25 PM by Nathan Grayson

Activision’s about to declare war on gamers’ wallets with Modern Warfare 2, and we imagine Bobby Kotick and co. couldn’t be happier. However, according to Call of Duty creator Infinity Ward, Activision wasn’t always so gung-ho about pulling the series out of World War II.

“With Call of Duty 2, we were dead set against it being World War 2," Infinity Ward boss Vince Zampella said, "but Activision really wanted it, the compromise sort of being that we'd get some dev kits for consoles in exchange for doing a World War 2 game.”

"And something I'll add to that, Activision also did not want Modern Warfare. They thought working on a modern game was risky and [thought], 'oh my god you can't do that, it's crazy!' They were doing market research to show us we were wrong the whole time," he explained.

As of last count, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sold over 14 million copies.

Bobby, if we were in your shoes, we’d hire Infinity Ward not only as a consultant for Activision as a whole, but as our own personal life counselor. We’d also donate a few million dollars to Future’s Maximum PC publication, with the stipulation that 40% of it is to land in the pockets of a blogger named “Nathan Grayson.”

Just trust us on this one.   

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Posted 09/29/09 at 01:20:17 AM by Nathan Grayson

Want to try Modern Warfare 2 before you – let’s face it -- inevitably buy it? Well, too bad. Infinity Ward’s too deep in the development trenches to pop its head up and toss out a demo. So said the developer in a recent tweet:

“No plan for a Demo before launch. The entire team is focused on polish all the way up to ship of the full game,” explained Infinity Ward.

As disappointing as this announcement is, it makes sense. Modern Warfare 2 is set to sell something in the realm of 6.7 billion units, so we don’t imagine too many people are on the fence about purchasing it. And what are a few days of pre-release playtime when you’ll probably be addicted to the game for the next year?    

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