Activision vs. West/Zampella: The Battle for Infinity Ward

[hippie_hunter]

38 former and current employees of Infinity Ward are suing Activision for up to $125 million and are making claims that Activision is using unpaid compensation for Modern Warfare 2 to hold them hostage and force them against their will to make Modern Warfare 3.

 

[Soapy]

On Kotaku they said half a billion.

 

[Fading]

38 former and current employees of Infinity Ward are suing Activision for up to $125 million and are making claims that Activision is using unpaid compensation for Modern Warfare 2 to hold them hostage and force them against their will to make Modern Warfare 3.

I read that. Yet somehow it's not a surprise.

IMO it's a dick move on Activision's part. They pay a bit of the money they owe, it gets announced they paid the royalties owed, then it turns out they didn't and are withholding the lion's share to keep IW employees from jumping ship so they can make MW3.

I think Activision would save a lot of face, and stop their headache if they'd just pay the money already. I mean I've been against Activision this whole way, but I'd just stop caring if this just ended. The longer they delay this, and the more that comes out, the worse Activision looks and the longer it stays in the headlines. They would save money on lawyers, and save public face if they just settled out of court and ended it off the radar tomorrow, but they won't.

 

[Havok83]

I am so over Activision and Infiity Ward. I wish they would go away

38 former and current employees of Infinity Ward are suing Activision for up to $125 million and are making claims that Activision is using unpaid compensation for Modern Warfare 2 to hold them hostage and force them against their will to make Modern Warfare 3.

At this point why woult Activision even want them to make MW3? If I were IW, I would halfazz on the game, and make it MW 2.1 I defiently would save my best ideas for my next game and wouldnt go all out on MW3. At this point, IW is pretty much dead and I dont think the name carries much weight anymore. Activision is just better off letting Treyarch make the games and/or get a different studio

 

[Timstuff]

They couldn't have picked a more appropriate name than Respawn-- Activision killed Infinity Ward, and now it's respawning at EA. This is like, the ultimate FU that EA could give to Activision. Activision just took a sledgehammer to the developer who made their biggest selling game, and now said developer has sought greener pastures with Activision's chief rival. Now, Respawn's first game will release under EA carrying a rightful "From the makers of Modern Warfare 2", and Activision isn't going to get a penny from it.

Modern Warfare 3, assuming Activision still has the publishing rights to it after this whole mess, will be a shadow of the franchise. MW2 had its flaws, sure, but it will be nothing compared to the massive hot mess that will be MW3. They've screwed the pooch, and it's costing them one of their best studios.

BTW, I wonder what Respawn's first game will be? I imagine they're going to move away from the Modern Warfare type game since MW3 is likely what they left Activision over, but maybe it will be a Call of Duty-like game set in a near-future setting, like the year 2050? Who knows, but I'm guessing it will be a shooter, and it will probably be more awesome than anything Activision will put out in the next 5 years.

 

[BlackLantern]

cluster****

 

[Timstuff]

Maybe if Activision botches things bad enough Blizzard will decide to un-merge with them, like Time Warner did with AOL.

 

[BlackLantern]

well they are both subsidiaries of Vivendi/Universal I think, so that's probably not going to happen

 

[Timstuff]

No, Universal is out of the picture and I'm pretty sure Vivendi either merged with Blizzard or sold them. But simply put, no, Vivendi Universal does not own any stake in Activision. Activision/Blizzard is currently its own self-sustaining media conglomerate.

 

[Timstuff]

No, Universal is out of the picture and I'm pretty sure Vivendi either merged with Blizzard or sold them. But simply put, no, Vivendi Universal does not own any stake in Activision. Activision/Blizzard is currently its own self-sustaining media conglomerate.

 

[Fading]

Not as big as news as the rest of the stuff, but apparently Activision's CEO resigned April 23 and Activision is only announcing it today.

http://news.vgchartz.com/news.php?id=7988

He's still with the company as a Vice Chairman, but it makes you wonder if the CEO resigning his position has something to do with all of this (which would mean Activision realizes they screwed up, and are taking actions). Now if only that had been Kotick getting bumped down to the guy who brings ppl coffee in the office, or maybe the guy who fixed the office printers instead.

 

[Darthphere]

By the way, I also left Infinity Ward and joined Respawn. I make the coffee.

 

[BlackLantern]

No, Universal is out of the picture and I'm pretty sure Vivendi either merged with Blizzard or sold them. But simply put, no, Vivendi Universal does not own any stake in Activision. Activision/Blizzard is currently its own self-sustaining media conglomerate.

I wasn't sure of the Vivendi relationship at this point..Wiki still has Vivendi listed as the parent of Activision/Blizzard

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

Modern Warfare 3, assuming Activision still has the publishing rights to it after this whole mess, will be a shadow of the franchise. MW2 had its flaws, sure, but it will be nothing compared to the massive hot mess that will be MW3. They've screwed the pooch, and it's costing them one of their best studios.

I doubt most of the average users i.e. people who don't actively take an interest in the industry will be able to tell the difference.

 

[Darthphere]

Does it shoot guns and kill terrorists? That's all people will care about.

 

[hippie_hunter]

George Broussard has Twittered that another 4 have left Infinity Ward.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Broussard has Twittered again that three more have left which has resulted in a virtual clean sweep of Infinity Ward's team leads.

 

[Timstuff]

Not as big as news as the rest of the stuff, but apparently Activision's CEO resigned April 23 and Activision is only announcing it today.

http://news.vgchartz.com/news.php?id=7988

He's still with the company as a Vice Chairman, but it makes you wonder if the CEO resigning his position has something to do with all of this (which would mean Activision realizes they screwed up, and are taking actions). Now if only that had been Kotick getting bumped down to the guy who brings ppl coffee in the office, or maybe the guy who fixed the office printers instead.

This is like catching the #2 Al Quada guy. It sounds big, but really it means nothing if the #1 is still at large (in this case, Bobby Kottick rather than Old Sammy).

 

[Addendum]

I doubt most of the average users i.e. people who don't actively take an interest in the industry will be able to tell the difference.

And then there are some users that never jumped on the Call of Duty bandwagon, or even the "modern warfare" one.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Say what you must about Activision, but I always found the Infinity Ward Call of Dutys to be nothing but top notch quality.

 

[Darthphere]

And then there are some users that never jumped on the Call of Duty bandwagon, or even the "modern warfare" one.

Yeah and those are clearly in the minority so we shouldn't waste time talking about them.

 

[Addendum]

If you played one WW2 game, you played them all.

 

[Timstuff]

I never bought a Call of Duty game before Modern Warfare. They just didn't interest me, but maybe that's because I was spoiled by the Battlefield series on PC.

 

[Soapy]

If you played one WW2 game, you played them all.

Yeah, because these games are totally the same thing.

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[Addendum]

Hey, if you want to fight nazis for the umpteenth time, it's your money to waste