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UPDATE 12:02 AM: Double Fine's Tim Schafer, who had his own troubles with Activision over the release of Brutal Legend, recently commented on Twitter about what's happening between Infinity Ward and Activision.
"Getting mad at Activision for this kind of thing is like getting mad at an ape for throwing feces," said Schafer. "It's just how the beast communicates."
UPDATE 11:20 PM: It turns out Activision may have showed their hand in this matter earlier today.
In an SEC filing made this morning, Activision cited a human resources investigation into "breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward."
Based on the information we currently have, at least one of those employees may have included Infinity Ward CTO Jason West. It's possible Vince Zampella is the other unmentioned employee.
"This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation," read the filing. "At present, the Company does not expect this matter to have a material impact on the Company."
UPDATE 11:11 PM: Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling has vaguely addressed the situation.
"I should also say, while I appreciate all the calls, tweets, messages and hearing my ringtone a lot," said Bowling on his Twitter account, "they're in vain - as I have no info."
UPDATE 10:07 PM: More developments on the situation at Infinity Ward have come to light.
A screen shot surfaced from Infinity Ward CTO Jason West's Facebook page at Kotaku with the status update "Jason West is drinking. Also, unemployed." I can confirm from a source that's friends with West that update did actually come from West's account.
West also updated his Linkedin profile to appears to reflect a change in employment.
"President/Game Director/CCO/CTO Infinity Ward
January 2001 – March 2010 (9 years 3 months)"
While this doesn't yet provide much insight into what actually happened at Infinity Ward, it confirms there are changes afoot at the Call of Duty developer. As soon as I know more, you'll know more.
ORIGINAL STORY: Something's happening at Infinity Ward right now.
A source close to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 developer just informed me that a "bunch of bouncer-types" just showed up outside of the Infinity Ward offices unannounced. When approached by employees, the non-uniformed "bouncers" were unwilling to disclose why they were there.
"Everyone is on edge," said my source.
Infinity Ward studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West reportedly met with Activision this morning and have not been seen by Infinity Ward staff members since. My source did not delve into specifics, but described the relationship between Infinity Ward and Activision lately as "tense."
The mood around the Infinity Ward offices is currently described as "freaked out" and "confused."
"We just wanna make our games," said my source.
I've contacted Activision for comment on the ongoing situation at Infinity Ward. Stay tuned.
Have something to share? Sitting on a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.
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Comments
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jungleman67
so what was the need for bouncers
Chunky_2336
whats next BLizzard shutting down half the servers?
nyadt
Okay, if I hear that a zombie virus broke out there, I'm leaving.
:/
frictionman
I like how Kotick gets back from DICE after making that huge keynote about supporting creativity and Activision being a place where dev studios can keep their identities and thinks "wouldnt it be fun to dismantle IW, one of the most respected dev studios in the world. They only kept my company afloat last winter" crossing my fingers for a mass Activision developer boycott. Wonder who the investors will blame when their stock price starts plummeting? Kotick = epic fail
XwingVmanX
I am surprised activision fired them. I wonder what they did to breach the contract....or what the contract was for in the first place. Should be interesting to see if we ever see another MW game, or how it might effect another MW game.
stryker126
Roof caves! All die!
But seriously. There's a non-zero chance that this is all within reason, and that the two developers did somethin heinous like steal from the company or something.
...
But, I doubt it. The scenarios that seem most likely to me are "taking some off the top" (I.E. don't be the highest paid person in the room when it's time for lay-offs). 2 Activision making a play to dominate their relationship with IW (obviously they already own them, but they want to control them as well). 3: Activision's contract with their local goon squad would expire if they didn't use them for something once in a while, so this seemed like a good a use as any?
deleted_C15928E0-D8DC-4CE4-9630-F94FAA269B56
It was rumored that IW wasn't going to make another COD title anyway. I think it's pretty clear now that even IW has grown tired of COD and want to move on to something new. I guess Activision wants to get rid of anyone with influence within IW in order to keep the COD train going. As they say in China, "The nail that stands up gets hammered down".
TheRealBanana
Here's to hoping that those two start up another studio and take as many of the best people at IW as they can. Take away the heart and soul of IW to another game studio so they can continue their great work, Activision free.
rawtoast
bouncer type..? disappeared? it sounds like they made em a pair of custom cement shoes... LOL
spacemonkey086
Man thats messed up. What kind of "insubordination" was it? They help create one of the best selling games of all time and then let them go like that? WOW.
Splibo
I find it funny. haha
unfungames
theyre all a bunch of pot smoking hippies who cant make bug-free games...what did you expect?
Vikingfist
All these conspiracy theories & this game bashing is pretty retarded...but mildly entertaining. Obviously, some nerd rage went down in a meeting and dudes got fired over it. Happens all the time...With Activision making a lot of lay offs at their top studios recently, ya ever think maybe they wanted to lay off some employees & the studio brass refused to comply, therefore getting fired for insubordination? Even this is speculation, but makes more sense then "Activision caused the PS3 bug!!" or "IW was forced to put out a crappy game that would break world sales records!!" or "Activision finally played the game & were too dumb to follow the story (like many people apparently) so they frooted out and fired those responsible!"
I mean...really?!? Tell me Treyarch's CODs are better than IW's! We ball know IW's products are superior. And if this game is SO terrible, why the hell is most every gamer in the world playing it and bothering to cheat while playing it?
Inter-office politics, poor business decisions... that's what is really going down here.
nchatts
There's no way that it's a Publicity Stunt. Remember that Activision is a publicly traded company. Any stunt that might drop share price would be SO OFF THE TABLE. At the time I write this comment, the share price hasn't been affected, but the news has just 'broken.' I bet we'll see a noticeable dip in Activision's share price over the next few days.
Take a look at the share price here: http://www.google.com/finance? client=ob&q=NASDAQ:ATVI
Whatever reason they're doing it, it's to stop what they perceive as a bigger threat from Infinity Ward, not as a publicity stunt.
jdc6305
The bouncer types sound like what we call in the auto industry as union busters. IDK if Ininity Ward is union or not but they could still be union busters. They are there to intimidate if the employees get unruly. They will also crack skulls if needed. They will get in your face and can be pretty nasty too. Companies usualy bring them in case of a strike or a dispute. They are there to look after the companies best interest and equipment.
Comixjunky
All I can picture is Bobby Kotick strutting through the IW offices sing "Like a Boss"
can I smell an animated gif?
Aerindel_Prime
Thats what I'm saying, Activison screwed over a good company and now they are trying to cover it up.
The_Gump
You guys are getting this all wrong.... IW did what ACTIVISION told them to do with MW2.......
Its Activisions fault that MW2 blows so much....... Im guessing the guys at IW finally had enough and told Acti where to go.... and got fired coz of it.
aeyanson
wish someone would have done this to 3d realms
Aerindel_Prime
Depending on how this shakes out I'm predicting a huge Activision boycott.
If mistakes where made it seems likely it was Activision that forced them.
Does anyone here really think that IF was responsible for how MW2 turned out?
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