Activision has now officially responded to the reported shakeup at Infinity Ward.
The publisher has confirmed studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West have left the company, but issued no other comment related to their departure. There was no mention of "insubordination" or "breach of contract" in Activision's statement.
Activision Publishing CTO Steve Pearce and head of production Steve Ackrich are temporarily in charge of Infinity Ward.
According to the release, Infinity Ward will move forward on developing two downloadable map packs for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, both due for release sometime in 2010.
Confirming what we already suspected, a new Call of Duty is coming from Treyarch Games later this year. What we didn't already know, however, was Activision's intentions for Sledgehammer Games (headed by former Visceral Games developers Glen A. Schofield and Michael Condrey) to release a brand-new Call of Duty game "in the action-adventure genre" sometime in 2011.
No setting or gameplay details were revealed for either upcoming Call of Duty product, but the "action-adventure" description suggests it won't be a first-person-shooter.
Activision also vaguely discussed intentions for the future of the series, which include pulling the Call of Duty franchise under a singular business unit. Activision also intends to "expand" the Call of Duty brand similar to what Blizzard Entertainment has done with its franchises.
This lines up with Activision's public intentions to eventually release a subscription-based Call of Duty game. According to Activision, this change "will include a focus on high-margin digital online content and further the brand as the leading action entertainment franchise in new geographies, new genres and with new digital business models."
"2010 will be another important year for the Call of Duty franchise," said Activision Publishing president and CEO Mike Griffith in a brief statement. "In addition to continued catalog sales, new downloadable content from Infinity Ward and a new Call of Duty release, we are excited about the opportunity to bring the franchise to new geographies, genres and players."
More details as they become available.
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Adiorocks949
Call of Duty:Backstreet Boys
Canid117
I refuse to play any P2P game that isn't an MMO. And even then I will ignore almost anything not made by Blizzard.
jcordgamer
Activision just showed us what happens when greed takes place of common sense. I hope Activision goes bankrupt by the end of next year. I refuse to buy anything that has anything to do with Activision at all. My god the people who work Blizzard have got to be more than scared. The next announcement is that WoW is coming to consoles and it's going to be FPS. I hope all investors and the stock market community can recognize this for what it is and start dumping the Actvision stock immediately before they lose money.
haveacookie
To everyone jumping on the "ACTIVISION BADDDDDDD" bandwagon, I would simply ask, please WAIT, and see why this has happened before you go join the rebel rebellion to overthrow the Activision Empire.
rGrayMiller
1) Acquire good game franchise.
2) Saturate the market.
3) ??????
4) Profit.
Sounds like Activision is up to its old tricks again. Almost impossible to believe after all this time they STILL haven't learned their lesson from Infinity Ward - my gosh just let them do ANYTHING they want to and you'll still make a boatload of money.
I've played a non-IW CoD before, and I won't be doing so again. Did MW2 NOT prove that people are paying attention to who's developing like never before?
Adiorocks949
COD is dead. Action-Adventure? Uhm,wrong. Activision,you guys are morons,and instead of getting a conclusion to the McTavish-Price adventure,we're getting 3rd person Uncharted rip offs. Now we're definitely going to have to pay a monthly fee to play COD and every title is going to have Zombies. Screw you Activision.
SkinnyJr
wow. call of duty will be the new guitar hero. Activision doesnt know when to stop. There will be a flood of CoD games and in the end no one will care anymore. I think MW2 was my last purchase...
Rieb20
I've already moved on from COD but this does suck, hopefully some of the people from IW can break away from activision and start something new, COD was getting stale anyway. I'd love to see what kinda game they could make not being tied down by the COD franchise, which will be dead in a year after activision milks the s##t out of it.
fyrestarter00
WTF??? DON'T FIX IT IF IT AIN'T BROKEN RETARDS!!!! Hostile takeover much? Why does crappy Treyarch get to keep going but some random jerkoffs are going to make "an action-adventure" game slapping COD's name on it? Goddammit...
backerman
Rest of Infinity Ward crew will leave in october. Activision will use Treyarch more often.
sofeor
Wow just wow. I have lost any respect that I had for Activision. I refuse to pay to play CoD online. Bravo Activision bravo, way to ruin an excellent franchise.
jc18378
Oh wow I think they just killed my boner! Naz1 Zombies I cant wait for you!!
MissChief
Zampella & West will land on their feet, but I feel for all of the programmers & artists at IW. Activision is really the evil empire.
Thunderkleize_
I hope their stock drops.
Jabman0025
new direction??? in one of the biggest selling franchies of all time.......memo to activision if it ain't broke don't fix it.
Mega Man X
Oh Wait... Nevermind (crys) Sniff*
Darthjacob22
I'm as pissed as anybody about this crap, but you guys do know that this isn't Kotik's fault? He has a bunch of share-holders to respond to, and in reality, they're the ones pressuring him to do this...
Mega Man X
Hey guys cheer up i mean it can't be that bad i mean we have'nt try mordern warfare 3 yet
jc18378
I am ready for some new Nazi Zombies!!
Ian528
You developed the fastest highest selling game in history.... What do you win?
Execs are fired and company is dismantled.
Supporting Independent studios at Activision
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