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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BENonG4
Holy SKlT!!!! Activision obviously watched "The Godfather" recently and thought that it was full of wonderful and great ideas.
P.S. Fall of Duty is the perfect title for this abomination of a "business deal"
Traveller7
Call of Duty will go the way of Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk.
iJESUSfreak
Activision offically kills MW... :/
Aerindel_Prime
Boycott!
Boycott!
Boycott!
Boycott!
ROUGEBLOCK
I just find it funny that last generation, EA games was the big evil gaming corporation who out sold anyone, even their game companies for more money in its pockets. Then they clean-up their act big time and activision has slowly but surely found them self in this particular place of the former.
XwingVmanX
Activision is going to kill COD the same way they killed Guitar Hero. I would bet any amount of money that the heads of IW were let go because they said before they didn't want to make another MW game, at least not yet and pursue something else. I bet Activision didn't want that, and this is the result.
Nightshade386
Any chance you guys can post the full press release?
Raverenz51
I have lost all respect for Activision. Call of Duty will be the new Guitar Hero, and if that happens I will never purchase another COD game. If activision even considers touching Blizzard entertainment next I will literally shoot myself...
bononcinid
Great. Now Activision is going to cash in on the Call of Duty name as much as possible. Which always leads to less quality more quantity.
BONERJAM
I wonder if the rest of the IW team will follow Zampella and West after their contract is up.
smurfdiggler
Make way for the return of the Medal of Honor series...I really liked this series more than COD at first but after a while EA failed to bring new elements to the game play over the years...let's see if they snatch the opportunity.
gambit1023
Seems like Activision is trying to become the Disney of the video game world.
Murdering Robot
Thanks, Activision. As you scrounge through trash bins to find your reputation, please try not to look too hard at all the discarded copies of COD: World at Wat, or COD3, or Finest Hour.
Nightshade386
In like a lion and out like a lamb, huh? I just thought they were talking about the weather.
frreakazzoid
NOOOOO...Brings Tears To My Eyes..... Plzz dont screw up COD and COD'S future
kameha4th
Were doomed.
kameha4th
Yeah, this is definitely a bad move to, EVERYTHING
I`ll miss you MacTavish.
I`ll miss you Call of Duty.
You gave me a wonderful experience every night and play 12 hours straight.
Shall you Rest.In.Peace.
,Good bye ;[
Fyzban
CoD is now a rent for me. Activision is going way too far.
lookatthisguy
"2010 will be another important year for the Call of Duty franchise"
I have no doubt. If you get my meaning.
BONERJAM
I had a feeling that Activision would destroy COD sometime. I've been a long time IW/COD fan but I never liked that they worked with Activision. IW and Activision haven't seen eye to eye since COD3 was made by Treyarch.
R.I.P. Call of Duty
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