When the former heads of Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward said last week that they would address their creative futures “very soon,” they weren’t kidding. Today, Jason West and Vincent Zampella officially announced the formation of their new company, Respawn Entertainment.
“For the past decade we led a great development team and poured our hearts into creating an epic game franchise,” Zampella said in a statement. “We’re very proud of what we built – and proud that so many millions of fans enjoyed those games. Today we hope to do it all over again — open a new studio, hire a great team, and create brand new games with a new partner, EA.”
Catch that last bit? It seems Activision’s suspicions about Zampella and West secretly meeting with EA while under Activision’s employ were entirely accurate. EA Games label president Frank Gibeau said of the deal, “This is the start of a great publishing partnership – one that I expect will develop blockbuster game franchises. Jason and Vince are two of the top creative leaders in the entertainment industry. At EA, we’re honored to be their partners and to give them the support they need to hire a team and return to making incredible games.”
We were already expecting the Activision/Infinity Ward battle to rage mightily in court, and this latest news will surely tack on a few hundred degrees more of intensity. Adding to the fire too is the fact that Respawn proudly trumpeted that it will have complete control over its intellectual properties.
“We’re excited. Now that the team is in control of the games and brands, we can ensure that the fans are treated as well as they deserve,” said Respawn Entertainment president West.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the first title from Respawn should be out in two to three years. Expect to hear plenty more about this story as it continues to develop.
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warpedzappa
Please don't make another war based shooter
Screams
love their name
Spybreak
It's good to see them get back on their feet after that d*ck move.
UNrealx007
this seems like a great addition to EA but as soon as they change stuff with battlefield to be like Crap of duty its over!
d@_jok3r!!
dice + frostbite + EA + IW = BFBC3 = 10/10 game xD
roach_party
I think what happened to the ex-Infinity Ward heads is complete and utter bulls$%^. Any assertions that Infinity Ward was trying to steal Modern Warfare 2 from Activision are shocking! Did everyone forget that since the beginning of the development of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, it was just supposed to be Modern Warfare 2, and outside of the Call of Duty franchise? Then Activision persuaded Infinity Ward to add the Call of Duty moniker to boost sales with brand association, and it pretty much went downhill from there. Since it then became part of the Call of Duty franchise, Activision was able to exert more creative control, and claim ownership over the IP, effectively stealing it from Infinity Ward
Andras
Honestly, I hope they don't maintain the rights to the call of duty series. If they do, that means activision was right, and Jason and Vince were just trying to break away, essentially stealing from activision.
If they don't have the rights, that means that Jason and Vince were just trying to start a new IP, and Activision wanted them to keep cranking out CoD games. Also, I'm a little bit tired of CoD
nightsnipe
Just make sure the don't touch the BF series...
MasterFast
EA games in general are kinda meh, I hope having IW on their staff will make some of the FPS's better.
RockieOllie
Medal of Honor is going to be bitchn'.
Jacan
Activision is not the bad guy in this story, Jason and Vince did the same thing to EA when they made a hit, and felt they didn�t get enough money.
Now they are doing the same thing to Activision
Jason and Vince are some moneygreedy guys, but who isent when they made a hit like COD and MOdern warfare.
jat267
I use to think Activision was the bad guy in this story, but after hearing this news, i'm not sure anymore.
Bruiser_CIA
" open a new studio, hire a great team, and create brand new games with a new partner, EA.
"Catch that last bit? It seems Activision s suspicions about Zampella and West secretly meeting with EA while under Activision s employ were entirely accurate."
I still don't see how those suspicions are "entirely accurate." There's still no proof. For all we know, Zampella and West met with EA after they were fired. In any case, it will be great to see how all of this plays out.
flinchmaster0
This is awesome. Activision treats the fans like crap. They deserve this all the way.
OHSHTtryharder
first infinity ward gets slapped in the face with bfbc2 this is just the backhand and MEDAL OF HONOR is coming out ITS OVER
xL7717
I hope the rest of Infinity Ward goes to Respawn Entertainment and leaves Activision.
I also hope Treyarch leaves Activision someday, as they are good developers too IMO.
ionic_photard11
This drama is better than the cover of the Enquirer!
Cathartic Denoument
Respawn Entertainment, huh? Heheh..How befitting.
Though its funny that IW left EA in the first place, wanting to branch off from Medal of Honor to make Modern Warfare. And now they're leaving Activision to return to EA to make new games AGAIN, except this time, they have control over their own games.
Its like a girl that left a guy to be with another guy, only to leave that guy to go back to the previous guy.
LoL [[smh]]
Then Infinity Ward - now Respawn Entertainment, should've just went with someone new, like THQ, as their publisher.
Well, now that Respawn Entertainment is formed, it'll be no surprise to see IW employees jump ship & join up with RE; especially starting with the two that left after Jason West & Vincent Zampella - Todd Alderman Francesco Gigliotti.
Anyways; best of luck to Respawn Entertainment. Hope they become just as successful as when they were Infinity Ward.
And sorry Activision, but..you're going down the crapper.
TheTenthNazgul
I'm glad. I think they made Modern Warfare 2 suck on purpose. I'm personally waiting for that sci-fi shooter that they wanted to do instead of Warfare 2. And they never would have been able to do it at Activision because they are money lovers who wanted them to make Modern Warfare 73. "Soap" would be a grizzled 97 in that game. And Price would be a zombie.
Mega Man X
This is a Good Move. Actvision Are Dumb Fat Doughes. EA + Dice + IW = THE ULIMATE SHOOTER!
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