JediAthos Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 This week Activision fired the two top men at CoD developer Infinity Ward. These are the same two men who assembled the team that gave us the Call of Duty franchise and developed the current blockbuster Modern Warfare 2. In an article on gameinformer.com http://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/03/02/activision-announces-new-plans-for-cod.aspx Activision talks about a new developer for the CoD franchise in addition to Treyarch. In another article from Game Informer posted yesterday: http://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/03/03/news-infinity-ward-ex-heads-suing-activision.aspx the fired heads of Infinity Ward have filed a lawsuit against Activision citing breach of contract among other things. It kinda sounds to me like Activision has genuinely chopped off the head of their biggest money making franchise. I don't think CoD will ever be the same and Activision may have just made the biggest mistake they could have possibly made. Granted all the details are not public, but I just have this nagging feeling I'm reading about the death of the Call of Duty franchise as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabretooth Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Step 1: Get studio to create uber-successful game franchise Step 2: Fire them and get some other studio to make games instead Step 3: ??? Step 4: Profit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totenkopf Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 I think they can't see the forest for all the money in their eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthParametric Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 My guess from what I have heard around the traps is that they were probably looking to jump ship with a new publisher, which would likely also involve starting up a new dev company (seeing as Activision owns Infinity Ward). I imagine it would be much the same as how Infinity Ward was founded, as that was started by a bunch of people from Medal of Honor dev 2015. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrotoy7 Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 I can only imagine the background stuff going on that led to this. When two honchos get the arse, there's usually some mega bucks, ego clashes and drama in the mix. mtfbwya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynk Former Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 drama Those bastards. LucasForums patented the whole drama thing. I demand satisfaction! Something tells me some people were demanding too much money and power from their success and so they had to be eliminated... but then it's probably Activisions own fault for not giving it to em, who knows *shrugs* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JediAthos Posted March 4, 2010 Author Share Posted March 4, 2010 One of the articles from GI indicated that the gentlemen from Infinity Ward were due to receive a very large royalty payment and language in the lawsuits essentially accuses Activision of firing them because they didn't want to pay up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ctrl Alt Del Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 I think Activision is just "remembering Bungie": They develop a highly succesful - and most important, profitable - franchise and suddenly they're buying their independence at the expense of said franchise. I suppose Infinity Ward wasn't about to go and hand it over to them. You know what, I've just realized the odds of that happening are marginally low, but to see something like that at the top of their ascencion is hard to explain, so it probably demands an exceptional explanation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrrtoken Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 That's what happens when a developer assimilates with a publisher; it'll only be a bit longer until other developers such as BioWare fall ill to "contract violations" or some ilk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mav Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 I hope that the two IW guys win the lawsuit. Activision can take their __insert musical profession here__ Hero 15's and their over-priced PC vidya and kiss my chapped, crusty ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrotoy7 Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Due to my fondness for fiddling with words, for many years I have pronounced "Activision" as "Active-jizm" A fitting re-branding in this instance. They've definitely made a mess. mtfbwya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthParametric Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 http://www.kotaku.com/2010/03/rumour-infinity-ward-had-been-courting-ea-other-publishers/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Avlectus Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 The last thing Activision ever made that I could give 2 s***s about is Mechwarrior 4 and I still have yet to play. Mechwarrior series was great. Everything else they mad was kinda "meh" to me. Not surprised, really. They haven't made anything worthwhile, if at all, since MW4 which was about 10 years ago from right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JediAthos Posted April 26, 2010 Author Share Posted April 26, 2010 Committing some more thread necro here. I don't know if you all have kept up with this story but the flood gates are essentially wide open at Infinity Ward as now at least 20 designers and developers have left the publisher. To top if off several of them (with more to follow I'm sure) have signed on with Jason West and Vince Zampella's new studio Respawn Entertainment which is partnered with EA. Anyone think the Call of Duty franchise will survive this grade-a cluster****? *source Game Informer (http://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/04/23/four-more-join-infinity-ward-exodus-seven-respawn.aspx) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabretooth Posted April 26, 2010 Share Posted April 26, 2010 It may or may not. In any case, between Medal of Honor and Bad Company 2, it will not be missed. Besides, Respawn may end up working on a faux-Call of Duty franchise, where they put in everything the series has apart from the branding and characters. It's reliance on real-world aesthetics means that it can be easily replicated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mav Posted April 26, 2010 Share Posted April 26, 2010 Committing some more thread necro here. I don't know if you all have kept up with this story but the flood gates are essentially wide open at Infinity Ward as now at least 20 designers and developers have left the publisher.Not to be a nitpicking bastard, but technically Infinity Ward is a 'developer' and Activision is the 'publisher'. In side news, Respawn Entertainment, while "punny", is one of the worst names for a game developer ever. As for whether or not Call of Duty survives the short answer is yes, Treyarch will release a CoD this year and it will sell like hotcakes because it says Call of Duty on the box. Then whoever's in charge/working at IW will release a CoD next year and it will also sell like hotcakes. Kotick will continue to print money and laugh like Iwata. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JediAthos Posted April 26, 2010 Author Share Posted April 26, 2010 Not to be a nitpicking bastard, but technically Infinity Ward is a 'developer' and Activision is the 'publisher'. In side news, Respawn Entertainment, while "punny", is one of the worst names for a game developer ever. As for whether or not Call of Duty survives the short answer is yes, Treyarch will release a CoD this year and it will sell like hotcakes because it says Call of Duty on the box. Then whoever's in charge/working at IW will release a CoD next year and it will also sell like hotcakes. Kotick will continue to print money and laugh like Iwata. My apologies for the misnomer I, for one, will not follow the sheep on future CoD titles unless I believe they are worth buying. There are some that liked Treyarch's installments of CoD but I wasn't really impressed. I am however looking forward to the reboot of the Medal of Honor franchise that EA is working on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabretooth Posted April 26, 2010 Share Posted April 26, 2010 I really think people are more concerned about the Modern Warfare sub-brand than Call of Duty itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litofsky Posted April 26, 2010 Share Posted April 26, 2010 I really think people are more concerned about the Modern Warfare sub-brand than Call of Duty itself. RAMIREZ, SAVE THE FRANCHISE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drunkside Posted April 27, 2010 Share Posted April 27, 2010 I hope that the two IW guys win the lawsuit. Activision can take their Accordion (?) Hero 15's and their over-priced PC vidya and kiss my chapped, crusty ass. Sry, had to do that On the topic: I dont really care as i have never been fond of COD. Without actually knowing what happened for sure i cannot take one side. But then again, as i said, i dont care Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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