IW studio heads, West and Zampella fired ? IW community manager (402), 404'd. Can't be found!09 Mar : 16:04 [ image disabled ]Daily Informer.net wrote ... If you’re a gamer you’ve most likely heard about the Infinity Ward scandal this week. For those of you that don’t have a clue what I’m on about, hold tight and I’ll explain the situation. Since then huge amounts of information have hit the internet regarding this, but there’s one question that remains unanswered – what does this mean for the fans? In this article we’re going to try and answer that question as best as we possibly can by talking to a Contract-Lawyer that has previously worked on an Activision lawsuit. We’ll discuss DLC and how the recent departures will affect the future quality of games released by Infinity Ward. For those of you that haven’t been following the scandal this week, allow me to fill you in. On Monday the 1st of March G4TV broke the news that some unusual goings on were happening at Infinity Ward, stating that some “Bouncer-types” had taken over the building and the two studio heads [Vince Zampella & Jason West, Jason being pictured below on the right] had not been seen after attending a meeting with Activision, the studio’s owners. Later that day it was confirmed that the two heads had been dismissed for “Insubordination”. On the 3rd of March Zampella & West filed a lawsuit for “$36 Million in unpaid royalties” and for creative authority over “any Call of Duty game set in the post-Vietnam era, the near future or the distant future” and any title branded by the Modern Warfare IP. Rumors have also been flying around that Infinity Ward had been looking to create a game for Electronic Arts, Activision refused to comment on this when approached by Daily Informer on this matter. So now that you’re caught up, let’s get down to the key question we’re going to answer in this article – How will this actually affect you guys, the fans? Well, let’s start off with West & Zampella’s lawsuit for creative direction over the franchise. According to the lawsuit Activison aren’t allowed to commercially release any game described as being “[a] Call of Duty game set in the post-Vietnam era, the near future or the distant future” without “the written consent of West and Zampella”. We spoke to a London based Contract-Lawyer that has previously worked on Activision Lawsuits about whether or not this could affect any content being released digitally or at retail in the next 6 months under the Modern Warfare brand, such as the upcoming DLC. “Most definitely” she replied “since these gentlemen must have presented a copy or substantial proof of the binding contract in order to initiate the lawsuit this is certainly the real deal. However if they have broken any of the terms of the contract, or any contracts referenced in the terms then the aforementioned contract will be null and void. I highly doubt that a company the size of Activision will release any products that conflict with a contract that’s being legally challenged knowing the possible implications of doing so”. Translating that into English, Activison won’t be releasing the planned Spring DLC unless Zampella & West give the company written permission to do so, unless it’s proved to a court of law that the contract giving the pair Creative Direction over the franchise is found to be void. I also imagine that Microsoft may be having words with Activision since they have paid a considerable sum for timed exclusivity of the DLC for the Xbox 360. This is the biggest thing that fans of Modern Warfare 2 should be worried about, but that’s not all. One of the key things that have kept the company’s products consistently brilliant was the low employee turn-over. Now that the two heads of the studio have been dismissed and one of the key community facing employees [Robert Bowling, pictured above] is rumoured to have left the company, how many more people will leave and how will that affect the quality of the games Infinity Ward is famed for creating? It has been widely stated since the founding of the studio that the company’s leadership are always found in the “Trenches” working just as hard as the main team on each and every product – so we believe that the quality of their games could have been compromised already, without even thinking about the possibility of more people leaving the company. We started off asking the simple question, how will this scandal affect you, the fans? After speaking to a Lawyer that specialises in intricate lawsuits such as this, and looking at the company structure – it seems that it could quite dramatically affect you guys. With the quality of the games created by Infinity Ward seeming dependent on a tight, settled team and the DLC looking to be hanging in the balance, it appears the long life critics had predicted for Modern Warfare 2 may be looking quite grim. Activision and Microsoft are yet to comment on the DLC situation; however we’ll be sure to update this post if / when we receive a response from either company. I personally have been fighting on this one. To be honest, 402 should hang up his guns and hide. While I dislike IW for what they did with the COD franchise, I do hope that West and Zampella continue working, and that they do in fact win their lawsuit. IW deserves all that they get over this. To quote the Monkey: wrote ... If you have any poo fling it now! Click here for forum discussion |
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