2010 Employee firings and departures
Dismissal of senior employees
On March 1, 2010, Activision amended its report with the Securities and Exchange Commission to add notification that two senior employees of Infinity Ward were being fired due to "breaches of contract and insubordination". This coincided with Jason West (Infinity Ward president, game director, co-CCO, and CTO) and Vince Zampella (CEO and co-founder of Infinity Ward) editing their profiles on the website LinkedIn to list Infinity Ward as a former employer as of March 2010. Reportedly, a meeting between Zampella, West, and Activision staff occurred on March 1, after which neither Zampella nor West were seen; this was followed by the arrival of security guards at the studio.[21][22] It was later confirmed by Activision that West and Zampella had been dismissed, and had been replaced on an interim basis by Activision CTO Steve Pearce and head of production Steve Ackrich.[23]
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick addressed Infinity Ward studio heads on March 2, 2010 about Zampella and West's dismissal. A second meeting was held with all of Infinity Ward's employees on hand. The outcomes of those meetings are currently unknown,[24] but Activision has explained that Infinity Ward are still "central" to the future of the Call of Duty franchise. Activision has created a new studio, Sledgehammer Games, to create an "action-adventure" installment of the Call of Duty franchise. As of March 3, 2010, Activision maintains that Infinity Ward is still the central pillar of their Call of Duty franchise and this new studio is merely an extension of the franchise.[25]
[edit] West And Zampella v. Activision
Following the initial news of West and Zampella's departure, it was reported that Infinity Ward has not received royalties from the sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and that the developer may have breached their contract with Activision by holding meetings with other video game publishers including Electronic Arts.[24][26] This was revealed to be the reason behind the firings when West and Zampella filed a lawsuit against Activision on March 4, 2010 over "substantial royalty payments" that Activision failed to pay them in the weeks leading up to their firing. According to their attorney Robert Schwartz, Activision had hired lawyers to investigate West and Zampella on charges of insubordination and breaches of contract in February, which culminated in their dismissal. West and Zampella's lawsuit was filed to force Activision to compensate West and Zampella for the unpaid royalties, and to secure contractual rights over the Modern Warfare branch of the Call of Duty franchise, among other things.[27] If their lawsuit is successful, West and Zampella could retain the power to halt the development and release of any future games and downloadable content in the Modern Warfare setting.[26]
On April 9, 2010 a countersuit was filed by Activision stating their actions in firing Zampella and West were justified, calling the two "self-serving schemers."[28] Zampella and West's attorney responded to the countersuit the same day saying the publisher's claims are "false and outrageous".[29] A case management conference for West And Zampella v. Activision is scheduled for June 21, 2010.[30] The countersuit mentioned that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is in development.[31]
[edit] Further departures
Following West and Zampella's firings, several other Infinity Ward employees resigned. Throughout April 2010, 20 employees, among them lead designers and programmers who worked on Modern Warfare 2, abruptly left Infinity Ward. All have so far declined to comment on their reasons for leaving.[32]
[edit] Respawn Entertainment
On April 12, 2010 the LA Times reported West and Zampella forming a brand new independent gaming studio known as Respawn Entertainment. They are seeking funding from EA through the EA Partners Program. West and Zampella will incorporate the rights to all intellectual property produced by them in the future.[33][34][35] By April 23, nine of the 20 Infinity Ward employees who resigned from that studio following the firings of West and Zampella revealed through their LinkedIn and Facebook profiles that they had signed on with Respawn Entertainment.[36][37] According to comments by the employees, Respawn is expected to begin work on its first project in May 2010.[38]
