BlackJack_Jonny writes...

Insubordination and breaching of contract, cannot have anything to do with "not buying lunch at a meeting" its a very serious legal matter, hence why the Exchange Commission is involved.

insobordanate or we is a big word and if its offense then they can go and shut up cuz infinityh war downs :D

http://www.destructoid.com/rumor-infinity-ward-developing-an-mmo-159813.phtml

http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2010/01/07/infinity-wards-next-project-an-mmo/

http://kotaku.com/5443502/but-is-infinity-ward-doing-modern-warfare-3-%5Bupdate%5D

While it's still unclear whether it will be an MMO or not, it’s clear that they wish to move on. Although I suppose that now depends on what Activision now does to them legally.

Apparently Jason West and Vince Zampella were forcibly removed from the studio's premises by order of owner Activision.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/report-infinity-ward-bosses-removed-from-studio

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/activision-analyst-rating-unaffected-by-infinity-ward-problems

The most likely reason/explanation Ive heard so far is that Jason and Vince were talking to another publisher about signing up with them, rather than continuing with Activision, when Infinity Ward's contract comes up for renewal in October 2010. This would be in contravention of their Non-Compete contracts built into their employment contracts, which would forbid them talking about such a deal with a competitor publisher.

It seems once pressed on the subject, both Jason and Vince decided to quit on the spot and walked out. Activision saw that as an act of gross misconduct and dismissed them on that basis. Security guards were called in to stop the 2 of them getting back into the building to prevent them retrieveing any "sensitive" documents they might have planned to take with them.

Activision have now filed with the SEC, and are intending to sue both West and Zempella for breach of contract on both fronts - breach of Non-Compete clauses and insubordination.

An added factor to the mix is that both West and Zempella both felt slighted by Activision because neither of them have received any royalties from the sales of MW2 to date. This was, apparently, the catalyist that lead to them even contemplating moving to another publisher.

This was my main source:

http://www.bingegamer.net/2010/infinity-ward-has-not-received-royalties-for-modern-warfare-2/

Ahhh royalties. Everyone wants them. Nobody wants to pay them.

Time and time agian, this has happened, in a sense. Power corrupts. I can recite from an interview that both of these "bosses" drastically expressed their thoughts on leaving the CoD genre. This leads me to believe, that they were infact attempting to start a new studio with the proposed plans for their next game in their hand. This is sews together in a way that I will explain.

1. Activsion owns all materials and ideas developed and conjourned up by its affliates and parties, aka, subsidies. These include IW and Treyarch to no suprise. This ties in with the guards enforcing them to leave the building in fear of "document removal", perhaps the next IW game.
2. A breach of agreement could be taking any ideas outside of the facility or publicly aknowleding them.
3. Like DemonSeed said they did not recieve any royalties for MW2 which in my eyes they didn't deserve, but non the less still should have gotten; this would also make them feel like the move to a new studio.

In the end I believe IW has reached its climax and is now in a downward spiral of stalling too the ground. It happens everyday; and its there time. The rise of Treyarch is near, sorry had to add that sounds like a good movie title, eh?

Personally I couldn't care less either way (publicity stunt or an actual case for the courts) from what has and has not happened over the last few months I would rather watch a Jerry Springer re-run then read anything into this as Jerry Springer has more credibility then IW in my mind. All in all, pathetic and I'm putting this in the garbage with Jack Thompson

Time to move on

Cheers

[IBS]MattY writes...

yeah , i know

Some developments, new press release from ATVI:

Activision Publishing Reveals New Plans for Call of Duty(R) Franchise


Company to Establish Dedicated Business Unit to Focus on Product Excellence and Brand Expansion --Company Confirms New Call of Duty Game To Be Released in 2011 --Activision Publishing Plans to Launch Call of Duty in New Genres and Asia

SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 2, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/

Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced new strategic plans for the Call of Duty(R) franchise, one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time.

The plans include the formation of a dedicated business unit that will bring together its various new brand initiatives with focused, dedicated resources around the world. The company intends to expand the Call of Duty brand with the same focus seen in its Blizzard(R) Entertainment business unit. This 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," stated Mike Griffith, President and CEO of Activision Publishing. "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."

The company expects to release a new Call of Duty game from Treyarch this fall. In addition, Infinity Ward is in development on the first two downloadable map packs for Modern Warfare(R) 2 for release in 2010.

The company is also for the first time announcing that a new game in the Call of Duty series is expected to be released in 2011 and that Sledgehammer Games, a newly formed, wholly owned studio, is in development on a Call of Duty game that will extend the franchise into the action-adventure genre. Sledgehammer is helmed by industry veterans Glen A. Schofield and Michael Condrey. Prior to joining Activision Publishing, Schofield was the Executive Producer of the award-winning game, Dead Space and Michael Condrey was the Sr. Development Director on the game. The Dead Space franchise has won more than 80 industry awards worldwide including the prestigious A.I.A.S. Action Game of the Year and two B.A.F.T.A.S.

The Call of Duty business unit will be led by Philip Earl, who currently runs Activision Publishing's Asia Pacific region and previously served in senior executive positions with Procter & Gamble and Nestle. Activision Publishing veterans Steve Pearce, chief technology officer and Steve Ackrich, head of production, will lead Infinity Ward on an interim basis. Jason West and Vince Zampella are no longer with Infinity Ward.

Lastly, Activision Publishing announced that the company is in discussions with a select number of partners to bring the franchise to Asia, one of the fastest growing regions for online multiplayer games in the world.

SOURCE