Dynamiting open a can of beans

We live in an era of economic downturn when, sadly, the closure or reduction of staff numbers at game development studios have become all too common place.  When we hear of another member of a game development staff that has been set adrift it is certainly cause for concern.  But when the biggest game publisher in the country kills the geese that laid the golden egg, the Modern Warfare Games, it is likely to raise a few eyebrows.  When it does so before the royalties due Jason West and Vince Zampella, CEO and CTO of Infinity Ward until just recently, are paid…

Well there, as the immortal bard once said, “lays the rub”.  For those of you not already in the know, I give you paragraph 32, page 10 of the law suit brought against Activision by Mr. West and Mr. Zampella, (via Indie Game Developer, you can read the entire article here)

Activision conducted the investigation in a manner to maximize the inconvenience and anxiety it would cause West and Zampella. On little notice, Activision insisted on conducting interviews over the President’s Day holiday weekend; West and Zampella were interrogated for over six hours in a windowless conference room; Activision investigators brought other Infinity Ward employees to tears in their questioning and accusations and threatened West and Zampella with “insubordination” if they attempted to console them; Activision’s outside counsel demanded that West and Zampella surrender their personal computers, phones, and communication devices to Activison for review by Activision’s outside counsel and, when West and Zampella asserted their legally protected privacy rights, Activision’s counsel said that doing so constituted further acts of insubordination.

For those looking for some additional background into the matter you can find it over at Jakeworld:  The IW/Activision Spat )

Beyond the two infinity ward former studio execs violating  Non-disclosure agreements (NDA) and their Contracts, Activision has been silent on the matter to date.  On the face of it, everyone outside Activision/Blizzard (and at this point that is everyone writing about the incident) will read about “interrogated over six hours in a windowless conference room” and Activision Interrogators bringing Infinity Ward employees to tears and feel outrage.  We can read about Activision counsel demanding that “West and Zampella surrender their personal computers, phones and communication devices to Activision” and it will, no doubt, summon up images of criminals in 1960’s black and white film, in darkened rooms, with searing white light shining in their faces.  However, without knowing the other side of the story, just developing an opinion based half the facts has the very real possibility of leaving any author writing about the issue with a heaping pile of crow to eat, depending on the outcome of the lawsuit.  While many of us will point out that everyone is entitled to “due process” it is easy to forget about “just cause.” 

It is at this point that many people will instantly leap to the defense saying, nothing justifies treating employees or anyone in the manner described in the law suit.  Keep in mind, however that anyone can ALLEGE anything, factual or not.  And before you say “nothing justifies” keep in mind what the circumstances may or may not be.  Yes, it could be as much of an outrage as circumstances appear.  However, what if Activision, as tight lipped as it always is about their business, has a whole deck of Aces up their proverbial sleeves?  

Still, it leaves a question that goes begging…do the professional and personal actions of someone in any aspect of the entertainment industry affect how we feel about their work?

When Paul Reubens, otherwise known as “Pee Wee Herman” was arrested for indecent exposure in an “adult” movie theater it all but killed his career, taking 20 years to get any public “exposure” of his work.

When Tonya Harding was concerned about competition from Nancy Kerrigan in 1994 she hired someone to attack her.

When Mel Gibson was arrested for driving under the influence of Alcohol he made anti-Semitic remarks to arresting Officer James Mee, saying, “Fucking Jews…Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world” (source) .  Aside from the heinous nature of the statement (for which he later publicly apologized) this is also a statement made, ironically, by the same man who brought us the movie entitled “The Passion of the Christ”.  What do you expect from a man who obviously didn’t bother to read the gospels before he made the movie (for some twisted reason he portrayed Mary Magdalene as a prostitute – she was nothing of the kind. Read Luke 8:1-3)

In the end we must each ask ourselves if the behavior of an actor, or even a game developer affects our patronage.  Would you still see a Mel Gibson movie if he insulted someone of your ancestry?  Now that Paul Reubens is trying to rekindle his career would you let  your children see one of his performances? And what if the treatment of Jason West, Vince Zampella, and Infinity Ward employees turns out to be an overreaction tantamount to dynamiting open a can of beans? Will you still purchase any of their games? Will you cancel your World of Warcraft account?

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Julie Whitefeather

(posted for Julie Whitefeather by the Webmaster)