It’s hard to imagine that anyone who reads this web site (there are some of you out there we can hear you breathing) hasn’t heard of all that has transpired between Activision and the two former heads of Infinity Ward Jason West and Vince Zampella. For those of you who have not heard of the suits, and counter suits that began with lengthy interogations and the seizure of computers by Activision (or at least the attempt) you can catch up with it all here in a source that comes to us via Scott Jennings Broken Toys Website with an analysis by of the legal proceedings here. The claim by Activision studios is that “”West and Zampella’s misdeeds formed an unlawful pattern and practice of conduct that was designed to steal the [Infinity Ward] studio”. The counter claim by messers West and Zampella is that Activision fired them as a way to deprive them of royalties earned from the sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
West and Zampella, apparently not to the surprise of Activision, have gone on to create the aptly named Respawn Entertainment and have signed a deal with Electronic Arts. In an article over at Arstechnica.com available here Vince Zampella had this to say:
“Respawn Entertainment marks a fresh start for Jason and me,” said Vince Zampella, General Manager of Respawn Entertainment. “For the past decade we led a great development team and poured our hearts into creating an epic game franchise. We’re very proud of what we built—and proud that so many millions of fans enjoyed those games. Today we hope to do it all over again—open a new studio, hire a great team, and create brand new games with a new partner, EA.”
The right or wrong of it will of course, be decided by the California court system. The response from Activision, cited in the La Times Business section noted above, is as follows:
“West and Zampella’s misdeeds formed an unlawful pattern and practice of conduct that was designed to steal the [Infinity Ward] studio, which is one of Activision’s most valuable assets — at the expense of Activision and its shareholders and for their own personal financial gain.”
Activision was quoted as saying, “We look forward to continuing to work with Infinity Ward’s deep bench of proven talent on exciting new projects”. Of course, there is little doubt that there is alot of talent over at what is left of Infinity Ward. Still, Activision is starting to look like a guy who hires someone to go on a date with him at a restaurant where he knows he will see his ex-girlfriend, so the ex will know “I am doing just fine without you.”
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick once said he would raise the price on Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (which has already exceeded the $1 Billion sales mark) “if he could”. Now, if the article over at Arstechnica (available here ) is correct, we may see subscription fees for the Call of Duty Franchise soon, as Kotick is quoted as saying, “If you think about the success we’ve had in other product categories on subscription, you can get a sense of the direction that we want to take that franchise”. No matter how the litigation turns out, right or wrong, Activision comes off a lot like the Gordon Gekko character in the movie Wall Street of whom Bud Fox asks “How many yachts can you water ski behind?” There are, of course, enormous sums of money involved. And considering we live in a society where there are businessmen would sell their mothers into prostitution for an extra dollar, the whole thing is starting to sound like the days of our childhood when “Oh ya? Well your mother wears army boots!” would have been shouted across the playground. Now that I am older, hopefully wiser, and also a veteran my answer (where the claim actually true) would of course be…
Damn straight she does!
See you online
Julie Whitefeather
(posted for Julie Whitefeather by The Webmaster)