Activision’s, Kotick, Fires Two Infinity Ward Studio Heads

Infinity Ward made it to the front pages of the LA Times today, not for their success with Modern Warfare 2, but for two of their Studio Heads being fired. On the left you can see the CEO of Activision, Bobby Kotick (47). The victim of much controversy over the past couple months in the eyes of gamers. There is even a Facebook Group called Gamers against Bobby Kotick & Activision.

The Two Studio Heads that were fired were Jason West and Vincent Zampella. They were the key creators to their successful Call of Duty series. On announcing their termination, 35 out of 100 employees quit their jobs. Out of the 35 employees, they also lost their lead designers of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Upon losing their jobs, Jason West and Vincent Zampella sued Activision. They claimed Activision fired them to avoid paying $36 million in royalties. In a countersuit, Activision claims the two breached their contract by attempting to “decamp” to rival Electronic Arts. “It is unusual that disputes get this personal,” said Dan Offner, who heads the lead video game practice at law firm Loeb & Loeb in Los Angeles.

Infinity Ward is now hiring to regroup for Modern Warfare 3, while Treyarch gets ready to release their amazing Call of Duty 7: Black Ops.

On a good note, through reading this article we also find out some good news. It can almost be a positive statement to say that, as long as there is no more lawsuits and money issues, Modern Warfare 3 will definitely be in the future.

Another small part of the article that is easily overlooked is them talking about a Third partner that will be releasing a Call of Duty. Quoted from the article: “while another Activision studio is working on November’s Call of Duty: Black Ops and a third is producing a spinoff.”. I’d love to find out who is attempting to bring a new version of Call of Duty to the table. Something new to look forward to finding out.

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