As anyone who follows my Twitter is aware, I spent the better part of Monday night (Tuesday morning on the East Coast) calling everyone I knew who was associated with Activision. Most of them didn’t tell me much of anything. To those people, I apologize for continuously bugging you at all hours of the night. However a few people were willing to give me some information on what was going on at Infinity Ward so long as they were anonymous.
First, the backstory: For those of you who aren’t yet aware, Activision locked down the Infinity Ward offices after a meeting with (former) Infinity Ward bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella. When the story first broke nobody had any Earthly clue why Activision would shitcan the studio co-founders and lock the Infinity Ward offices down like they were trying to quarantine a zombie outbreak, but after several hours of arm twisting I’ve been able to get a few nuggets of information. Note that this is what I have been told by those close to the situation and in no way is meant to be presented as 100% cold hard fact.
1.) Infinity Ward has yet to be paid a single dime in royalties for Modern Warfare 2, which has earned Activision over one billion dollars in revenue. (NOTE: To clarify, everyone who spoke with me mentioned this. Whether or not IW and Activision had an agreement in place for royalty payments is unknown at this time. It’s just curious that everyone brought this up.)
2.) It’s (fairly) common knowledge that Infinity Ward is not owned by Activision, but is under contract with the publisher. (ED: That was a misunderstanding, on my end, of a statement made to me. I apologize for any confusion.) This Their current contractual obligation expires in October, which could explain why Activision has (allegedly) been looking to dump Modern Warfare 3 off to another developer. The probem with this is that Infinity Ward still technically owns the rights to the Call of Duty franchise (at least partially). Some people close to the situation see Activision’s current actions as a power play to try and bully Infinity Ward into either staying with Activision in one capacity or another (buyout or contract extension) or to at least acquire the Call of Duty name.
(ED NOTE: If the above paragraph makes zero sense, I apologize. It was 4am EDT, I was writing short-hand and half of what was being told went way over my head. The short of it: There’s a contract in place regarding Infinity Ward’s principals that expires in October. Basically IW, while technically owned by Activision, is autonomous in the same way Blizzard is. That’s what the “contract” talk is about. Again, sorry for any confusion.)
3.) Theoretically speaking, after Infinity Ward’s contract expires in October the company is free to rehire both West and Zampella.
But the most interesting fact…
4.) SEC paperwork filed by Activision claims that there were “breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward.” According to a source inside Activision, it is believed that Infinity Ward may have been in discussion with a “rival publisher” about signing a similar publishing agreement that IW currently has with Activision.
When pushed for more specific details, all they would assure me is that it was NOT believed to be Electronic Arts. Whether or not there is any merit to this belief is anyone’s guess.
More information is expected to come out throughout the day as Activision has a lot of explaining to do. We will continue to keep you updated on this increasingly bizarre story, whether news breaks here or elsewhere. Also keep tabs on G4′s Patrick Klepek, who has done a phenomenal job staying on top of the situation.
i think everyone has to agree, that mwf2 wasnt that hot anyway, this is looking hotter than fire though…
worldwide charts ps3 has 18 in the top 50….xbox only has 12. aa’aa’and..
Motorstorm 3
Twisted Metal 4
Ace combat 7
The mark of kri
Starhawk
SSX
Uncharted 3
Resistance 3
Killzone 3
God of war 3
Gran turismo 5
Grand theft auto 5
syphon filter 5
The last guardian
Agent
infamous 2
all exclusive…even ssx an ea game?!!! real news , better believe im not joking either, beter believe, peace out, follow twitter. mrpurple101
…the hell does this have to do with anything?
Don’t mind it, it seems to be a Sony droid…
These are not the droids you are looking for.
wtf is the op talking about? codmod2 is one of the most popular games of all time, in regards to fps’s. it ranks up there with games like halo 2 and 3, counterstrike, half life etc. is it just me or are the ps3 die hards getting more and more pathetic? both systems have their pluses and minuses which has nothing to do with the quality of a game. oh yeah and by the way, codmod2 is multiplatform so i dont know what youre trying to accomplish by saying it’s a shitty game and then relating that to how shitty you think the 360 is.
I think i saw this dumb reply somewhere else about something else…but this seems fairly spelled right and readable and i think it is the same name posted..SXX will never be exclusive….the only exclusive game ever made ( besides wii games cause duh it meant for the wii) is Mass Effect 2 to my knowledge and when he says GTA 5… i knew he was a joke but eh let him keep on trolling…
What? since when did Mass Effect 2 become an exclusive? It’s out on PC and 360… An exclusive means it’s stuck to one platform only!
Here is some exclusives;
Killzone
Uncharted
MGS
GT
Forza
Both Mass Effect and Halo lost their “exclusive” part as soon as they got released on the PC.
the MGS series is not a Sony exclusive, if you knew your games u would know that
Metal Gear 1 and 2: Nes (Re-released on Ps2)
Metal Gear Solid: GBC, PC, Playstaion
Metal Gear Solid – Twin Snakes: Gamecube
Metal Gear Solid 2: Ps2, Xbox
Metal Gear Solid: Rising: Ps3, 360, PC
You are such an idiot. No really, you are insecure, the story is about IW and their battle with Activision. And you’re listing PS3 exclusives?
Wow, you are certainly compensating.
make.believe i was supost to say at the end of that, incase it didnt make any sense.
haha, the game is just the start, who needs infinity ward, when sony has 14 studios worldwide, pumping out ittles cuch as the ones listed by me. make.believe.
Interesting. Love to be a fly in those board meetings.
Losing IW to a competitor wold be a major catastrophe for Atvi. Who else could be in the mix if EA isn’t…maybme Warner Bros/Monolith or THQI? Who owns the IP to the MW2 engine?
Ubisoft?
wow son i hope jack is paying you well for those blowjobs!
alex c
ur a dumbass what does that have to do with anything. your a loser so shut up
This is the type of things that happen when ‘money men’ smell the money an industry makes and starts to take over. Look at the media and health insurance, the ‘quality of the product’ has deteriorated immenesly in these industries, because the people at the top just don’t care about the industry.
Games used to be desgined by people who love games, and make a lot of money doing it, and today, games are still pretty awesome, but the coming storm will be industries ONLY intested in money, and don’t care at all about games themselves. This can only lead the industry to ruin.
Sorry, what?! Is Infinity Ward owned by Activision or not, because I thought Activision acquired them many years ago? If Activision did acquire them several years ago as I thought, what the shizzle is this contract about and going to another publisher… If Infinty Ward is owned by Activion, then Activision owns the CoD IP then, right?
For the record — I completely fucked up point #2. I’m a wee bit tired (though that’s no excuse) so my wording was utter ass. I’ve hopefully cleared up the confusion with the ED NOTE under it.
I apologize is anyone was utterly perplexed.
Let’s face it: IW has always voiced their distaste with the IW-Activision-Treyarch agreement. IW has developed the base, has developed the IP to what it is today. Basically Activision has brought Treyarch onboard to “milk” the franchise as much as possible. Most AAA games today take at least 2 years to develop, hence Treyarch/IW flip flop so that Activision can reap the rewards every year.
It’s a business. Simple. IW wants to be paid for their golden child.
they will get three years now because Activision brought in sleghammer
When IW jumps ship, CoD will stagnate and flop just like the Hero rhythm game franchise.
And with no revenue monkey, those Activision bastards may finally get burned.
Its microsoft trying to take IW to save their dying console. nothing can save that heap of 5 dollar piece of trash
This has nothing to do with Microsoft. Like at all.
Also last I checked the Xbox is still going strong. Quit being such a whiney fanboy, there is a lot the both do wrong and a lot that both do right.
I really hope IW does leave, I absolutely hate Activision and Bobby Kotick and his money grubbing creativity killing ways. COD4 was great but I wasn’t willing to put up with the shit they did to MW2 and boycotted that, which is a shame because I was looking forward to it. My copy of Battlefield Bad Company 2 came in today though and I’m confident it will far outshine Activision’s butchered idea of MW2. I hope both IW and Blizzard jump ship leaving Activision high and dry with their lonely DJ Hero.
@ Inja & Alex C:
I love my PS3 but I’m not stupid enough to believe that the 360 is a dying console. I’ve got a 360 in addition to my PS3 and I have to say that it’s a pretty good unit. It may not play Blu Ray, but it gets some consistently excellent AAA titles (some of which are exclusive) like Mass Effect 2, an early front-runner for game of the year.
But who am I to argue logic with a fanboy? Keep believing the wrong thing if it makes you feel better. As for everyone else, we’re just gonna laugh at you.
Well said, sir.
Yep, completely agree. Douchebags like @Inja & Alex C give PS3 fans a bad name. I love both my PS3 and my 360. Both platforms have incredible games
The only problem I have now is that I don’t have enough money to buy all these awesome games, damnit!
I like my ps3, I dislike the 360 I once owned. When retards like you call people douchbags for having an opinion, guess what, it makes you retarded.
What the hell, Mass Effect 2 is not an exclusive! It’s out on the PC. So is almost every other 360 “exclusive”.
All you need is a PS3 and a good PC.
when a console takes 3 discs to play a current gen game it can be veiwed as a dying console- that is entirely based on opinion so dont go acting like their are clear cut facts.You already know my views on this and im entitled to it you pansy. Furthermore PS3 is technically superior- a better hardware, END OF.
No Inja, “when a console takes 3 discs to play a current gen game it can be veiwed as a dying console” is not only not an opinion, it is false.
Proof: PS2 games that were on multiple discs during its generation(and though I consider the PS2 “last gen”.. are there still not games being made for it? Ten year cycle right?).
Furthermore PS3 is technically inferior to the Xbox 360 because it has HALF the ram (512mb > 256mb). HALF!!! <=== This is how to troll properly, throw numbers out there. Anyways, they are your opinions, enjoy.
LOOL get a load of you, nothing looks good on that console. the discs can barely handle Jay-z’s new album let alone a decent game. every1 on the planet knows ps3 is a technically superior console- why would devs say it. If ps3 can push out better graphics with half the RAM then microsoft better take notes
So basically, Activision is claiming the two who were fired discussed doing a deal with a rival company while still technically owned by Activision. That is entertaining … unlike all the multi-player problems MW2 has to it.
Wow.
Loads of mis-infos from this Walker guy.
IW is owned by Activision, which bought out IW’s private stock AND
”
3.) Theoretically speaking, after Infinity Ward’s contract expires in October the company is free to rehire both West and Zampella.
”
The above statement is just plain wrong, like in WRONG.
LOL
Well then, are you going to elaborate and enlighten us then? Otherwise what’s the point of taking the time to comment and say “wrong!” without correcting what you believe to be mistaken? Or do you just want a pat on the back?
Remember to link to your sources too.
uuu noooo
Activison does own IW
and they can rehire when a contrat expires
Alex C is either a troll or a hardcore PS3 fanboy. He posted that PS3 exclusive list in this article and on another website, check it out here (read the comments); http://gamingbolt.com/2010/03/01/20-gamesat-e3/
FUCK ACTIVISION!!
Wow…this twitter thing is annoying, you are barely able to read the articles because of it
What exactly is wrong with the Twitter feed.
I really don’t hope they will burst out a bunch of CoD games now… since i really liked the way they were going with the story in the MW games. I never cared for any of the other CoD games, it was just the same all over and over again.
IW created the greates CoD games out there, so Activision damn better let IW keep up the good work!
PLOX GET DEDI SERVER
Mass effect is an exclusive. Its called “Games for Windows”. Windows =MS, MS = Xbox. Its the same publisher, on two very similar platforms, created by the same company. D’uh! Besides, what they REALLY mean by exclusive, is “will never,ever be on Playststion”.
And a good thing too, that one is waaayyyy too slick for the PS3.
xbox is nothing like the PC
just a handful of the same games
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Victor’s comments rolled into one for easier reading:
Submitted on 2010/03/18 at 6:05pm
activison sucks ok they just let IW make all the games i Should Know my dad works at Activison
Submitted on 2010/03/18 at 6:07pm
Plus when Halo Reach comes out its guna glow all the damn games awy in the dust!!!!!!!!!!
Submitted on 2010/03/18 at 6:09pm
so dont go sain that activison is the bom cuse that shit of a company ant nothing compaired to Bungie and INFANTARY WARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Submitted on 2010/03/18 at 6:12pm
so inja can shuve his head up a hoarses ass
First Victor shut the fuck up about Halo it sucks
Second the COD series is going to stay with activision
but IW arnt going to do anythin with COD any more its gunna be treyarch from activision and he had DS (Dedicated Servers) for Waw but they were scrapped for the development for MW2 so maybe we will see DS for MW2 soon but till something gets sorted with MW2 ill play BC2 wich is everything COD wanted to be but IW failed
Agreed…up until the IW failed part. Have you noticed the pattern of the Call of Duty series? Every other one is god awful, and the the next one comes out and its the ish. COD2, MW1, MW2 all made by IW….all the best COD titles. Treyarch? Weak! If Activision really screws these guys over and lets them go then it says two things, first of all Activision are ungrateful pieces of shit, and secondly you can expect for every call of duty made here out to suck. I wont be buying black ops I’ll tell you that much
God I hope Treyarch doesn’t take it over. They screw anything they touch about as bad as Activision. IW is the only thing that has kept CoD afloat.
All this xbox vs ps3 vs pc crap is old. Get over it, their all different and none of them are going away anytime soon.
damn right
I loved the cod series especially cod4 and cod:MW2. Too bad companies only see money signs and not the talents and potential that these developers can bring to the gaming world. Over the past years, i see great companies fall due to greedy owners.
Anyways, I used to love my xbox 360 until it died, and died, and died again. When i look back at it, Halo campaign was awesome but their multiplayer suck, all you see are bunch of players hopping up and down. I own a ps3 and I love it and i think it will become the future of gaming, but i do miss some xbox 360 exlcusives.
Well I just came in here to read about what was going in with IW and Activision… most comments turned out to be a lot of whiners trying to defend their favorite consoles. Who cares if you love PS3 or 360? Since the day they came out there’s been the discussion about which one is the best console. That shit got old. Just enjoy whatever system you got.
Also, in my opinion, I think IW did a pretty good job with MW-MW2. It’s a great series and I felt the story was strong and appealing. Multi-player (at least for PS3, which is what I got) is lots of fun, sometimes frustrating, like any other online game, but fun nonetheless. You don’t like how they did things? Stop playing them, go get another game. There’s plenty of other FPS, just wait for the new games coming out this fall, lots of options if you don’t like how things are going with CoD.
Some people just need to get over themselves. Have a nice day.
I suggest reading this, too.
http://games.venturebeat.com/2010/03/07/the-making-and-unmaking-of-infinity-ward/
Just to clear up some stuff I read here and found to be misleading.
Thanks for the article though, appreciate it.
i’ve read about this issue on more than one website, and i believe all rumors start with some truth. i would assume iw get most, if not all, the money they’re entitled to when it’s all said and done.
modern warfare 2 was the stupids game ever made.