Amidst reports that their game had reached 25 million unique players and the upcoming release of an incredibly successful map pack expansion, "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" developer Infinity Ward clearly had some sort of issue with their parent company, Activision, which led to the sudden departure of a large chunk of the development team.
(Note: If you're unaware of Activision's process with its "Call of Duty" developers, Treyarch and Infinity Ward alternate in developing new titles. Infinity Ward is considered responsible for the "Modern Warfare" titles while Treyarch develops World War II-themed (or possibly Vietnam next time) shooters.)
I've developed a timeline of this surprisingly intricate story, so it can all be seen in one place. A large portion of this comes via Joystiq and Kotaku.
- 3/1/10: A form Activision turned in to the SEC says that "The Company is concluding an internal human resources inquiry into breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward. This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation."
- 3/2/10: Sources claim that a "bunch of bouncer-types" show up at Infinity Ward HQ and are unwilling to divulge their purpose in being there. Infinity Ward studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West had not been seen since a meeting with Activision Monday morning.
- 3/2/10: Later in the day, Activision formally announces the departure of Vince Zampella and Jason West.
- 3/3/10: An internal Activision memo says Infinity Ward will remain central to the "Call of Duty" franchise... But also says that a new wholly-owned studio of theirs, Sledgehammer Games, will now also be developing "Call of Duty" titles, but action-adventure instead of first-person shooters.
- 3/4/10: Zampella and West file a lawsuit against Activision for breach of contract, alleging that they were fired to avoid being paid royalties for what was already the third best-selling video game of all time, "Modern Warfare 2." The suit asked for just compensation and, interestingly, control over the "Modern Warfare" brand.
- 3/4/10: Later in the day, Activision responds with a rather patronizing statement, expressing their disappointment with Zampella and West's "meritless" lawsuit. Activision vaguely alleges that Zampella and West failed to honor their obligations to their parent company.
- 3/5/10: Joystiq obtains Infinity Ward's court documents. They allege that Activision fired Zampella and West to avoid paying royalties, and take more complete control over the "Modern Warfare" brand. The document also complains about the increasing development pace forced upon the studio.
- 3/12/10: An anonymous source tells Kotaku that remaining Infinity Ward developers are only staying until they receive their royalty payments, and that morale at the studio is extremely low.
- 4/6/10: Two more development leads at Infinity Ward, Todd Alderman and Frank Gigliotti, quit.
- 4/9/10: Activision counter-sues Zampella and West in a shockingly juvenile-sounding lawsuit. They allege that the Infinity Ward execs took "a secret trip by private jet to Northern California, arranged by their Hollywood agent, to meet with the most senior executives of Activision's closest competitor [probably EA Games]." The lawsuit actually says that Zampella and West "morphed from valued, responsible executives into insubordinate and self-serving schemers who attempted to hijack Activision's assets for their own personal gain." Further allegations: That Zampella and West threatened to stop production of "Modern Warfare 2" in late stages of development for contract leverage; That they slowed pre-production of "Modern Warfare 3" for the same aim; That they refused to meet with Activision; That they "[engaged] in a campaign to portray Activision and its management in a negative light to IW employees in an effort to solicit those employees."
- 4/9/10: Zampella and West react, calling the counter-suit "false and outrageous." They continue the surprisingly juvenile tone of the argument, adding that any false allegations of insubordination can hardly have hurt Activision, given that "Modern Warfare 2" was the world's most successful video game.
- 4/12/10: Webcomic Penny Arcade chimes in with the comic below.
- 4/12/10: Zampella and West announce a new development studio called Respawn Entertainment, with a publishing agreement and funding coming in from EA Games.
- 4/12/10: Activision respond later, saying "this agreement comes as no surprise to Activision given the myriad of improper activities detailed in the cross-complaint filed on Friday against Jason West and Vince Zampella. We look forward to continuing to work with Infinity Ward's deep bench of proven talent on exciting new projects."
- 4/13/10: Three more IW developers, Jon Shiring, Bruce Ferriz, and Mackey McCandlish, all leave the company.
- 4/13/10: Later in the day, another four leave: Zied Reike, Steve Fukuda, Rayme Vinson, and Chris Cherubini.
- 4/14/10: Mark Grigsby and John Paul Messerly also leave Infinity Ward.
- 4/15/10: EA spokesperson Jeff Brown comments on a recent Activision Q1 report's bragging, saying "This is kind of like announcing: The race horse I shot last month has won the Triple Crown!"
- UPDATE 5/6/10: By now, around 35 former Infinity Ward employees have resigned and joined Respawn Entertainment. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick says the studio is not going to be closed down, despite the huge personnel losses.
