Situation Developing at Infinity Ward (UPDATE)

[Shawn Zipay]

UPDATE 2: Activision filed an SEC report against Infinity Ward earlier today. The report claims that two senior employees at Infinity Ward were insubordinate and were in breach of their contract. It continues to say that this "matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation."

UPDATE: Apparently this isn't merely a publicity stunt as many (including us) initially believed. An update at the G4 page shows that Jason West is now the former CTO/CCO of Infinity Ward. His new status reflected in both his LinkedIn profile and a status update on Facebook.

Original: Allegedly, there is a bit of a situation going on at Infinity Ward right now. G4 has some news about a developing story regarding some "non-uniformed bouncers" showing up at the IW offices, and two studio heads from Infinity Ward having gone "missing."

A source close to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 developer just informed me that a "bunch of bouncer-types" just showed up outside of the Infinity Ward offices unannounced. When approached by employees, the non-uniformed "bouncers" were unwilling to disclose why they were there.

"Everyone is on edge," said my source.

Infinity Ward studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West reportedly met with Activision this morning and have not been seen by Infinity Ward staff members since. My source did not delve into specifics, but described the relationship between Infinity Ward and Activision lately as "tense."

The mood around the Infinity Ward offices is currently described as "freaked out" and "confused."

"We just wanna make our games," said my source.

We'll have more details as they're revealed.

[Unregistered]

Re: Stunt or Actual Situation Developing at Infinity Ward (Hint, it's a Stunt)

Mmmm... G4TV's editor is coming out and saying it's not a stunt.

http://twitter.com/patrickklepek/statuses/9860154810

I would not be surprised if ATVI fires a bunch of IW brass. BC2 looks to be pulling a huge chunk out of MW2's player base, and that means no hope of major DLC sales. IW's handling of complaints and bugs, as well as the unprofessional conduct of their Community Manager, Robert Bowling, makes me think that this was going to happen anyway. I think ATVI just timed it to try and soften the blow on sales.

[Micster]

Re: Stunt or Actual Situation Developing at Infinity Ward (Hint, it's a Stunt)

I find it odd that it would happen now, of all times.

[The_Eliminator]

Re: Stunt or Actual Situation Developing at Infinity Ward (Hint, it's a Stunt)

Maybe they should stick to making half decent games instead of playing dress up and tea parties.

[jake_]

Re: Stunt or Actual Situation Developing at Infinity Ward (Hint, it's a Stunt)

Maybe they should stick to making half decent games instead of playing dress up and tea parties.

This.

[Chris_Redfield]

Re: Situation Developing at Infinity Ward (UPDATE)

Bravo Two Zero was last time seen crossing Mexican border with his X360 and a copy of MW2. True story.

[Scinto]

Re: Situation Developing at Infinity Ward (UPDATE)

Does Activision not like how IW are handling MW2 aww shame let us rejoice for the popularity of BC2.

[Stev0esque]

Re: Situation Developing at Infinity Ward (UPDATE)

Hmmm... slightly off topic... is this who private west (the one who had the javelin origianlly in the bog level in CoD4) is named after?

Though, ontopic, this does seem strange.

[garandx]

Re: Situation Developing at Infinity Ward (UPDATE)

West is done, and vince may be close behind. This is very interesting and may be the beginning of a huge problem for activision.

[iQue]

Re: Situation Developing at Infinity Ward (UPDATE)

Interesting, to say the least.

[The_Eliminator]

Re: Situation Developing at Infinity Ward (UPDATE)

So can someone explain the situation as im a little confused now.

[Rogue Warrior]

Re: Situation Developing at Infinity Ward (UPDATE)

They should really throw Bowling into that party as well, or are his knees too dirty?

[[UN]TA|Pierre]

Re: Situation Developing at Infinity Ward (UPDATE)

Would be interesting to know what really happened.

[probe101]

Re: Situation Developing at Infinity Ward (UPDATE)

They should really throw Bowling into that party as well, or are his knees too dirty?

LOL Rogue.... He's been giving the standard 402 answer :" i have no info"

[CptainCrunch]

Re: Situation Developing at Infinity Ward (UPDATE)

So can someone explain the situation as im a little confused now.

These people are two major developers for Infinity Ward. I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't the brains of the game development.

To be honest, I dont keep up with "whos-who" in development, but I do know these two people and if I know them, then they must be important

I doubt this has to do with BC2 but could be a disagreemnt in the direction of Infinity Ward with Activision and since IW is the stronger of the developer teams for the CoD series, it could mean some drastic chanages to the game and infinity ward changing everything further, as if thats possible.

Crunch