Topic: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-present

[D_Average]

Per Giant Bomb, the new action game will be "God of Warefare".

[Kairon]

God of Modern Warfare? God of War with Guns? Interesting...

[ThePerm]

yeah it is, i would make the game like 300 meets Army of Darkness. 300 Spartans with guns lets conquer Persia!

[BlackNMild2k1]

The Drama Continues.........

Ousted Infinity Ward Founders' Lawsuit Against Activision (The Court Documents)

Read the 16-page complaint filed by the founders of Modern Warfare 2 development studio Infinity Ward against Activision, the company that ousted them on Monday. Jason West and Vince Zampella, dismissed by Activision for "insubordination" sued. Lots of details here(all legal docs at the link above).

Here is a summary of the long legalese from NeoGAF

Wow that's a lot of Legalese. Okay, in case anyone doesn't feel like reading all that stuff:

WHAT HAPPENED: The two developers were promised royalties as part of their contract for Modern Warfare 2. They're claiming Activision fired them under false pretenses in order to avoid paying those royalties.

The lawsuit then gives background about the company, including alleging that Activision purposely gave Infinity Ward a small budget for Call of Duty in order to buy 30% of its stock for cheap since the small budget would keep them from fighting it.

It also states some things we all know; sales figures, revenue numbers, etc. West and Zampella (the two developers and plaintiffs) had only one year on their contract before MW2 started. They were reluctant to get an extension on their contract, but did so anyway because Activision promised complete control of IW AND creative control over any post-Vietnam Call of Duty and MW games that might be developed.

Blah, blah, blah; more sales figures and talks of how MW2 was praised upon release. Activision then launched the investigation of Zampella and West about a week after the release of MW2. They hired outside lawyers and investigators to question other employees (some of whom cried from anxiety) and threatened insubordination charges if the two plaintiffs tried to console the other employees.

West and Zampella then said they were going to talk to their lawyers, at which point they were told Activision would make things worse if they did. The two men were also never told what exactly they had done wrong at any given point during the investigation. Activision strung the investigation along, then gave the two IW guys about six hours to respond to the accusations. A couple days later, Activision announced the new Call of Duty games they want to make (which were posted in another article).

WHAT THEY WANT: The first claim is to about US$36 million in damages. Second, they also want control of the Modern Warfare franchise back, since that was what was promised. Third, they also say Activision cannot make any further MW games OR post-Vietnam Call of Duties set in the present, near future, or far future. Fourth, they feel that Activision owes them their royalties and bonuses regardless of whether or not their termination from IW was legitimate. And obviously, they want their attorney fees covered.

And that's about it. I may have misread the complaint a bit, so feel free to correct me.

and a small excerpt from the legal docs


I can't wait to see how this all plays out.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

This is entertainment.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Looks like Activision bought IW for only $5million. Deal of the century.

more insight from GAF

Seems like the real issue is that in March 2008 Activision and West/Zampella signed a "memorandum of understanding" which seems to be the basis of one of their three claims against ACTI. In the memorandum, it purports to grant West/Zampella the ability to approve whether any MW branded game is released, in addition to granting them the right to choose which IP to work on after MW2 was completed.

Sounds like this largely hinges on whether this memorandum retroactively becomes part of the original contract they have with Activision. Looks like some lengthy litigation is in the picture. The court needs to determine (i) what legal rights are granted by the March 2008 MOU, (ii) whether it is enforceable (iii) whether they have a separate wrongful termination claim.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Activision Seeking Internal Documents Related To West, Zampella And...Electronic Arts?

Much of what Activision's looking for is standard for a legal dispute related to, in Activision's words, "breach of contract" and "insubordination." Activision also believes they're legally in the clear."The Dispute involves West and Zampella's management of IW, as well as the development and marketing of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 ("MW2"), and potential subsequent games developed by IW," reads the memo sent internally before the lawsuit was filed. "Activision believes that it has done nothing wrong and intends to vigorously defend any claims asserted by West and Zampella."
Below are some excerpts from a list of documents that Activision is looking for. Note the last one:

• "Documents regarding past, current or future IW projects, including but not limited to any and all businesses analyses of future projects (e.g. Modern Warfare 3)"
• "Documents regarding any potential 'spin out' of IW, including but not limited to any communications with IW employees, West or Zampella regarding forming a new studio independent of Activision"
• "Documents regarding West and Zampella's communications with Activision's competitors, including but not limited to Electronic Arts"

Modern Warfare 3 likely isn't in development yet, but it's not surprising to see that it was already on everyone's radar. The memo seems to indicate that Activision may have suspected West and Zampella were looking outside the company.

Things just got real interesting (not as if they already weren't though)

edit:
some information that the summary leaves out.
(in February Activision lawyers put West/ Zampella in a windowless room on a holiday weekend for a 6 hour interrogation, and confiscated all of their phones and computers in part of their search for "evidence of insubordination."  When West / Zampella complained; Activision lawyers asserted that complaining about the interrogation was in-and-of itself an act of insubordination.)

[TJ Spyke]

Interesting situation. I won't comment on who I think is to blame because right now it seems like a "he said-she said" situation with both sides making accusations at the other. I will comment on some things though:

Regarding West and Zampella trying to spin out their own studio; I can understand. Remember when several members of Rare left to form Free Radical? They took several of the top employees with them. I am sure Activision wouldn't want these 2 leaving and trying to lure some of the top COD workers with them.

If those 2 are under contract with Acitivision Blizzard and they were secretly contacting Electronic Arts, then they have themselves to be blamed.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Activision steps up to the podium:

Activision "Disappointed" By Infinity Ward Founders' "Meritless" Lawsuit

"Activision is disappointed that Mr. Zampella and Mr. West have chosen to file a lawsuit, and believes their claims are meritless," the company said in a statement e-mailed to Kotaku by a spokesperson. "Over eight years, Activision shareholders provided these executives with the capital they needed to start Infinity Ward, as well as the financial support, resources and creative independence that helped them flourish and achieve enormous professional success and personal wealth.

"In return, Activision legitimately expected them to honor their obligations to Activision, just like any other executives who hold positions of trust in the company. While the company showed enormous patience, it firmly believes that its decision was justified based on their course of conduct and actions. Activision remains committed to the Call of Duty franchise, which it owns, and will continue to produce exciting and innovative games for its millions of fans."

[ThePerm]

kinda reminds me of duke nukem forever, except these guys actually delivered product

[KDR_11k]

I wonder how many people will quit over this mess.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Game Informer viewed the documents with an IP lawyer
I haven't read it yet, but I assume it's a good read from a professional point of view.

http://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/03/04/the-activision-lawsuit-what-it-means-and-where-it-s-going.aspx

[Stogi]

This thread is cracking me up.

[Peachylala]

I wonder how many people will quit over this mess.

I'm sure they will be able to find Nintendo newer jobs.

[broodwars]

Man, the more I read about this Activision story, the worse it looks for Activision (which I consider to be a good thing).  Just parsing the story here, what I gather is that it looks like Activision (obviously) wanted to make a Modern Warfare 3, but had a contract with the 2 head people at Infinity Ward that gave them veto power over anyone making a 3rd game through 2011 and had huge bonuses coming.  The Infinity Ward folk wanted to make a New IP as well, which Activision publicly disdains.  So Activision allegedly goes on a witch hunt to find a way to void their contracts and fire them so they didn't have to pay them their money and could proceed with milking Modern Warfare.  Diabolical, but it's what I expect from Activision.

Now, I realize that there's a lot that needs to be proved in the Court of Law here but does anyone really believe Activision wasn't actively trying to engage in shady business practices here, especially with their shady history (Brutal Legend, anyone?)?

[Chozo Ghost]

Here's hoping Infinity Ward gets bought by Nintendo or something.

[broodwars]

Here's hoping Infinity Ward gets bought by Nintendo or something.

That would be difficult considering Activision owns them already.  Perhaps Nintendo could buy out whatever studio the employees leaving Infinity Ward create, before someone like EA does.

[TJ Spyke]

The studio is 100%-owned by Activision Blizzard, so Activision would have to agree to sell them (which they could do since Activision would still keep the Call of Duty IP).

[Shaymin]

But the status of the Modern Warfare IP is still before the courts... and that's the IP that just sold 6 million units in its launch month.

Though I'm trying to figure out what the hell IW or its remnants would make for Nintendo.

[TJ Spyke]

Only the "Modern Warfare" part, the main "Call of Duty" part is not in dispute (the Infinity Ward founders are making no claim to it). Not that it matters because I don't think they have a case against Activision.

[Stratos]

But the status of the Modern Warfare IP is still before the courts... and that's the IP that just sold 6 million units in its launch month.

Though I'm trying to figure out what the hell IW or its remnants would make for Nintendo.

A new FPS for the Wii? I'd rather Treyarch do that though because they have a good deal of Wii experience and Modern Warfare Reflex shows they can pull off an amazing game on the technical side that is on par with it's HD counterparts in terms of performance.

I do wonder what this new IP would be from IW. Would it be another FPS with a unique twist to it or were they hoping to break out and try something new like a 3PS or platformer or sports game or something.

[ThePerm]

or possibly Retro, i really hope around e3 we find out what the hell those guys are doing.

[TJ Spyke]

I'm wondering too, the last thing they worked on was Metroid Prime Trilogy (and let's be honest, I don't think that was too much since the only real work involved was adding pointer controls to Prime 1 & 2).

[ThePerm]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pit._Brawl.jpg

we can only hope right? Or some new shooter, if its made by retro it should be decent.

[Caliban]

does anyone really believe Activision wasn't actively trying to engage in shady business practices here, especially with their shady history (Brutal Legend, anyone?)?

What happened with Brutal Legend?