I almost didn’t classify this under rumor because it seems like a done deal, but here is the “rumor”. Yesterday Infinity Ward studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella went to go meet with Activision. They didn’t make it into work at Infinity Ward, then late yesterday “bouncer types” showed up at Infinity Ward and, people were “freaked out”. Activision filed a 10-K form with the SEC yesterday that explains any problems within the company that may effect them and their stock. One of the items in the form says Human Resources was investigating “breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward”. The form also suggests that the two employees would be sued. Facebook and LinkedIn updates by West suggest that he is in fact unemployed, and possibly nursing a hangover.
That’s about all we know right now, it will be interesting to see how this all shakes out. Will West and Zampella be able to form their own studio? Will they have to wait for the lawsuit to come to a close? Are they really in the wrong? When is the CoD MMO coming out? Hopefully we will have answers to these questions relatively soon.
UPDATE: BingeGamer is reporting that no one at Infinity Ward has seen a royalty check from Modern Warfare 2 yet. However analysts tell Joystiq that it’s really not that big of a deal. However Binge is also reporting in that same article that Infinity Ward’s contract with Activision ends in October and that this is part of a move to get Infinity Ward to stay with Activision and keep cranking out Call of Duty games.
UPDATE 2: Activision investor documents confirm the departure of Jason West and Vince Zampella. They have been replaced by Activision Publishing chief technology officer Steve Pearce and head of production Steve Ackrich in the interim. Which means they eventually will be replaced by actual new working heads of Infinity Ward. Meanwhile, Phillip Earl who was Activision’s head of the Asian-Pacific region, is now the head of the Call of Duty business for the company.