Infinity Ward Loses More People, Respawn Benefits
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2All those who have a bone to pick with Activision are snickering right about now.
As most of you know, ex-Infinity Ward leaders Vince Zampella and Jason West have formed their own studio, Respawn Entertainment, with a deal already in place to have EA distribute their games. And there have been numerous instances of IW members leaving and going to...well, where do you think? And according to G4TV, the Modern Warfare 2 developer has lost three more key members. Lead character artist Joel Emslie and artists Ryan Lastimosa and Brad Allen have updated their Facebook pages with the info that they've left IW, and although they haven't announced their intentions just yet, they might just join their former comrades. Several employees have already gone back to Zampella and West at Respawn; it was seven and now it's nine, as designer Brent McLeod and software engineer Chris Lambert have revealed their new home on their LinkedIn profiles. So the question is, does IW have enough left in reserve or are they gonna be hiring like mad? And does anyone remember when EA said Activision went and shot their Triple Crown horse...? That was funny.
Anyway, Respawn continues to benefit and it'll be interesting to see what their first project will be. We're hoping it won't be yet another FPS but even if it is, we expect nothing less than greatness.
4/26/2010 9:21:51 PM Ben Dutka
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Comments (35 posts)
Kowhoho
Monday, April 26, 2010 @ 9:57:03 PM
I'm evermore excited to see what Respawn will come up with!
5 up, 0 down
phantomMenace
Monday, April 26, 2010 @ 11:51:11 PM
2 up, 0 down
Dustinwp
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 9:26:02 AM
1 up, 0 down
Cesar_ser_4
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 10:06:42 AM
1 up, 0 down
Zorigo
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 3:41:54 PM
they got what they deserve tbh. IDK about the whole unpaid royalties... i trust IW more than activision, but whatever... but im pissed bout the ramped up prices.
2 up, 0 down
Milonakis
Monday, April 26, 2010 @ 9:39:12 PM
Reply
9 up, 0 down
BTNwarrior
Monday, April 26, 2010 @ 9:57:37 PM
Reply
7 up, 0 down
CH1N00K
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 7:28:05 AM
1 up, 0 down
Bugzbunny109
Monday, April 26, 2010 @ 10:09:04 PM
Reply
A snickering sound is heard from a distance...
Activision: What's that? What's that!!??
Snickering continues increasingly getting louder.....
Activision: Is that you EA? Or is it Respawn? No, IT IS EA! I know it’s you, come out! Come out!!!!
Snickering turns into blatant laughter.
Activision needs a twix XD
5 up, 0 down
mackid1993
Monday, April 26, 2010 @ 10:19:14 PM
Reply
7 up, 0 down
Highlander
Monday, April 26, 2010 @ 10:19:45 PM
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Ah well, I wish Respawn every success, and hope that Activision get's everything due to them...
11 up, 0 down
johnld
Monday, April 26, 2010 @ 11:20:43 PM
Last edited by johnld on 4/26/2010 11:22:17 PM
2 up, 0 down
Nynja
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 8:45:18 AM
This is what I gathered from this whole mess...
Activision spread themselves thin by gobbling up small studios to do rehashes of the same product (Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero mainly). This ended up being a bad investment. They start closing these development teams and want IW to start cashing in on the Modern Warfare craze to make up for their losses. Big honchos at IW refused and wanted to make their new IP. Activision was obligated to allow them to do so under contract. Since IW owned the rights to the Modern Warfare name no other team was allowed to work on the franchise. Activision starts putting pressure on the 2 head guys. They dig deep to find anything they can fire them for and they left - by choice or force. Now Activision feels as if they won because they have the names "Infinity Ward" and "Modern Warfare".
The question(s) I want to see answered; Are gamers smart enough to know that the main people behind a game they love so much got shafted by Activision? Will they continue to purchase next 3,000 CODs and MWs? Or will they follow the team and their new vision?
Unfortunately I think I already know the answer. Lets hope the next one from RE captures the interest of those gamers... wait a minute. What am I saying? Most of those gamers are jackasses anyways.
2 up, 0 down
johnld
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 2:02:20 PM
0 up, 0 down
Victor321
Monday, April 26, 2010 @ 10:33:43 PM
Reply
7 up, 0 down
Dancemachine55
Monday, April 26, 2010 @ 10:37:42 PM
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When are the members of the Activision board finally going to get rid of that idiot Kotick!?!?!
They are no longer a gaming company, but a cash cow company who take whats popular and cash in.
It warms my heart to finally see Activision get whats coming to them. Best wishes for Respawn Ent. Hopefully EA will give them the treatment they deserve.
10 up, 0 down
Alienange
Monday, April 26, 2010 @ 10:50:34 PM
Reply
1 up, 0 down
Nynja
Monday, April 26, 2010 @ 11:09:22 PM
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To Activision:
As the old saying goes; The bigger they are, the harder the fall. Your cash cows have been milked dry. Tony Hawk has lost it's way. The Guitar Hero fad has died. Your key innovative development team is tumbling down from the foundation. A new development team has spawned under the wing of another publisher that will let them fly. EA once made mistakes like you. The difference? They learned from their mistakes. Is it too late for you? Probably. Your reign of dominance is over. Oh, and in case you were wondering... you won't be missed. Good riddance.
8 up, 0 down
Nynja
Monday, April 26, 2010 @ 11:10:42 PM
Last edited by Nynja on 4/26/2010 11:12:26 PM
8 up, 0 down
Naztycuts
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 12:41:48 AM
Reply
1 up, 4 down
aaronisbla
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 2:38:39 AM
5 up, 0 down
Naztycuts
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 6:33:45 PM
To the thumbsdowners: The overall point still remains valid despite the simple error.
1 up, 0 down
___________
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 2:49:31 AM
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ive always said people will pay for sh*t no matter what, as long as it has the name brand.
so, its time to put that theory to the test!
4 up, 0 down
FullmetalX10
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 6:41:55 AM
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Well, guess that's about the end for activision, yay, even less crappy games being developed, now, some more PS3 exclusives(there's never too many Playstation exclusives).
0 up, 0 down
JackC8
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 6:50:43 AM
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Are these people actually sitting in their offices thinking "Gee, this Kotick guy is really doing a fine job for us"? I just can't fathom it.
3 up, 0 down
D1g1tal5torm
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 6:53:33 AM
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That guy makes me wanna hurl.
1 up, 0 down
BeezleDrop
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 3:40:23 PM
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2 up, 0 down
GuardianMode
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 4:01:40 PM
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The thing that is most telling is that there has been no official word from Activision this whole week. That either means they are at a complete loss or beginning the restructure process. IW days are indeed numbered.
1 up, 0 down
gangan19
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 6:46:52 PM
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1 up, 0 down
Imagi
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 8:25:47 PM
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2 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 9:29:18 PM
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Think about it a moment,
Respawn wouldn't be the perfect name if you wanted to stick it right back at your old tyrannical publisher, anti-vision??????
0 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Reply
Monday, April 26, 2010 @ 9:36:39 PM
So that makes 17 as of now that's already jumped Antivision's sinking ship, with even more to follow soon enough.
It just proves that there's way more BS going on with Antivision than meets the eye!
Go get em & stick it to Antivision, Respawn!!!
Last edited by BikerSaint on 4/26/2010 9:41:10 PM