Details are sketchy, but Kotaku reports that lead designer Todd Alderman and lead software engineer Francesco Gigliotti have left the company last week. Not much information is given, but Kotaku believes that they may have resigned. After that dismissal from heads West and Zampella, this could be a continuation of the Infinity Ward developers upset at the way Activision runs things.
If you haven't already done so, I recommend reading the complaint that was filed after West and Zampella's dismissal. It gave some details on some of Activision's alleged tactics, such as interrogating the Infinity Ward employees when they have the two IW heads under investigation.
http://www.shacknews.com/screenshots.x?gallery=14024&game_id=6192#img150852
Infinity Ward
Company »
Founded by ex-2015 employees, Infinity Ward is a game development company known for its highly acclaimed Call of Duty franchise.
Two more lead employees have left Infinity Ward.
" 1. Small studio puts out unique and fun games. 2. Small studio gets acquired by large company and quality of games decline. 3. Huge scandal and disgruntled employees leave to form another small company. 4. Cycle continues. "small studio was actually not independent or bought out. They left from EA (they all made medal of honor games) to create a clone for activision that ended up being better.
" 1. Small studio puts out unique and fun games. 2. Small studio gets acquired by large company and quality of games decline. 3. Huge scandal and disgruntled employees leave to form another small company. 4. Cycle continues. "Both Modern Warfares are of extremely high quality.
" @Relys said:Replace quality with originality, or generic over the top bullshit if you must." 1. Small studio puts out unique and fun games. 2. Small studio gets acquired by large company and quality of games decline. 3. Huge scandal and disgruntled employees leave to form another small company. 4. Cycle continues. "Both Modern Warfares are of extremely high quality. "
" Investigation team Go! Second time I got to bust that out today! "haha im happy for you.
And im glad IW is going down to shit.
They should all form a new company that will be better than their last one.
Like another certain group of people...
" @Relys said:The second one wasn't all that great." 1. Small studio puts out unique and fun games. 2. Small studio gets acquired by large company and quality of games decline. 3. Huge scandal and disgruntled employees leave to form another small company. 4. Cycle continues. "Both Modern Warfares are of extremely high quality. "
"They won't be able to make games that directly compete with activision for years... this is the end for a long while. "
For a while, but they can still make some great FPS, and what publisher wouldn't back the ex-heads of IW? With their past successes (even without Activision), they are surely going to be given the amount of money they need to develope the games they want.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27672/Fired_Infinity_Ward_Heads_West_Zampella_Sign_With_Creative_Artists_Agency.php
Jason West and Vince Zampella, the recently-fired heads of Activision-owned Modern Warfare studio Infinity Ward, have signed up with Creative Artists Agency, according to a report in the L.A. Times' Company Town blog.
Zampella and West agreed to be represented by Hollywood's biggest talent agency as they begin their post-Infinity Ward lives after being recently fired by parent company Activision, which alleged insubordination and breach of contract. The two subsequently filed a $36 million lawsuit against the publisher for wrongful termination and breach of contract.
" @Korne: You realize the two head infinity ward guys got new jobs in nothing that's related to making video games? So no, they still can't make great FPS games for a long while.That's not a job. They're just being represented so in their next contract they don't get screwed by lawyers.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27672/Fired_Infinity_Ward_Heads_West_Zampella_Sign_With_Creative_Artists_Agency.php
"Jason West and Vince Zampella, the recently-fired heads of Activision-owned Modern Warfare studio Infinity Ward, have signed up with Creative Artists Agency, according to a report in the L.A. Times' Company Town blog.
Zampella and West agreed to be represented by Hollywood's biggest talent agency as they begin their post-Infinity Ward lives after being recently fired by parent company Activision, which alleged insubordination and breach of contract. The two subsequently filed a $36 million lawsuit against the publisher for wrongful termination and breach of contract.
" @Korne: You realize the two head infinity ward guys got new jobs in nothing that's related to making video games? So no, they still can't make great FPS games for a long while.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27672/Fired_Infinity_Ward_Heads_West_Zampella_Sign_With_Creative_Artists_Agency.php
"Jason West and Vince Zampella, the recently-fired heads of Activision-owned Modern Warfare studio Infinity Ward, have signed up with Creative Artists Agency, according to a report in the L.A. Times' Company Town blog.
Zampella and West agreed to be represented by Hollywood's biggest talent agency as they begin their post-Infinity Ward lives after being recently fired by parent company Activision, which alleged insubordination and breach of contract. The two subsequently filed a $36 million lawsuit against the publisher for wrongful termination and breach of contract.
You do realize that the agency also deals with video game developers. Hollywood sees video games as the next new frontier, and Creative Artists Agency deals with Computor graphic jobs, like movies and video games. Sure, West and Zampella could work on a film... but they know video games, and are proven in video games, so I suspect they will continue to create video games. But hey, they could prove me wrong.
" They should all form a new company that will be better than their last one. Like another certain group of people... "What so you can be their Mod too? Jks.
" @CitizenKane said:Have at you, sir!" They should all form a new company that will be better than their last one. Like another certain group of people... "What so you can be their Mod too? Jks. "
Its a shame to see Infinity Ward going down like this (despite what all the whining babies and trolls say about their recent games) but I'm sure a new company will appear consisting of most of these people to make something great while the CoD series turns into being a shitty Treyarch or worse game every year instead of every second year.
" @ShaunassNZ said:I don't want to see the end of this, but I HAVE TO GO NOW son." @CitizenKane said:Have at you, sir! "" They should all form a new company that will be better than their last one. Like another certain group of people... "What so you can be their Mod too? Jks. "
I can't help but notice that that Giglotti fellow (or something or other) was not only the lead designer of the multiplayer portion, but also the lead visionary for the story.
The total loss of the former is certainly debateable, as the multiplayer alternates between being totally awesome and totally ass. But for the latter, it is unquestionably an improvement. If anything without him directing the story, the narrative for MW3 can only get better.
" @Korne: You realize the two head infinity ward guys got new jobs in nothing that's related to making video games? So no, they still can't make great FPS games for a long while.That isn't a job. That means they hired a talent agency to get them a job.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27672/Fired_Infinity_Ward_Heads_West_Zampella_Sign_With_Creative_Artists_Agency.php
"Jason West and Vince Zampella, the recently-fired heads of Activision-owned Modern Warfare studio Infinity Ward, have signed up with Creative Artists Agency, according to a report in the L.A. Times' Company Town blog.
Zampella and West agreed to be represented by Hollywood's biggest talent agency as they begin their post-Infinity Ward lives after being recently fired by parent company Activision, which alleged insubordination and breach of contract. The two subsequently filed a $36 million lawsuit against the publisher for wrongful termination and breach of contract.
" They won't be able to make games that directly compete with activision for years... this is the end for a long while. "Yeah. Getting the top people is great, for sure. People make the games. Unfortunately, they also have nearly ten years of code base that they have to walk away from. That takes a while to recreate and polish.
" They won't be able to make games that directly compete with activision for years... this is the end for a long while. "Huh? How so? If the West and Zampella lawsuit turns out in their favour then it will be Activision who will be struggling to release any modern day COD games, moreover while it's in court process, W & Z's legal team will block Modern COD production and release via injunctions until the case is decided. If their legal team are any good that is.
Non-compete agreements are becoming an increasingly popular way for employers to try to limit employees and former employees from working for a competitor, or from divulging trade secrets or other proprietary data.
Contrary to common misperceptions, courts will uphold non-compete clauses if they comply with acceptable standards. Enforcement against an employee can be both by damages and by an injunction that prohibits the employee from engaging in conduct that violates a non-compete clause.
An employer also can be held liable for hiring an employee who violates a non-compete agreement with a previous employer. In some cases, employers can recover damages from both the former employees and their new employers who collaborate with them in the transgressions.
However, some states impose substantial restrictions on the enforceability of non-compete clauses. In California, for example, they may not be enforceable at all. In New York, their enforceability is quite limited.
Most non-compete agreements are entered into with little, if any, negotiation between the employer and the employee. They usually are signed at the outset of an employment relationship where the employee may have very little bargaining power and when the employee is generally not too concerned about limitations on future employability when beginning a new job.
But when an employee decides to leave a job, the non-compete agreement may be a significant impediment to future employment or may prevent employees from becoming self-employed.
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