Activision vs Infinity Ward

[VA1N]

In case you haven't been checking out the major news outlets today, Infinity Ward, creators of the Modern Warfare series, have been making headlines. G4 announced yesterday that the two top men at the company, Vince Campella and Jason West, had met with Activision bosses. After the meeting, some "bouncer type people" showed up at the front door and the two weren't seen from again. This is typical in corporate America. When you are getting fired and you are a high ranking individual plus the firing is out of the blue, companies will hire security to keep assets (computers, data, etc.) safe as well as themselves safe from bodily harm. So, as far as everyone knows, the two top people at Infinity Ward got the proverbial axe. People refered to the mood in the office as "tense."

But, things didn't end there. A couple hours later, Jason West's LinkedIn profile (LinkedIn is something people in corp. America use to keep in touch, kind of like facebook) said that he no longer worked with the company. Then to make matters worse, an SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission) filing from earlier in the day revealed that Activision was launching an investigation into some wrong doings at Infinity Ward. These wrongdoings apparently consist of "insubordination" and "breachings of contract" that affected "two senior employees" at Infinity Ward.

Those are the facts so far. This is some crazy stuff and it kind of sounds like this is some really serious business. I don't think they were arrested so it probably isn't insider trading, but it's definitely something serious. Jason and Vince are people you most likely saw/heard about during the launch of MW1 and MW2. They are big wigs in the company. Will the company go on after this? Of course it will. Just because you lose two big execs doesn't mean the whole thing can come tumbling down. The only way that would happen is if the lawsuit that will inevitably come out of this starts indicting other members in a sort of domino affect. I doubt that will be the issue though. If I hear anything else, I'll be sure to let you know.

Update: It's been confirmed that Vince has left the company. See image below taken from his LinkedIn page. Notice the TBD under his name. This is where it is supposed to show your job and Studio Head/CEO at Infinity Ward is now in the past.

[danimoose]

So did Activision have control over IA I guess I thought they were seperate. Thats nuts though. As you said it shouldn't effect much of the game making though as long as they keep the same programmers, designers, writers, etc.

They could how ever find some new testers. Put out Beta test you know all that fun stuff.

[JPetrillo]

I guess what happened was Vince Campella and Jason West from Infinity Ward met with some people over at Activision and then later on that day got fired and/or quit? Interesting... especially since they got the SEC involved. I guess this guy Vince and Jason didn't follow Activision's orders?

[VA1N]

Originally Posted by JPetrillo

I guess what happened was Vince Campella and Jason West from Infinity Ward met with some people over at Activision and then later on that day got fired and/or quit? Interesting... especially since they got the SEC involved. I guess this guy Vince and Jason didn't follow Activision's orders?

What happened was Activision sent "bodyguard types" to Infinity Ward HQ (which isn't in the Activision building) to escort them out. They (Activision) are saying that the two heads did something inappropriate which could be anything. I don't think it was officially released what that innapropriate act was but there is a lot of speculation. I even heard one outlet mention a meeting with EA.