— The two top executives of the studio behind “Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare” have unexpectedly left the company amid a conflict with
publisher
Blizzard Inc.
popular and profitable video game series.
executive and president, respectively, of the L.A. area game development
studio Infinity Ward, both exited, corporate parent Activision
confirmed Tuesday. Their departure puts in question the fate of Infinity
Ward, creator of the “Call of Duty” military shooter series and the
producer of its recent blockbuster Modern Warfare installments.
While Activision wouldn’t specify the reasons for
their leaving, it referred to an apparent conflict with West and
Zampella in the company’s annual report filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission on Monday. Activision said it is “concluding an
internal human resources inquiry into breaches of contract and
insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward,” adding, “This
matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and
litigation.”
Top employees at Infinity Ward have clashed with
management as they have tried to secure more independence from their
corporate parent and also expressed displeasure at other game
development studios being assigned to work on “Call of Duty” games,
people familiar with the situation said.
Zampella and West could not be reached for comment.
Activision didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“Call of Duty” is one of Activision’s three key
franchises, along with the music series “Guitar Hero” and online fantasy
game “World of Warcraft.” Last year, the three games accounted for 68
percent of the
Monica
Indeed, “Call of Duty” has grown more important for
Activision as “Guitar Hero” revenue fell last year in the face of
slumping sales for the music game genre. In February, Activision laid
off about 200 employees, a move it attributed to declining sales for
“Guitar Hero” and other games aimed at infrequent, casual players.
November’s release of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
2,” produced by Infinity Ward, generated more than
in sales through January, Activision said.
Activision acquired Infinity Ward, which was founded
by a team that created the “Medal of Honor” military series for
in 2003, the same year that the first “Call of Duty” game was released.
By 2005, the publisher started releasing “Call of Duty” games annually,
with the
Monica
The
Duty: Modern Warfare,” released in 2007, and last year’s sequel were the
most popular installments, driven in part by gamers’ and reviewers’
high esteem for Infinity Ward.
Currently, the studio is developing two pieces of
additional content to go with “Modern Warfare 2” that players could
download from the Internet.
The departure of West and Zampella could affect the
timing and quality of that downloadable content and possibly hurt
Activision’s bottom line, said Broadpoint AmTech analyst
Schachter
“What will matter for investors is if the core
Infinity Ward studio holds together or if the departure of key
executives will lead to further turmoil within the studio,” the analyst
wrote in a research note.
Activision chief technology officer
Pearce
In addition, the publisher confirmed that in addition
to Treyarch’s “Call of Duty” game scheduled for release in November, a
new development studio in
California
employees of
Arts
Activision is also in talks with partners to bring
“Call of Duty” to
where online multiplayer games are extremely popular.
—
(c) 2010, Los Angeles Times.
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