Infinity Ward Has Not Received Royalties for Modern Warfare 2

Activision's sudden dismissal of Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Frank Zampella and locking out IW employees from their own offices has raised a lot of questions. As new information becomes clear, some of these questions are being answered.

According to anonymous statements given to Binge Gamer's James Walker, Activision has yet to pay Infinity Ward so much as a dime in royalties for 'Modern Warfare 2', which has earned Activision over one billion dollars in revenue. Additionally, a separate source has suggested that Activision's reasoning for firing West and Zampella for "breaches of contract" may be tied to what Infinity Ward was intending to do after their contract with Activision expires in October, 2010.

[zack61]

This is why I hate activision.

[ape007]

im 100% sure that infinity ward is so angry with the yearly CoD release it's like seeing their own games getting lame, over milked, overused, IW is one of the best studios in our day, treat them well damnit

activison is like BUCK $$ now, quality LATER, Infinity ward is Too good for activision to be honest

let treyarch release a spiderman game or something, I know WaW is Good but let the whole cod series to IW

[Projekt7tuning]

Its seem like Activison is trying to find a way to keep every dime of the royalties. I tried to imagine myself in this situation, being forced out of my own business, and I think 911 would have had to be called. The gaming industry is turning just as slimy as Hollywood. People could always fix this by sticking to a boycott of Activision.

[Barbapapa]

activision pulled a Shepard on IW.

[Raf1k1]

In a perfect world the IW employees could simply make themselves a new studio with no ties to Activision but that just isn't the way it works.

Half of Acti-Blizz's money comes from Blizzard. When SC2 and the new WoW expansion release it'll be Blizzard holding it's head high. While this is great for Activision too I'm guessing it wants to do what it can to feel like it's still the man of the house.

[JsonHenry]

Who cares. Go create a new studio and make your own game. And if you don't like your company being in the pocket of a larger corp. then DON'T take your company public!

[mastiffchild]

Ape-after their early games and after COD4 I would have agreed fully. However, the disgraceful way they BOTH cut corners to garner every last cent over MW2 showed too much had rubbed off on IW from their feeble, greedy paymasters for their own good.

Play with sh1t and you'll end up pretty smelly yourself. hopefully IW can go back to remembering they were gamers themselves once and concentrating on giving us the best game possible and they didn't do that with MW2-no matter how much you might like the game with all it's faults you just cannot say it's as good as it could have been. not imo and most of that can be put down to the corners they cut with Acti's blessing over things like dedicated servers(the lack of), no betas and too little QA.

I still don't dooubt the talent at IW but found their motives had altered greatly since the last game came out, sadly. A return to normal service where they improve from one to the next would be a great thing and freeing them from the COD straightjacket AND Acti even better!

[krisq]

You want creative freedom? Go to Sony. I'm sure they would welcome you with open arms.

[Rusco87]

This could lead to IW going exclusive to the highest bidder. If their contract runs out in October this year and activision are pulling stunts like this.

This would also give them less pressure and not churn out a CoD every 12 months so they can work longer the produce better titles. Only problem is contracts and IW loosing out on sales from the opposite platform.

Note: I didn't state which console it should be exclusive to. I don't want to start that debate.

[vhero]

point 4 makes me think that somebody like MS (most likely suspects if any since they clearly said its NOT EA) maybe tried to buy IW from under Activisions nose and that's why this happened. Obviously this has gone and spiralled out of control but money does that to the community and if it comes out it was a 3rd company responsible for this by trying to buyout IW from under Activision like MS or whoever then they will no doubt be hated by a LOT of the gaming industry as nobody will trust them.

[Udidntlistenpunk]

First of all, why should Activision pay royalties to IW?

They own 100% of the shares of IW and the franchise called Call of Duty.

I dont think you people understand how all this works. Subsidiaries dont receive royalties from parents. Its the other way around. Every profit the subsidiary earns, goes to the parent.

Not only is IW a subsidiary of Activision, Activision even owns the IP called Call of Duty. Even if the IP was "developed" by IW (which CoD is not btw), legally, its still Activision that owns it and can do with it what they want.

Second of all, if they own IW, they can decide who works there and what work is being done. Tough luck. They can even close down IW if they want to.

IW doesnt get to chose. They cant "go to Sony or Microsoft" like some people above here said. The guys working at IW can go to Sony or Microsoft but not IW. They have to quit first or get fired. Its that simple.

Its like this. Activision is the gamer. IW is the console (PS3, 360, Wii). If the gamer isnt happy, he can throw the console away, take it back to the shop or just leave it to collect dust. He can even give it away to his neighboor. The console doesnt get to chose. Its just a electrical brick. Just a device.

[sikbeta]

This is FOR REAL, or it's just cuz of BC2?

IW is OWNED by CRAPtivision and COD IP too, so why they have to receive Royalties, they only receive pay-checks for the work done, not for every game sold

Gamers FTW!!!

[DaTruth]

Well, I guess now we can blame Activision entirely for the mess that is MW2. If IW wanted to make a better game, we can clearly see that they wouldn't have a choice!

Activision probably have them toiling away in some Chinese sweatshop-esque warehouse churning out Modern Warfares like... like... like pretty much anything we buy nowadays!

[nycredude]

I'm never buying another activision product ever again.

[Jdoki]

@mastiffchild

I dunno mastiff. I think IW had good intentions when they moved to Activision. I doubt they did it purely out of financial gain or to cut corners and have an easy life.

I think they simply got pressured by Activision, and were not able to deliver their vision. Activision seem intent on making CoD a franchise, and it has fallen in to the same trap EA found itself in with Madden and Need for Speed etc.

Everything about MW2 smacks of a developer being forced to churn out more of what's popular and under a tight timeline, rather than innovating or producing something fresh.

I'm hoping there's a mass exodus from IW. Activision can keep the CoD IP. I'm hoping the obvious talent that is there will find a new home (ironically probably back at EA!) and produce the FPS I think they really want to.

I have a feeling this has been brewing for a while. The recent talk of Activision taking on a third developer for the CoD IP may have actually been them lining up a replacement for IW.

[Jdoki]

@sikbeta

To be honest we don't know what agreements IW have had with Activision.

Maybe IW managed to negotiate a royalties deal. Or maybe the royalties are part of a bonus package if the game sells over X copies or makes X amount of money.

I'm not sure who owns the IP (probably Activision though). As IW was formed in 2002 and didn't join Activision for a year or so they may have been able to get themselves a deal on the CoD name. Maybe that's why Activision seemed keen to make sure that Modern Warfare 2 didn't originaly have the CoD name attached to it.

[Ju]

Re Royalties. This is not entirely true. Usually every sub goes through a yearly budget process (and so goes the parent and all associated companies). Obviously its all up for negotiation every year; but money flows to who is more successful in the group (usually). And I can see why in that case IW would have thought they would get something back being the cash cow in the group while Activision might have used that to pressure them to renew their contract - else no money. This is still independent of salaries but the bigger budgets, bigger possibilities.

[Baka-akaB]

I cant let you claim that Jdoki , about some sort of pressure.

There is an actual interview and quote from IW itself , wich clearly shows that IW could in fact have done something completely different from MW2 with the franchise.

Activision , still being a greedy bastard , but smelling opportunities , was ready to open their purse whole and gave them "carte blanche" .

It is IW wich stated that it wasnt needed , and that the game wouldnt cost them an arm to make . Hence the build of MW2 upon cod4's engine and mechanics .

Activision as a whole is "a douche" , but IW was easily happy to oblige . Activision was more than happy obviously to follow to IW's own greedy ideas .

Now there are tensions , with each others trying to steal money from each other , or maybe only activision being a thief here ... but IW is hardly a victim and a slave .

[SSS]

Activisions stock price went down somewhat last night. http://quote.morningstar.co...

[Syronicus]

Is it ok to like them this week? Activision is the true demon here? Cool, I hated them anyway.

[BattleAxe]

IW has been pretty close with Nauty Dog, maybe the secret new publisher is Sony.

[jamesgtaiv]

THE A-TEAM

dun dun dunnn, dun dun dun dun dunnn...

[Pillage05]

I imagine their contracts work much like actors...you get this much money for doing the movie no matter what. If the movie grosses over this amount..you get extra(percentage or fixed..im not really sure).

If there wasn't something like this, then why would studios work harder to make a AAA game as opposed to just an A game. They could be getting payed the same for doing less work.

This is total speculation...I really have no idea. It just wouldn't make sense though if IW got payed the same amount no matter how well their game performed.

[arakouftaian]

Know Sony should go and ask the
main guys from Infiniti ward to join them
and create a new studio with the suport of SONY
or just to to Guerilla Games or Zipper and help to create
the new SOCOMs or KILLZONEs
it will be a smart move from SONY and the guys from INFINITI WARD

[Saaking]

Wow, can't believe Activision actually went this low. I'm sure the IW devs will find new work though. There's probably a lot of studios eager to hire the creators of the best selling FPS.

[jamesgtaiv]

Now Activision thinks theyre some kind of gaming cartel. IW shouldnt have even asked for the royalties to begin with. Theyre under contract, a good company owner would know that but Activision could have handeled it much differently. Switching publishers wouldnt help much either since Activision owns the rights to the franchise. This sure is a pretty big mess! Chances are IW will stay with their current publisher until/if another company buys their most lucrative franchise.

Anyway... Back to playing Bad Company 2.

[KingKiff]

Screw Craptivision anyway their games have always sucked...

And we won't be seeing a new COD title or any $$ DLC for the consoles any time soon... Maybe a whole 18 months beofre we could see MW3 or sum shiat like that lol

[God_Of_Epicness]

F+@# Activision.

P.s. Modern warfar2 is the most addictive game i've ever played.

[Millah]

I really wish the gaming industry wasn't run by filthy slimy scoundrels. Like seriously, I really really really despise corporations like Activision. Absolutely despise them, especially in the gaming industry.

[PirateThom]

No wonder Activision are bricking it. Their biggest earner could and will just walk in October... they've sealed it though, no way Infinity Ward will happily give up the rights to CoD now.

[Raf1k1]

I thought the CoD IP was owned by Activision?

[hakeem0996]

i can already see it MS will be more than happy to make all of IW problems go away.it's the only company with enough balls to put ACTIVISION'S in it's place.

2010 just got crazier. MS BUYS IW!!!!
LMAO

[BattleAxe]

@ Hakeem, MS is at Activisions mercy since they don't have much in the way of First Party Development. Sony could afford to give Activision the shaft.

[BuZzz Killington]

man im not even remotely connected to iw and im hardcore pissed off at activision that above post is 100% right if that was me and i was locked out and fired from my bussiness and i wasnt getting paid theyd have to call 911 and the swat team. ive played gta 4 so watch the f out lol. IW should go to sony and make a totally awesome game on the ps3. sony will make them have a beta.....also i hope whatever activison is doing the fail and iw gets there deserved money..ACTIVISION are spineless bastards!!!!!!!!

[Lich120]

Is IW their biggest earner? I have a feeling Blizzard brings in more, or maybe they go back and forth ... depending on when their products launch.

[Millah]

Blizzard makes like almost half of Activisions money.

[Claudinho69]

sounds like future updates and dlc will be screwed by this.......great...

[ape007]

get a life buddy

[Godmars290]

Think you're missing the sarcasm ape007.

[HxCGamer]

he doesn't really rmean that lol

[RedDragan]

When he says great he doesn't mean it in a derrogatory way, although another poster has outline he meant it in sarcasm, it is close but not quite.

I not sure of the actual term, is this terminology used in this circumstance an oxymoron?! I haven't studied English in a long time lol... but I am sure he meant the word great as an oxymoron.

[DaTruth]

No, oxymoron's are two words that just can't be put together!

Example: Activision and quality or Activision and humility or Activision and Good-customer-relations.

Two words that don't make sense in the same sentence!

[gamingisnotacrime]

i think "great" is used here to express dissapointment on the probability that MW2 will not get DLCs any time soon.

[ape007]

my bad my bad

LoL

[BuZzz Killington]

how the hell did you miss that sarcasm now your just looking for cod haters in anybody lol....that was basically the definition of sarcasm lol

[ASSASSYN 36o]

And with all the bugs they don't deserve it!
And all the crying over the call of duty name omission makes sense now. If activision did use the name they would have to probably pay royalties immediately.

[TROLL EATER]

activision suck

[rekonizakilla]

donkey balls

[cyborg6971]

Now I know why mel Gibson hates JEWS

[Udidntlistenpunk]

It doesnt matter who worked on what in Modern Warfare 2. They get paid wages and loans and thats about it. Maybe a bonus when certain targets are accomplished.

There is no such thing as "royalties being paid to a subsidiary". Thats bullshiat. I dont have to pay to use something I own.

Second of all, it seems like Infinity Ward just got destroyed. Serves some of those bots like fourzerotwo or whatever his name is, right.

Those bots needed a fking lesson. They got too kaki but forgot that they are merely employees of Activision. If you cant get along with the boss, its not the boss's fault but yours. Remember that sentence. The boss isnt going to quit the company cos he cant get along with some of his employees. Its the other way around. The employee needs to go. And that can happen in several ways: he gets fired or they work it out like gentlemen and he ends up quitting.

Those bots gave the 360 timed MW2 DLC exclusivity. Those bots always favored the 360. With a name like "fourzerotwo", I expected nothing else. Clearly an idea taken from the "threesixty".

Those bots got owned. Activision told them this: "look you either shut the fk up or get the fk out of Infinity Ward"

Looks like they took the second option lol. Smart move by Activision with the armed security personal. They made sure not one of those employees get to steal any IP, sketches, ideas or drawings.

If they going to start over again, they have to start from absolute scratch. And I mean from the very beginning.

They are probably going to suck right now since they have no engine. If they start a new game, they will probably use the Unreal Engine 3.0. So whatever game they are making, will probably stink.

Thats of course, assuming that they stick together and start over. Im betting half the personel will apply at other firms. Not so smart from them to walk away with the economy in the shatter.

[dredgewalker]

Its official, Kotick is the Devil and Activision is Hell.

[Corrwin]

I hope IW gets through this, I'm not a fan of their games, but somebody that makes a billion dollars deservers to be treated better.

[tdrules]

Game Studios owned by a publisher do nort receive royalties, only independent studios do.

But let's see N4G go off on a hate spree, not like they need an excuse nowadays...

[Captain Tuttle]

Yeah, if it wasn't in IW's contract then they don't get any. I'm sure that this isn't as black and white as people are making it out to be.

Although I have no doubt that Activision will whore out the COD franchise until it's ruined.

[LIVE_FR0M_NY]

It's kind of already ruined... MW2 wasn't all that, it was like MW1.5. IW needs to create a NEW, much more advanced engine. Then make the REAL sequel to MW1.

[DaTruth]

Actually, I would call it MW0.5, because glitches and problems are more akin to a beta than a fully polished game like MW1.

[BattleAxe]

I played MW2 for 2 months, and then got bored of it.

[iceman06]

IW was using this "call to arms" for some royalties as a bargaining tactic for the impending (possibly doomed now) contract. Otherwise...give us royalties or we jump ship! Which, I guess, was supposed to scare Activision into just passing over hundreds of millions of dollars that IW didn't contractually have the right too. Guess we will see the "truth" when they end up in court...which is inevitable.

[LIVE_FR0M_NY]

IW isn't OWNED by Activision they are under contract to make games FOR them.

[siyrobbo]

infinity ward is a subsidiary of activision

[artsaber]

A couple of parking lot beatdowns and shotguns couldn't fix, lol.

Activision's next work in progress... Vigilante HD, coming to the 360 and PS3!

[NEWSWATCHERS]

He deserved to be fired for releasing a broken game :)

[siyrobbo]

yes and i bet activision was begging him to delay the game, they wouldnt have minded if it missed Q4 09 at all.....

dumbass

[Daves]

The Publisher released the game. Devs would polish forever if they could.

[spinbot_lv1]

I guess... sledgerhammer will develop next call of duty.

http://www.sledgehammergame...

[AliTheBrit19]

Activision are SCUM!!!!

[LIVE_FR0M_NY]

The funny thing is i'd bet if IW lost the COD name, and started a new franchise most of the COD players would play whatever game activison decides to throw at them, instead of suporrting IW.

Kind of like how Harmonix created "Guitar hero" (under activision, coincidence?) and then moved on to create the FAR superior "Rock Band" franchise... All of the GH fanqueers didn't notice the change and sh!t talked RB to oblivion. This is what will happen to the COD franchise! Activision will bully IW, and somehow fully obtain the COD name and churn out bullshit games on the same 3 year old engine twice a year!! MARK MY WORDS!!

[theunknown]

Even so they've plastered their name all over their games?

[rschupp]

Still, most casual gamers don't know the name Infinity Ward. They only know Call of Duty and Modern Warfare. They won't care who the developer is. They'll only think "Oh, a new Modern Warfare/Call of Duty. Sweet."

[HoofHearted]

Activision has a LOT more money than Infinity Ward and those scumbags at Activision will be able to hire much bigger lawyers than IW and will probably end up winning this breach of contract lawsuit.

The only way this company will EVER stop is when WE, the GAMERS, stop buying their crap and allowing them to get away with it. As long as we keep giving them our money they will continue to pull crap like this because they CAN.

[retrofly]

I dont belive that, there are a lot of hardcore gamers who have been following cod since the first one. Remeber IW was made by people leaving EA when they made the MOH series, people followed them then, and will follow them again wherever they go.

The MOHAA series dies when the team left and I'm sure COD would die too. Wonder what the games would be called then, Brither In Arms.....? Oh wait ;)

[DaTruth]

Imagine, Activision will actually use the profits from IW's game to crush them with high priced lawyers! Oh, the irony!

Makes me wish I could go back and not buy all those Atari 2600 games!

[maxcer]

"The only way this company will EVER stop is when WE, the GAMERS, stop buying their crap"

no doubt, who the fuc& keeps buying these guitar hero games?

[tinajacobs1222]

tim schafer had the right idea. just go to EA. they're working to turn things around.

haha, its ironic though that ea was considered scum just a few years ago. now they're almost one of the good guys again.

[kornbeaner]

Most of the current IW team came from EA after developing Medal of Honor. A return for that same cast to EA especially after EA has been closing studios is highly unlikely.

[kingme71]

I'll bet it was MS trying to contract IW into the next release of CoD. The problem is IW is under contract until Oct of 2010 with Activision which means MS can't enter into an agreement with IW until that time. They attempted to break early from the Activision agreement so IW won't lose the 7 months it has until October. Activision is suing for breach of contract.

They said it wasn't EA, so if it wasn't MS, who else: Ubisoft, 2K, Eidos? It seems like a MS thing to do.

[retrofly]

I'd love it if IW left and started a brand new project with decent development time and no constraints.

[ExposingLames]

wouldnt expect anything less from activision

[air1]

what? IW still hasnt been paid for mw2? is that how it works? thats just crazy activision made a billion in rev, didnt pay there devs and are now firing them. wow!!

i will never buy another activision game, ever... i cant support a company that doesnt pay there workers. i hope IW finds a new home with the respect they deserve..

[VileAndVicious]

I completely agree that is just low down!!!!!!!!!!!

True I may not have the most positive feelings about MW2 BUT it did make Activition a ridiculous lump of cash and now they are just going to fire its workers?? WTF man.
Greed is a destroyer and eventually Activition will reap what is has sown I'm sure of it. But in the mean time I cant in good faith purchase anything from them after hearing about all this non sense.
Its just WRONG

[FantasyStar]

My sympathy for IW dried up when they decided to treat the PC Fanbase like idiots.

[OpenGL]

While I agree with that sentiment, the last Activision published game I purchased was Doom 3 back in 2004. Best wishes to Infinity Ward staff being screwed by the worst publisher in the industry.

[FantasyStar]

I'd still give the "worst publisher in history" title to EA. With all the crap that EA is at the epicenter at. The stacks just don't add up in comparison.

When you hear of company layoffs, it's EA first. When you hear of takeovers, it's EA. When you hear about controversial privacy violations regarding DRM: it's EA. Whenever you hear about the used-game market debate, EA's right there. EA flexes its corporate muscles to squeeze money out of us as much as possible, usually at our expense most often.

[dtalon3]

even thoughwe don't have all the info here...it sounds like activision is rearing its nasty head and baring it's fangs...I for one am seriously debating boycotting activision. Why would a great company like blizzard merge with this demon?

Oh and to all you people who blame IW for MW2 problems...you seriously think activision wasn't all over their asses to make the game more of the same WITH MORE stuff? We all obviously don't even know what goes on behind closed doors. lets not pretend like we do.

[FantasyStar]

I dislike both Activision and IW equally. Activision had the balls to raise the MW2 PC Version to $60, while IW had to balls to say the PC Audience are idiots who don't know how to navigate a server list to justify their lazy console-port.

[dkgshiz]

IW makes buggy games. Activision loves money.

[Kerrby]

I agree to an extent.

I hated Modern Warfare 2, single player sucked and multiplayer was buggy/hacked to the sh*t.

I hate Activision for what they've done and won't be buying anymore games made by them.

I do however feel sorry for the employees at IW.

[mittwaffen]

This is whats wrong with America.

Companies get grow, greed allows them to buy competition, they become corrupt and do more and more things to get more money.

Seriously, this isn't just in the gaming industry its in Government and all areas of business. See the flaw of our government system? It doesn't work in the long run. Look at what EA is doing to their employees.

[DigitalPiracy]

I also vow to not purchase another Activision product ever again. The sad thing is, not enough people will refrain from doing so and they'll just keep making money. I don't blame IW for MW2 anymore considering the fact that Activision didn't allow them enough time to make the game they wanted to. At least that's what I'd like to think :)

[FantasyStar]

IF anything, IW is just as guilty as Activision for MW2. Afterall, before a concept became a plan: someone had to approve it. IW's hands are not clean.

[DigitalPiracy]

Yes but that doesn't necessarily mean that the plan was executed the way they intended. I'm not saying IW are innocent, I'm just saying that Activision are a bunch of [successful] assholes.

[FantasyStar]

Agreed. Activision = asshats.

[VileAndVicious]

Your right man people will still run out and buy a new COD every year, I however will never be purchasing another product from Activition.

[Megulito]

finally good stuff bobby kotek is a fool someone needs to snatch up iw maybe ubisoft just not a 1st party

[NYC_Gamer]

IW just needs to move away from activision

[maxcer]

im afraid it might too late in the game for IW to salvage itself from this debacle.(if its not a stunt) the lead designers are gone and the fate of the developer is in limbo, the remaining top heads of IW might sell off what ever remains of the company.

as time goes on it seems activision is more of a faceless corporation trying to bleed the market for money rather than a publisher of videogames. and i don't think this is the best way to grow the industry.

[BLADE_X8]

Guess who's on deck?

Although Bungie and Epic (Gears of War, mainly) wont admit it, they hate their deals with MS. Sony doesn't low-ball developers....rather, they will just let them walk. (Sony has faith in their product, even when people tried to say that the PS3 was not going to sell anything.)
"GTA, Capcom, Final Fantasy, a few Metal Gear Solid games, sure..you can go test the market, we wont stop you." Activision prob. thought that Guitar Hero and Tony Hawks crap was going to keep going (Like the Jedi Mindtricks that Halo and Madden do to simple minded gamers), but it didn't. Now, they are doing what they seen from MS....F---ing people. IW should have went to either Nintendo or Sony

[maxcer]

are you done with your fanboy rant? we're talking about IW/activision here.

[trickytricksps360]

thats terrible how can they get away with that , yeh maybe IW dropped the ball abit with MW2(1st time ever) but it was thier hard work not activisions.

[Fairchild Channel F]

Sorry, I cant feel sorry for any of them. You hop into bed with Satan and then cry when he gives you the clap. Maybe this will be a good lesson on what sheer greed will do to you.

[khrisnifer]

You don't screw with the goose that lays the golden eggs UNLESS the goose's managers have SERIOUSLY screwed a) you or b) broken contract.

Even Bobby wouldn't care about a) - so they have obviously broken contract.
ie - publicly mocked their owners in press statements, placed 'for sale' banners secretly in the gamecode etc.

They gladly took the bonuses from all of the hard work put in by Activision's sales and marketing teams - time to pay the f***ckin toll.
I'm sure West and Zampella will be doing it tough with the $50m or so they earned from their team's efforts on previous games. Boo hoo.

[DevilishSix]

Vince Zampella, one half of the Infinity Ward, is no longer working at the company.
His profile shows his job at the studio as “Studio Head/CEO at Infinity Ward” in the “Past” tab. Earlier this morning, the other part of the main leadership at the Modern Warfare developer, Jason West, also confirmed he was no longer at IW.

Link

http://www.vg247.com/2010/0...

Looks like The leadership team is feed up and is gone. Sad day.

[Dnied]

imo.

These guys know where it's at and I'm pretty stoked, you know they arent done with gaming.. the COD franchise took some pretty large jumps when they were in charge (1,2,4) all the rest.... yeah...

Looking forward to seeing them in the future.

[PS360PCROCKS]

Damn IW got what they had coming I suppose? Acting like douches and cutting a lot of content and telling everyone to just deal with it. This is what you get when you deal with the devil. It's a shame though that Activision is screwing them over, they need to pay them.

[Dark_king]

They really should go talk with Sony.I bet they would cry when they asked what the deadline was and were told when you have it done no rush.And they probably get royalties for being the original creators of the franchise.

[BatClarkeee]

imagine if sony acted like activision.
and pressured polyphony digital into making a gran turismo every year.
we would be up to gran turismo 8
and this years gran turismo 5 would be better then all of those gt games put together.
devs deserve freedom to make the games how they want.

moral here ?
acitivison should act like ms and sony towards its subsidaries.

[earbus]

For me i like treyarch more cod 3 took me 2 years to complete online achieves i like the fact their was no perks level playing field it was tough as nails , the perks make it to hard for new players to be competative id prefer to start with all perks and weapons unlocked the better you get the less you have. Must scavenge the battlefield for better guns why reward top players with more devastation they should be slightly handicapped imo or use a true skill rank restrict system this would bring true fairness, new players will stay longer to build skill levels.I think iw are great love cod 2 also but the latest games have to small maps ww2 wasnt fought around 1 building nor is modern battles the new games play more like a military based unreal tournament wish frontlines turned out better it has lots of potential.

[Music]

Pretty sure Activision has every right to do this if I know the legalities of the Activision IW relationship correctly. Sucks for IW, but at least they could get out of it by the end of the year hopefully.

[DJ]

Infinity Ward should wait for their current contract to expire and refuse to sign any new paperwork with Activision. They should really just use Sony and Microsoft as publishing partners for their respective platforms. That way they can bring back the Co-Founders of that studio and finally work without the fear of hostile takeovers.

[CobraKai]

I hope the heads of Activision drown in a cesspool of feces and urine.

[Nevers]

Seems I remember alot ALOT of the posters praising IW now calling for their heads just a lil while ago regarding how broken they allowed their game to be.

... interesting.

[ReBurn]

So in other words just more rumor and speculation. I guess someone will know what's up sooner or later.

[kornbeaner]

To those wondering how the Videogame industry works as far as royalties go. It is very similar to how the music industry is as far as record/performer contracts. Activision "gives" IW say 30 million total for the whole development of said game. with those 30 Mill IW can do what they want as long as they have their part of the agreement done (the game). Now in order for IW to get that 30 mil they have to meet certain milestones during development and meet other contractual agreements. But after said game is done, submitted and released the amount of sales for said game must first sell enough to cover all of activisions cost during the process, such as marketing, initial investment and whatever else activision spent during the process plus a "Publishers Interest" Charge. So in reality a game this big in scope would probably have to sell a good 2.5 to 3 million copies before anything like royalties is discussed. Seeing as MW2 sold like mad it comes down to what the contract between the 2 companies actually says. If IW never bothered to update their contract after the first MW, they might be stuck with an "unfair" deal but that would fall under what the contract says is owed to them. In the end the real story will never come out, but this should be a lesson to all small developers out there. If all you see is "$" you will pay a bigger price in the end.

[DJ]

Activision is going to get rid of the people who worked so hard to make Infinity Ward what it is so they can steal the Call of Duty franchise rights and not have to pay out royalties?

I never thought I'd see a hostile takeover in the gaming industry, but I guess there's a first for everything. The people at infinity ward should stand their ground and get that company out of Activision's clutches. Activision doesn't deserve that franchise, let alone the power to bully hardworking people.

[deathbetold]

they tried and got fired before they could. anyone that is going to stand up to acti is going to get canned so its a loose loose. just need to wait till their contract is up and run away

[cmrbe]

They can go f*ck themselves for all i care. IW should have never release the glitch fest that is MWF2.

[Len92]

Activision is such a bad brand anyways i never bought a game from them BESIDES MW2.

Hopefully they dont bring Blizzard down because that is a great company.

[deathbetold]

blizzard is just as shaddy. if you wanna look at the warhammer and warhammer 40k series and back at warcraft and starcraft. probley gonna get a lot of hate for saying that but the similarities are there

[KillerPwned]

Man i cant wait to pick up Battlefield Bad Company 2 later today :) I bet DICE is laughing hard now or something. Watching the people they wanna take down and show them that there not the best of the best with there MW2.

I like IW i feel sorry for the guys, but i hate Activision with a passion there are the lowest and most pathetic developer i have ever seen.

[deno]

I believe IW should go to sega after this mess ends. Alot of studios have went to sega recently. Sega is just like sony when it comes to creative freedom. No love for activision frome me!

[Thoreau]

i would quit working for activision, pack my sh!t up and move on with my life to greener pastures. imagine if you could not go to work because of some bickering and back and forth nonsense. iw made a sh!t
load of money for activision and now this is how they repay valuable employees?

[hazardman]

if IW had given us a reliable glitch free product..then yes i would care but since they suck ass.. I don't!!!

[jalen247]

Shame...

More money more problems...

[hardcorez]

This will either end in a court case, proving one side right.
Or with the two guys leaving the company and nothing happening, seemingly proving whatever reason they were escorted off, as legitimate reasons for their termination.

[Drac]

So glad I never bothered to buy this current MW.

[Truth]

I don't know if anyone has said this yet, but I think Infinity Ward should join with Sony. I mean, why not?

[MrBuffalo]

Should join Sony yes but can you imagine what MS would try and do? Sony says 300 million MS says 500 million. I don't think MS would sit idle and let that happen. Hell i've seen reports in the last year or so that they even approached EA. I can't imagine MS sitting idly whilst Sony ran off with IW. Heres my bet. This E3 there will be a big announcement from either MS or Sony about a big studio aquisition. Not necessarily IW but theres going to be a big fight brewing for intellectual property. Why? Besides the Halos, Uncharteds, GTs and what have you there is little to differentiate between a 360 and a PS3 to the eyes of the public at large. When I say that I exclude gamers who know better but most people just see 'oh it plays Fifa' or it plays 'rockband'. 80% of the games I own are multiplat. I could've bought them for either PS3 or 360. MS and Sony are going to see that companys like Activision and EA are having too much control in the Market and will look on enviously at how Nintendo gets so much from games published on the Wii simply because Nintendo owns the rights to all the games worth owning. I can seriously see a large studio going to MS or Sony simply for the reason that for the rest of this generation and the next they are going to want to differentiate themselves from the other in the eyes of Joe Public average gamer. Yes IW would do well at Sony but I can't imagine it happening. MS is a tiny bit more evil, just a tiny bit though.

[dkgshiz]

IW should of known this would happen. Activision is being run by Bobby Kotick. Biggest gaming douche since Bernie Stolar. Bobby Kotick is a heartless money grabbing douche. Lets wait and watch Activision destroy itself from the inside :)

[NotSoSilentBob]

After all the bugs and patches/extra effort IW has had to put into the game do they really deserve a reward for the steaming pile of crud that is called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2?

[emk2004]

i cant wait till blizzard splits with them, such a good company should not be tarnished by such a bad one.

and for iw i cant wait till october when they leave them also, then they can rehire these guys and go to a good publisher. it seems that ea has realy turned around so they would be a good choice, or ubisoft. i would prefer them staying multiplat but if not then go to sony or ms i guess.

[R_A_LEE20]

'Infinity Ward, Activision is evil.'

'To us EA is evil'

'The you are lost'.

[bjornbear]

I'm glad i didn't give my money to these snakes.

[ktchong]

how could Activision possibly fire Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Frank Zampella??

[Frostbyte]

Activsion you make me sick! How could you do this to the company that brought you all that money and success? You would be nothing without infinity ward and now you have betrayed one of your greatest assests. If I were an iw employee I would quit

[Knightofelemia]

Well if this is happening to IW makes a person wonder if the samething will happen to Treyarch

[N4BmpS]

The Irony behind this is Bobby Kotick or however his name is spelled recently bashed EA saying "if you want to sell out you can go to EA" now this happens. Once again Kotick is proven to be a douche, The gaming God's are not pleased, Kratos, Chief and Mario will have your heads.

[slave2Dcontroller]

Sale your stock NOW!!!!!

[Tito08]

If there's NO Call of Duty by Infinity Ward, I won't buy it!!!!

[misterssippi]

Say what you will about EA, they have never tried to screw anyone like this. WTF Activision; still mad that IW's COD titles kick yours in the anus?!!? How are you gonna lock the workers out, fire the bosses and try to hire a 3rd company for the next COD? Since when did people start attempting hostile takeovers in the video game business.

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.Thank god Medal of Honor is going current day in its next title, and thank god for Battlefield Bad Co. 2

[KrustytheClown]

that game was terrible. and im glad there not receiving any royalties...why should they? hey hey hey!