In what's surely one of the biggest megatons of the year so far, fired Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella have announced the formation of a new development studio, Respawn Entertainment in partnership with EA.
The Call of Duty co-creators have signed up with EA Partners for exclusive worldwide publishing and distribution rights for thier future games.
In a sly dig at Activision, the new studio promises to position its leadership team as "the owners of the intellectual property they create".
The company will focus on "creating state-of-the-art gaming experiences for global audiences," it says, adding that it's currently assembling "a world-class team of designers, artists and engineers" and applicants can submit resumes to jobs@respawn.com.
"Respawn Entertainment marks a fresh start for Jason and me," said Vince Zampella, who'll act as general manager.
"For the past decade we led a great development team and poured our hearts into creating an epic game franchise. We're very proud of what we built - and proud that so many millions of fans enjoyed those games. Today we hope to do it all over again -- open a new studio, hire a great team, and create brand new games with a new partner, EA."
West added: "We're excited. Now that the team is in control of the games and brands, we can ensure that the fans are treated as well as they deserve."
Frank Gibeau, President of the EA Games Label commented, "This is the start of a great publishing partnership - one that I expect will develop blockbuster game franchises. Jason and Vince are two of the top creative leaders in the entertainment industry. At EA, we're honored to be their partners and to give them the support they need to hire a team and return to making incredible games."
The two Infinity Ward founders were fired and removed from the Infinity Ward premises earlier this year after Activision security "stormed the offices".
Soon after the pair launched a lawsuit against their former employer for US$36 million and control over the Modern Warfare franchise.
Im glad these guys joined EA, i just hope they create another great game. EA has got its act together big time over the last few years and created some great games like Mass effect 2, dead space, bad company 2 and Fifa. I hope Bobby Kotick fat Head explodes when he finds out about this, i hate that basterd
Activision have really shot themselves in the foot. This will be interesting, what will be the better game COD8 (ignoring COD7 as treyarch suck balls) or whatever these guys make.
All this love for EA? People have short memories indeed. Weren't these the same guys who tried to do a hostile take over on Take Two.
Just because EA have upped their quality control does not mean they are any less of a corporate bulls**t machine than Activision. Activision are just doing a better job at being the pantomine villain at the moment. It's about time some people here got their perspectives realligned.
I do agree that some people have short memories, but it is very welcoming to the community how well E.A have turned things around in the last few years and are now producing quality over quantity instead of re-spawning the same game every 12 months. I wish West and Zampella well in their new venture (I like the name of the new studio) also good to see they have learnt from their mistakes by securing the copyright and ownership of any material they produce.
have we not had enough war games? how about a new 2 player co-op same screen game set in an underwater lair where you have to harvest jellyfish and explore the bottom of the ocean for mysterious alien artifacts and pirate booty.
I do agree that some people have short memories, but it is very welcoming to the community how well E.A have turned things around in the last few years and are now producing quality over quantity instead of re-spawning the same game every 12 months. I wish West and Zampella well in their new venture (I like the name of the new studio) also good to see they have learnt from their mistakes by securing the copyright and ownership of any material they produce.
Hmm, Fifa, Tiger, Skate, Madden? They are still doing it.
As I said, their quality control has been upped but their business practices haven't changed.
Still good news and hey ya never know with the court case, they may obtain control of Modern Warfare rights from Activision, that'd be a right kick in the teeth for Acti and worth a wee giggle!
So what are they going to do next is the question. There are far too many shooter franchises out now, I really don't think the world needs more.
At the end of the year we'll be getting, Reach, Brink, COD, Medal of Honour and Crysis 2 at least.
The ex-IW need to prove that they're worth all this sensationalism and nothing less than a complete revelation will do. Succeed in another genre to prove your worth.
Persumably with it called "respawn" it being COD would mean that now it has respawned somewhat it is only about 5 seconds away from being stabbed in the back by a 12 year old camper...?
don't really care about EA..one publishers as greedy as another. However, i am very pleased to see them now having full control and ownership of intellectual property - that should be what is needed to get themselves personally invested in development which can only be good for the end product.
The ultimate 'two-fingers up' to activision is now needed - they can't do call of duty or modern warfare...ok, just drop the call of duty honorific, develop a gem simply called 'Future Warfare', and wait for Activision's top guys heads to explode!
I'd like to see all the staff at Infinity Ward move to Respawn, leaving Activision with an empty studio.
It will be interesting to see what they come up with and I agree with the poster above that they should try their hands at another genre. Or start a new franchise named something along the lines of; "Contemporary Conflict".
Expect to see news of the release of Respawn's first game followed promptly by a lawsuit from Activision in which they'll try to claim ownership of aforementioned game.
Who cares if Activision was "right"? The point is that big greedy execs who know nothing about games shouldn't have control of intellectual property. Even if West and Zampella lose the court case, the point has been made. Creative people should be in charge of creative endeavors. Activision tried to assume certain controls over MW. I don't care what the contract said or what they signed. F**k 'em. I don't want a new modern warfare game every year. I LIKE quality.
All this love for EA? People have short memories indeed. Weren't these the same guys who tried to do a hostile take over on Take Two.
Just because EA have upped their quality control does not mean they are any less of a corporate bulls**t machine than Activision. Activision are just doing a better job at being the pantomine villain at the moment. It's about time some people here got their perspectives realligned.
I agree. I still don't like EA. Maybe I'm a dreamer but I consider video games an art, and when a great game is made it is beautiful. EA, Activision, etc. just drive me insane with the money grubbing. I understand that they are in it to make money but I feel like my interest is being prostituted.
I don't think these guys are even that good. They did work on Medal of Honour but they just got lucky with Call of Duty. Maybe if they had worked on a few more titles this would be huge news. It'll be interesting to see what they produce no less.
So what are they going to do next is the question. There are far too many shooter franchises out now, I really don't think the world needs more.
At the end of the year we'll be getting, Reach, Brink, COD, Medal of Honour and Crysis 2 at least.
The ex-IW need to prove that they're worth all this sensationalism and nothing less than a complete revelation will do. Succeed in another genre to prove your worth.
The guys who created the single most successful videogame of all time don't need to prove anything to anyone. As for there being too many shooters... what a pathetic thing to say. There can never be too many. Isn't it easy to just ignore the games you're not interested in? I ignore literally hundreds of games that are released. How selfish would I be if I suggested no games should be made that I don't want??
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