Activision/Infinity ward - end of the line?

Leiva

4 more high profile Infinity Ward employees have left Activision . It seems they have joined the recently sacked Jason West and Vince Zampella at a new venture .

I predict this to be the demise of the Modern Warfare series , when West&Zampella left M.O.H to set up Infinity Ward (with Activision) the Medal of Honour series took a serious nose dive .
I think the Modern Warfare series is heading in the same direction without it's two Talis men.
Only thing is the 15million plus gamers who will more than likely purchase MW3 won't realise this til it too late and bought the game , remember Allied Assault (neither do I , totally forgettable ).

More info here ;

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/four-more-key-staff-desert-infinity-ward

jmx009

Personally, i dont give a rats ass about Activision. All these gaming sites and podcasts keep talking about Activision and there employee firing spree/ employee leaving spree. I think this is all part of an elaborate PR stunt to get attention. I heard that the new DLC " stimulus package " for MW2 is selling like hot pancakes.

James Forde

the demise has already begun with MW2, imo

sink

Death of COD? Unlikely, Activision will flog that bitch until it's bled dry, then it will piss on it's corpse.

Kazuma

Sad state of the industry, even if the following games of a series are ****...people will still lap it up
Vast majority of casual gamers just don't have the standards required to put companies like Activision in the mood for making good games

Grumpypants

COD 4 was the end of that series COD 5 and MW2 are very average games. Activision will still flog it sure they have 3 new call of duty games coming out in the next 18 months.

People will still buy them dont people still buy those guitar hero games even DJ hero was boght by a hand full of people.

Gaeldor68

Well if West and Zampella win their court battle in which they claim they own any post Vietnam COD games then we will probably see another one or two but it will be less of the just churning out stuff and hopefully a bit of actual innovation.

Leiva

Gaeldor68 wrote: »

Well if West and Zampella win their court battle in which they claim they own any post Vietnam COD games then we will probably see another one or two but it will be less of the just churning out stuff and hopefully a bit of actual innovation.

They are both doing work for EA now .
Could we see some a partnership with DICE for maybe a new Battlfield series ?Doubt it , but it would be some game .

F1ngers

sink wrote: »

Death of COD? Unlikely, Activision will flog that bitch until it's bled dry, then it will piss on it's corpse.

Then you will have MW12 - Rise of the Pissy Corps(e).

partyatmygaff

mixednuts wrote: »

They are both doing work for EA now .
Could we see some a partnership with DICE for maybe a new Battlfield series ?Doubt it , but it would be some game .

COD Developers working on Battlefield? Never gonna happen. The two games are completely different in how they play.

Kylo Ren

There will never be another COD 4 Infinity Ward made this masterpiece because they actually put hard work into it! Then when it went on to be one of the biggest sellers all they could see was their feckin bank accounts and didn't give a **** about us

Krusader

Think EA is gonna piss all over Activision now with a two pronged attack with Battlefield seriws and the relaunch of Medal of Honour

NotorietyH

Grumpypants wrote: »

even DJ hero was boght by a hand full of people.

DJ Hero was actually a really good game. It's the only 'Hero' game I like. I'm a Rock Band die hard.

Fol20

2 things for ye,,i bet all the people saying its the demise of cod will buy at least one more cod game,i know i will..The mechanics have been set up by iw and i see no reason why another code game wont be good(better than a average game anyway) since they left.Look at treyarch sure.

Secondly and more importantly.activision may not be able to publish another cod game after the vietnam war.Iv read that there are stipulations in the west and zamp contract saying they have full overseeing rights of a cod game that is based after vietnam.Id be delighted for them.Activision need a good kick in the ass

WolfForager

There's the (very small) possibility that West and Zampella will win the "Modern Warfare" trademark, therefore ya never know, we could see a MW3, but it won't be a COD.

Call of Duty: Modern Guitar Warcraft coming to a store near you soon

Grumpypants

Fol20 wrote: »

2 things for ye,,i bet all the people saying its the demise of cod will buy at least one more cod game,i know i will..ass

Oh yea people will, just like they tricked me out of my money for COD5 and then caught me again with MW2.

Ive now realised Activision will not have a good game for a number of years.

NotorietyH

Grumpypants wrote: »

Ive now realised Activision will not have a good game for a number of years.

Activision always seem to me to release good games purely by luck. When they realise they actually have a good game, they force the developers to churn out sequels too quickly or farm them out to other studios to make as much money as quickly as possible until the franchise is run into the ground.

They're creatively bankrupt but unfortunately hugely profitable so I don't see them changing their practices any time soon.

WolfForager

NotorietyH wrote: »

Activision always seem to me to release good games purely by luck. When they realise they actually have a good game, they force the developers to churn out sequels too quickly or farm them out to other studios to make as much money as quickly as possible until the franchise is run into the ground.

They're creatively bankrupt but unfortunately hugely profitable so I don't see them changing their practices any time soon.

They haven't released any new good IPs in years though, the COD and Hero series have been their only hugely profitable games in recent years and has been pointed out here, they've peaked. With no foreseeable new good games set for release i can see Activision slowly dying over the next few years.

Oh wait.. Nevermind, Blizzard will keep them afloat with WoW which will allow Kotick to churn out an infinite amount of crap until the cows come home...

Then he'll probably invite the cows in for an after party, which is when he'll probably find a new fantastic franchise under his matress. And the cycle continues...

Failing at analogies ftw :pac:

NotorietyH

WolfForager wrote: »

They haven't released any new good IPs in years though, the COD and Hero series have been their only hugely profitable games in recent years and has been pointed out here, they've peaked. With no foreseeable new good games set for release i can see Activision slowly dying over the next few years.

Yeah Blizzard will keep them going for a long time and I can see Call of Duty selling a hefty amount for a few years to come yet. The average consumer out of the many millions of people who bought MW2 will keep buying Call of Duty games based on brand recognition alone. They might not sell as big as MW2, but they'll still be million + sellers I'd imagine.

Hopefully they'll hit a cycle like EA, churning out yearly sequels until that business model falters and they have to invest in new IPs. I think Activision will be slower to learn than EA though as Blizzard will keep them propped up.

Fol20

WolfForager wrote: »

There's the (very small) possibility that West and Zampella will win the "Modern Warfare" trademark, therefore ya never know, we could see a MW3, but it won't be a COD.

Call of Duty: Modern Guitar Warcraft coming to a store near you soon

How is it v.small...they signed contracts saying they have rights to the franchise,and its in respawns best interests to cock block another mf.Im not definite on this but i thought its any ip with cod and mf in it that they can block...maybe even the mechanics in game might not be allowed to be used

WolfForager

Acitvision own COD, and there's controversey over who owns MW.

NotorietyH

Fol20 wrote: »

but i thought its any ip with cod and mf in it that they can block...maybe even the mechanics in game might not be allowed to be used

No as Infinity Ward is owned by Activision and anything they create within Infinity Ward becomes property of Activision. My understanding is that even their claim on owning the Modern Warfare brand is doubtful as they agreement was that they owned the brand within Infinity Ward as in only Infinity Ward could make Modern Warfare games not only West/Zampella could make them. I think it was designed to stop other studios within Activision making MW games. Infinity Ward is still owned by Activision and therefore they still own the Modern Warfare IP.

As much as I dislike Activision and their way of doing business I don't necessarily think West/Zampella are 100% in the right either. If they were actively courting EA etc. then Activision were well within their rights to react. I don't see this as a David v. Goliath situation were West/Zampella are the noble underdogs. I think it's Goliath v. Goliath with both parties being dicks in some for or another.

WolfForager

The majority of the remaining IW staff are sueing Acitvision now

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/04/27/infinity-ward-employee-group-sues-activision-for-75-to-125-m/

This gets funnier by the day

de5p0i1er

Good Bye Call Of Duty. It was nice knowing you.