Call of Doody

by Ninth Batter (You can find Ninth on his blog Nobody Like You. Where he works on a machinima of the same name. He is also a frequent contributor to Polygamerous)

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As many of you know Infinity Ward and Activision are having some “family” troubles. Infinity Ward wants to do things their way because they’ve proven they can do things on their own and they’re not children anymore. Unfortunately Activision will always see Infinity Ward as its little boy and is having trouble seeing them in a adult role. Here’s a quick rundown of the events that have transpired between Activision and Infinity Ward this week. There was a meeting held Monday between Infinity Ward studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West and Activision executives. That night plain cloths security showed up at Infinity Ward to secure the building. Later Vince Zampella and Jason West announced via twitter that they no longer had their jobs. Then they held a press conference announcing their lawsuit against Activision. Activision has since released a statement saying they’re moving in a new direction with Call of Duty. Hopefully I can shed some light on the matter.

Activision has always been seen as a bit abrasive to put it politely. My friends at G4 and Bioware have called them “The Mafia of Gaming” on several occasions. And I can tell you from personal experience that Bobby Kotick(CEO and President of Activision) is a complete and total douche-bag and most people in the gaming industry will agree. On the other side, Infinity Ward is pompous and have on multiple occasions told off the media and their investors as to what content they make. What we’re seeing here isn’t two intellectual entities parting over creative differences. In reality it’s closer to two 5 year olds angry cause they weren’t getting their way and Activision just happened to have more power in the situation. I believe Tim Schafer put is best with “Being mad at Activision for this kind of thing is like getting mad at an ape for throwing feces. It’s just how the beast communicates.”

No one is really sure about what will happen next because we aren’t privy to the legal department of Activision. What will most likely happen is a court will determine whether or not Vince Zampella and Jason West were wrongfully terminated and if that is the case they won’t have to follow the criteria set up by the contracts they’ve signed with Activision. Also, the franchise Modern Warfare is a separate from Call of Duty. It was actually Infinity Ward that brought Modern Warfare to Activision and if the court finds against Activision the creative rights will go back to its original owner.

So let us review what we’ve learned today.

1. Neither side of the situation is innocent.
2. We don’t know what will happen until the lawsuit is settled.
3. Activision is a large and powerful company that happens to have “many friends”.
   And
4. Bobby Kotick is a complete and total douche-bag.

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The opinions of the authors on Polygamerous are not necessarily the opinions of Polygamerous or the other Authors/Editors/Podcasters of Polygamerous.