Vince Zampella: They say that Modern Warfare 3 would have been a much better game and would have made 700 million more dollars for them and they want us to pay that.
Jason West: We deprived them of our services by being fired and therefore we owe them money.
Referring to Game Informer’s interview with former Infinity Ward heads and Call of Duty creators West and Zampella as candid is a pure understatement. The tiffs and backstabbing that escalated into the duo’s termination and, appallingly enough, their ensuing legal onslaught with Activision are exposed and laid out simply for anyone willing to spend the time reading the article.
It’s absolutely amazing to see a huge company like Activision fall back on ruthless bullying tactics to get what they want. The interview reveals that the publisher withheld employees pay in order to guarantee a commitment from Infinity Ward that Modern Warfare 3 would fast line into development. This was one of several attacks on the studio, done with the intent on wresting control from IW’s heads – effectively planting complete ownership of the Call of Duty IP in Activision’s hands.
Sometimes even my stoney layer of cynicism can’t protect me from the world’s fucked up injustices. Again, hear West and Zampella’s story out.