Shamus, if there's a smarter thing written on this forum somewhere, I don't know what it is. On a related note,
My father used to tell me a story about my great-great grandfather, it goes like this: (short, I promise)
My grand-dad once started up a carpentry business, and to do so he borrowed a lot of money from a lot of people. He was successful for a few years, but he was a carpenter not a businessman and he went under around year 5. He hadn't paid back even half of his investors.
There was no contract involved, my Grandfather simply shook hands with everyone who invested in his company. In this day and age, even an investor who had a contract as thick as a phonebook wouldn't be protected if a company went bankrupt. My great great grandfather paid back every dime, over the next 15 years. I've been inspired by that story of integrity my entire life.
It's not a DREAMWORLD for people to honour their word, and if you can't see that, I feel sorry for you. That kind of cynicism eats away at your well-being.
When you shake a man's hand, it should MEAN something. Forget people working FOR Activision, who is working AT Activision, and how are they rationalizing it to themselves? How can they look these people in the eyes, promise them something, watch the higher-ups screw them, and then go to work on the next project with any kind of hope? How can they not say, "I work hard for these people, and they turned me into a liar, I'm out."