Insider: Infinity Ward Dead and Will Continue to Crumble

Phase_9

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Oct 18, 2008
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It's very possible that this is a disgruntled employee, but that doesn't make him wrong. I don't think they will able to put out games with anywhere near the same quality as before. Vince and Jason were integral to the Modern Warfare series, and they certainly have a strong claim to keeping the name and everything affiliated with it, but only time will tell.
 

Sh0ckFyre

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Jun 27, 2009
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You know what would be awesome? If Activision's Modern Warfare 3 sucks, and Respawn Entertainment creates an unofficial Modern Warfare 3 that wipes its ass with the official Modern Warfare 3 and with its $100 bills.
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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They really have shot themselves in the foot with this one...The ship is sinking, the question is how many rats are going to run before it all goes under
 

Vault boy Eddie

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Feb 18, 2009
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They ruined one of my fav franchises with that last game and now they are falling apart, hmm, yes, yes this pleases me.
 

tsb247

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Mar 6, 2009
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The company that made a flood of short, over-priced, generic, linear shooters with ridiculous stories (I'm looking at you MW2) and mediocre multiplayer may not make games of that nature and 'caliber' anymore. The problem is what now?
 

TheRealGoochman

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Apr 7, 2010
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I am excited to see what Respawn Entertainment creates first......I hope it is new and creative (maybe something we have not seen before.....or maybe a new and exciting twist on a genre)

I love how the spokesman from Activision pretty much admitted that they are going into corporate mode and going to milk the MW franchise for all they got (I say it was a good move for the IW team to break free of Activision's claws)
 

Treblaine

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Jul 25, 2008
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this story got a whole page in the The Times.

I've never heard of a video game story like this get so much exposure, even breaking into mainstream media and think it was even covered by the Financial Times. I don't think this is going to escape anyone notice, I really would question of modern warfare 3 will even be made. It almost certainly will not be ready by 2011 (as the 2 year cycle would predict as from COD2 to COD:MW2)
 

Siberian Relic

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Jan 15, 2010
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Workplace progress is symbiotic. You have your hardworking laymen and your planning, scheduling higher-ups. Everyone contributes--even though the paychecks may be very different.

This whole situation stems from Activision, breach of contract or not. This doesn't go back to just the first Modern Warfare. Remember when Infinity Ward was talking about Call of Duty 2? After their first CoD, they wanted to move into Modern Warfare. Remember who stepped in to intervene on behalf of the WWII shooter's sales numbers? Activision.

Purely as an outside observer, this is how it all looks to me: Infinity Ward was annoyed with Activision's coercion with forcing Call of Duty 2, however good the game turned out to be. They pitched their case again and Activision said fine. Then Activision, not willing to lose the fanbase or sales figures for WWII shooters, pulls in Treyarch to continue the historical entries while Infinity Ward fools around with their Modern Warfare concept.

Then the unthinkable happens: Call of Duty 3 sees ho-hum reception and Modern Warfare is a hit. Oh, snap! Time to refocus! Activision pressures Infinity Ward similarly to how they did on Call of Duty 2, except now they agree on the sequel. So Activision gets its hands deeper into the project, prying more and more control over aspects of the project now that they realize it could be a game that sells big.

It's no coincidence that we're seeing certain comments from either side of this legal fiasco. My though is that West and Zampella were so sick of having Activision taking control of their IP that they began considering an outside work or partnership. Breach of contract? Probably, but has anyone ever heard "provoke not your children to wrath"? It means don't bully your kids to the point they hate you, and that's exactly what Activision did.

West and Zampella were caught and subsequently fired. Then they partner with EA and start making statements about creative freedom and fully controlling their IPs. I see no coincidence in how Infinity Ward struggled to get Modern Warfare off the ground and its a strong entry, and MW2 had such a monstrous publicity campaign and sales launch and is buggy and undercooked. Then we had Activision toting their MW2 sales right on the heels of West and Zampella leaving, as if to say, "Look. See? We don't need them. The franchise will sustain itself."

Except now more Infinity Ward people are leaving. You ask me, the comments about Infinity Ward crumbling and Activision panicking are right on the money, whereas the positive comments are Activision trying to save face in this highly embarrassing situation. I think Activision clearly sees right where they are: circling the drain.
 

GloatingSwine

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Tom Goldman said:
The real question in my mind is: can Respawn Entertainment create a series that can compete with Modern Warfare 3? Modern Warfare will pretty much always sell no matter what, but can a brand new series command the attention of an audience that the majority of probably hasn't heard about the shake-up surrounding Infinity Ward?
I expect EA thought the same about Medal of Honor once.

Oh, wait...
 

Anticitizen_Two

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Jan 18, 2010
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Eh, they made pretty mediocre games to begin with. If they start to make slightly worse games, I don't think I'll be too affected.
 

MiracleOfSound

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Jan 3, 2009
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0p3rati0n said:
*in a nervous voice and biting nails* But if Call of Duty stops then I need another shooter. When I find that shooter it will suck compared to Call of duty! *endless nervous rant and starts crying*
Actually I'm loving Battlefield Bad Company2, and I didn't think I would.

It's not as fast or fluid as COD but it's more fun in a million ways.
 

Starke

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Mar 6, 2008
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ssgt splatter said:
Starke said:
Maybe it's cynicism on my part, but does the positive insider sound like a tactical leak to anyone else?
What do you mean?
A tactical leak is when an entity "leaks" information to a reporter that reflects their desired view.

In this case someone in Activision's PR asked an employee to use a journalist contact to put out Activision's official version of things.
 

-AC80-

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Jul 10, 2009
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this may explain why they are pumping out over priced DLC instead of fixing MW2
 

joshuaayt

Vocal SJW
Nov 15, 2009
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Not sure if I see a problem. Can't they just do with MW what they do with Madden, and ditch IW altogether? Not like the majority of the target demographic will notice.
Modern Warfare 2011
Modern Warfare 2012
Modern Warfare 2013
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Modern Warfare 2099
I mean, those who expect a new game out of them each year might be a little annoyed, but there'll be more shooters.