Kotick Paints Black and White Picture of Infinity Ward Firings

[Treblaine]

"keep the money you gave them"

Yeah, what kind of worker expects to keep the money they have been paid... oh yeah, ONES WHO ARE NOT SLAVES!

Pro top Kotick: you have to actually pay your employees. They don't work for you out of slavish loyalty, the salary you pay them is not a grant or loan they have to pay back.

Breach of contract? They are FREE MEN! They can consider leaving in the future if they want to, you do not OWN THEM! Don't act like you gave them money for what they hadn't delivered yet, you didn't even pay them the bonuses they were due yet.

 

[crazyrabbits]

From what I recall, what happened was that they were offered jobs from EA Games and meeting with them to discuss it and Robert used it as an excuse to fire them so Activision wouldn't have to pay them half the money they owed them

Well, to play devil's advocate, having private dinners/meetings with your competition is anathema to a current employer, no matter what industry you work in.

I faced something similar just recently. I previously worked as the editor of a chain of small community newspapers in Mississauga/Etobicoke, and I took another job due to (a) the other employer offering me an incredible package of benefits/work opportunities, (b) the pay at my then-current newspaper gig not being enough to support me financially, and (c) the opportunity to do both in tandem, as one was writing/editing and the other was public relations.

I told my newspaper employer about this very early on, and he responded by having a absolute meltdown and taking my name off the paper's masthead before treating me as a lowly writer (and after trying to make overtures, I quit). I was in the inenviable position of having people ask me why I quit my newspaper job when I was still employed and writing articles, because my boss had gone around trashing me behind my back. I got my revenge in the end, but it was still a sticking point.

Sure, it's a bit different when there are millions of dollars in potential royalties on the line, but the principle is still the same. Loyalty can be a fault, and even if you're the nicest guy to your boss, any potential fraternizing with the competition can be a slap in the face to them. That's something I don't expect many of the people on this board (who likely never faced a situation like the IW scandal or my personal experience) have ever encountered - or hopefully never will.

 

[Twilight_guy]

And I don't doubt that he believes that whatever the facts may be. Also, I don't doubt people will argue both sides despite not knowing all the facts. Also, video game movies are almost always bad so I see why you might want to avoid them like the plague.

 

[kael013]

1) What was the point of bringing this up again Kotick? Beyond restarting a flame war on most gaming news site forums.

2) Wait, wait, wait. No CoD movie? So you're telling me those last six increasingly linear...things were supposed to be [i/]games[/i]!?

 

[Bat Vader]

Taint the brand? The games are already big budget action films. I am sure Michael Bay would be the best choice to direct a Call of Duty film.

Didn't a lot of key employees end up quitting and going with West and Zambella a few days and weeks after they were fired?