Infinity Ward vs. Activision: What a Clusterf**k (By Rebecca "Bonks" Rothschild)

March 1st, Vince Zampella and Jason West, co-heads of Infinity Ward for eight years are terminated. For those unaware, these two are responsible for Call of Duty Modern Warfare and it's ravishing, cash cow follow up, CODMW2. Fun fact about the termination: Activision was a week away from paying Infinity Ward substantial royalties when the two were fired. So, the two have filed suit for several claims including breach of contract.

Apprently there has been friction between the two for a while now. Claims were made that Activision did not want COD to go modern, instead they were opting for more WWII. At first it seemed like mere creative differences, but with the recent success of COD it would now appear to be a hostile takeover. The COD franchise has generated something to the tune of three billion dollars, I can't help but feel like the core of this battle is nothing more than money. However at the press release after the suit was filed attorney Robert Schwartz had the following to say about the claims:

"Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual 'investigation' into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of insubordination and breach of fiduciary duty, which became the grounds for their termination on Monday, March 1st."

Okay, so that's a fancy way of saying "we hired attorneys to quietly investigate Infinity Ward for a reason to fire them." Doesn't speak well of Activision, their attorney is a moron and was better off not saying shit.

Now I've done my best to dig for crucial statements from both sides and have turned up with very little from the Activision side of the fence. So far I've heard what the moron lawyer has had to say. Activision only continues to boast about the new direction and genres and plans it has for the COD 'brand.' So, I've laid out what I've found and now I get to say my parting words and in typical "Bonks" fashion, it's gonna be a list.

1. Get a new attorney.

2. Video gamers are not simple minded, uninformed dead beats. Stoners, layabouts...yeah okay, there are a few but we love the internet and the internet loves to inform us. You f*ck with two very accomplished developers who have shown nothing but passion for their craft and we will revolt.

3. You have brought your bullshit, CEO, money grubbing politics into our gaming world. Not that is hasn't been there before but now because of your greed you're going to ruin a brilliant franchise, so that makes it OUR business. And when you f*ck with thousands of nerds who have great taste and high expectations for their video games, we will f*ck you right back, where it hurts, your f*cking wallets. Bad move, you better pray you find someone damn near immortal to develop your next game.

4. Man up and pay up.