14 DAY TRIAL // Infinity Ward continues to lose people, with a lot of the veterans who oversaw the success of Call of Duty and Modern Warfare leaving the company in search of better pastures, which will probably be provided by Respawn Entertainment, the development studio set up by Vince Zampella and Jason West, the original Infinity Ward exiles. But Activision continues to claim that it's not the treatment of developers that it drives them away and that there are few places where they are better paid.
Thomas Tippl, who is the Chief Operation Officer of Activision, told the Los Angeles Time that “We treat our developers extremely well” and added, “We have an independent studio model that provides them a lot of creative freedom while we take care of the back office stuff so they can focus on making games. If their games are successful, they are compensated better here than anywhere else.”
Tippl also claimed that Activision paid their developers millions of dollars in bonuses for their work. Some of those who left Infinity Ward stated that the publisher failed to give them the bonuses they were entitled to after the huge success of Modern Warfare 2, which became the biggest videogame seller in 2009, despite being launched in November.
Respawn Entertainment is linked with Electronic Arts, set to publish their upcoming videogames. Zampella and West have not said what kind of game they plan to create, revealing that, at the moment, they are focusing on putting their studio together and getting the team they need.
Activision Blizzard is claiming that both developers actively sought to undermine the creation of a sequel to Modern Warfare 2, believing that it will offer them more leverage in negotiations with the publisher. The two have also filed a suit stating that the French company abused its position in firing them.