Ex-Infinity Ward heads join EA

[Dark Drakan]

Ex-Infinity Ward heads join EA

Kick in the teeth for Activision and well deserved if you ask me. EA have done a great job with DICE with the Battlefield series. Lets see what they can do with Infinity Wards key men.

In what's surely one of the biggest megatons of the year so far, fired Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella have announced the formation of a new development studio, Respawn Entertainment in partnership with EA.

The Call of Duty co-creators have signed up with EA Partners for exclusive worldwide publishing and distribution rights for thier future games.

In a sly dig at Activision, the new studio promises to position its leadership team as "the owners of the intellectual property they create".

The company will focus on "creating state-of-the-art gaming experiences for global audiences," it says, adding that it's currently assembling "a world-class team of designers, artists and engineers" and applicants can submit resumes to jobs@respawn.com.

It's not yet clear if other ex-Infinity Ward employees, including lead designer, Todd Alderman and lead software engineer, Francesco Gigliotti, will be joining Respawn.

"Respawn Entertainment marks a fresh start for Jason and me," said Vince Zampella, who'll act as general manager.

"For the past decade we led a great development team and poured our hearts into creating an epic game franchise. We're very proud of what we built - and proud that so many millions of fans enjoyed those games. Today we hope to do it all over again -- open a new studio, hire a great team, and create brand new games with a new partner, EA."

West added: "We're excited. Now that the team is in control of the games and brands, we can ensure that the fans are treated as well as they deserve."

Frank Gibeau, President of the EA Games Label commented, "This is the start of a great publishing partnership - one that I expect will develop blockbuster game franchises. Jason and Vince are two of the top creative leaders in the entertainment industry. At EA, we're honored to be their partners and to give them the support they need to hire a team and return to making incredible games."

The two Infinity Ward founders were fired and removed from the Infinity Ward premises earlier this year after Activision security "stormed the offices".

Soon after the pair launched a lawsuit against their former employer for US$36 million and control over the Modern Warfare franchise.

 

[Skotekal]

Re: Ex-Infinity Ward heads join EA

Did they ever win that lawsuit against Activision?

And I hope to see some cool things out of them.

 

[Arseface]

Re: Ex-Infinity Ward heads join EA

Too bad EA sucks.

 

[HeroOfCrapsalot]

Re: Ex-Infinity Ward heads join EA

Too bad EA sucks.

The only problem I have with EA is that they infect their games with EA characteristics, but it looks like the deal that Respawn Entertainment has received gives them a lot of freedom relative to other EA affiliates.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Re: Ex-Infinity Ward heads join EA

Did they ever win that lawsuit against Activision?

And I hope to see some cool things out of them.

Still ongoing.

Too bad EA sucks.

Some of EA's ideas suck and how their anti-piracy methods alienate retail purchasers. However they have the funds and for the most part let designers run with their ideas (Battlefield series). Activison had started to do the same things EA had a reputation for, however it seems they have took all the negative things about EA and done them too. EA have slowly started to improve though.

 

[Gikoku]

Re: Ex-Infinity Ward heads join EA

Good on them, EA is the lesser of the two evils.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Re: Ex-Infinity Ward heads join EA

Not to mention EA have done a good job producing Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 without much involvement. Seems they are happy to take a back seat lately and let developers work their magic instead of interfering. If the Infinity Ward heads win the lawsuit and claim the rights to Call Of Duty (as they should) it should benefit the series after Activison started to ruin it.