Activision, the publishers of one of the biggest gaming franchises, Call Of Duty, have confirmed today the departures of Infinity Ward studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella. Both West and Zampella were rumored to have been in a meeting with Activision yesterday (March 1st). It appears they were being investigated for breaches of contract and insubordination, which one would expect to be the reason for the firing.
Steve Pearce and Steve Ackrich from Activision Publishing will temporary take control of the company for now. Infinity Ward are currently working on two Modern Warfare 2 Map-packs which are due for release later this year. What effects these events will have on the company, and whether they will even still be working for Activision after they finish the Map-Packs, is unknown. Im sure most will agree that it will be a big loss to the Call Of Duty franchise if Infinity Ward were not to make another edition in the future, as they have produced genre leading games in the shape of Modern Warfare 1 & 2.
As for the future of the Call of Duty franchise, well as we know, Treyarch is developing the new Call of Duty due to be released near the end of the year. But today Activision revealed that Sledgehammer Games will be creating a Call Of Duty game “that will extend the franchise into the action-adventure genre”, due for a late 2011 release. This only adds to the possibility that Infinity Ward will leave Activision in the near future.
For the original articles and more info, hop over to IGN and CinemaBlend.
Thanks to WENB’s Barrym for the heads up.
