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 Another shit gonna hit the fan, Monthly suscribtion

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TSbobohead1988
post Mar 5 2010, 02:07 AM, updated 16y ago

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Coming through

http://kotaku.com/5485703//gallery/
QUOTE(vergessenheld)
Wow that's a lot of Legalese. Okay, in case anyone doesn't feel like reading all that stuff:

WHAT HAPPENED: The two developers were promised royalties as part of their contract for Modern Warfare 2. They're claiming Activision fired them under false pretenses in order to avoid paying those royalties.

The lawsuit then gives background about the company, including alleging that Activision purposely gave Infinity Ward a small budget for Call of Duty in order to buy 30% of its stock for cheap since the small budget would keep them from fighting it.

It also states some things we all know; sales figures, revenue numbers, etc. West and Zampella (the two developers and plaintiffs) had only one year on their contract before MW2 started. They were reluctant to get an extension on their contract, but did so anyway because Activision promised complete control of IW AND creative control over any post-Vietnam Call of Duty and MW games that might be developed.

Blah, blah, blah; more sales figures and talks of how MW2 was praised upon release. Activision then launched the investigation of Zampella and West about a week after the release of MW2. They hired outside lawyers and investigators to question other employees (some of whom cried from anxiety) and threatened insubordination charges if the two plaintiffs tried to console the other employees.

West and Zampella then said they were going to talk to their lawyers, at which point they were told Activision would make things worse if they did. The two men were also never told what exactly they had done wrong at any given point during the investigation. Activision strung the investigation along, then gave the two IW guys about six hours to respond to the accusations. A couple days later, Activision announced the new Call of Duty games they want to make (which were posted in another article).

WHAT THEY WANT: The first claim is to about US$36 million in damages. Second, they also want control of the Modern Warfare franchise back, since that was what was promised. Third, they also say Activision cannot make any further MW games OR post-Vietnam Call of Duties set in the present, near future, or far future. Fourth, they feel that Activision owes them their royalties and bonuses regardless of whether or not their termination from IW was legitimate. And obviously, they want their attorney fees covered.

And that's about it. I may have misread the complaint a bit, so feel free to correct me.
*
19th June

http://www.vg247.com/2010/07/19/rumour-cod...gameplay-video/

This post has been edited by bobohead1988: Jul 19 2010, 07:39 PM
Jas2davir
post Mar 5 2010, 03:13 AM

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old news is old, faster come to cyberjaya
Cheesenium
post Mar 5 2010, 07:39 AM

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Good,there goes any leg of the stool.
jumping_jax
post Mar 8 2010, 03:54 PM

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heheh "stool"
frags
post Mar 8 2010, 04:47 PM

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Well lets not jump to conclusions. It very easy to think of Activision as the evil empire and Infinity Ward as the innocent victim. Until we get a more unbiased opinion from someone in IW or Activision, we won't know the full story.

Also bobo, can you change the title to something more meaningful? Let this be the official thread for discussing the IW Activsion fiasco and keep this away from the other COD threads.
H@H@
post Mar 8 2010, 04:52 PM

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QUOTE(enemyuavonline @ Mar 8 2010, 04:36 PM)
just goes to show how evil game publisher are.

down with publishers. support digital download
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That only actually works if the devs are indie or don't have any exclusive deals with any publisher (Which almost never happens). So, it doesn't really matter where you buy it from.
frags
post Mar 8 2010, 04:52 PM

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A few points:

1) IW never liked Treyarch and never liked Activisions decisions to outsource COD to Treyarch. They've made their opinion very clear on that.

2) IW wants freedom to choose what it wants to do and not be dictated by Activision. Also very clear by comments from these two people.

3) The two fella's were probably working out a deal to blackmail Activision. They want to own Call of Duty, which right now they don't.

4) A lot of statement and things happened that goes to show IW and Activision to not be a normal publisher developer relationship. There is A LOT of animosity amongst them.

Cheesenium
post Mar 8 2010, 05:04 PM

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I have been reading on this issue for some time and this conflict dates all the way back to MW1 where IW tries to get creativity independence and ownership of the franchise based on any post Vietnam games of CoD(include setting in distant future) while,at the same time,Activision tries to control them.

Now,i think Activision got what they wished for,getting rid of the founders so that they can control IW to do whatever they want,with 2 of Activision's executive to replace West and Zampella. They probably know nothing about their games,just like Kotick as they are just businessman,not gamers who tries to sell games.

It is also one of the reasons why MW2 was named as Modern Warfare 2,rather than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 when the game first announced. Seems like IW dont want to be associate with the annual CoD franchise for some reason that we dont know. Then, Activision got worried about people not knowing that Modern Warfare 2 is actually a sequel to CoD4, rather than a spin off or new franchise, they added Call of Duty back to the tittle. Note that how small does the CoD word look like on MW2's tittle in the game or the ads.

What i think is,IW isnt very happy to be with Activision all these while,just that things got a bit,say,exciting, recently.

Things become even messed up when there are claims saying that both West and Zampella are contacting Activision's competitors,namely, EA.

A good read at Kotaku @ http://kotaku.com/5483296/kotaku-originals-insanity-ward .

Activision isnt really that nice all along,as Tim Schrafer from Brutal Legends thinks so.

user posted image

Not to forget about all the Harmonix and Red Octane crap.
H@H@
post Mar 8 2010, 05:12 PM

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A general overview (Fairly unbiased)

The gist of it is that instead of arguing over royalties and whatnot, Activision are actively trying to wrest the MW brand for themselves from IW... and IW was expecting it.

Now, I highly doubt this is a definitive study of the whole situation and thus can't really be considered conclusive, but it does offer maybe extra insight into the whole issue.


kianweic
post Mar 8 2010, 05:30 PM

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Activision just out to make money and break a few rules here and there. Very normal in corporate world.

There are far worse corporate exploit than losing creativity control and independence and royalty.

Remember the imported milk from China?
Cheesenium
post Mar 8 2010, 05:59 PM

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QUOTE(kianweic @ Mar 8 2010, 05:30 PM)
Activision just out to make money and break a few rules here and there. Very normal in corporate world.

There are far worse corporate exploit than losing creativity control and independence and royalty.

Remember the imported milk from China?
*
More like they are just being an ass,just like what have they done with Harmonix.
MYNAMEISJASON
post Mar 8 2010, 06:34 PM

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Despite hating the game like anything, I wonder what would happen to future patches. Then again I remember a certain dude that said he wanted to work for Infinity ward doh.gif
Jas2davir
post Mar 8 2010, 09:22 PM

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QUOTE(MYNAMEISJASON @ Mar 8 2010, 06:34 PM)
Despite hating the game like anything, I wonder what would happen to future patches. Then again I remember a certain dude that said he wanted to work for Infinity ward  doh.gif
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nvm ill work in mc donald with you for the rest of my life obviously your doing so great there getting about how much rm450 a month? my indon maid is getting rm800 :/
nipaa1412
post Mar 8 2010, 09:35 PM

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QUOTE(MYNAMEISJASON @ Mar 8 2010, 06:34 PM)
Despite hating the game like anything, I wonder what would happen to future patches. Then again I remember a certain dude that said he wanted to work for Infinity ward  doh.gif
*
Working with IW may not be a bad idea, At least the experience and pay is higher than what Malaysian Gaming companies can offer
MYNAMEISJASON
post Mar 8 2010, 10:49 PM

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QUOTE(Jas2davir @ Mar 8 2010, 09:22 PM)
nvm ill work in mc donald with you for the rest of my life obviously your doing so great there getting about how much rm450 a month? my indon maid is getting rm800 :/
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Did I even mention you? Retard, some people just don't know their place doh.gif

This post has been edited by MYNAMEISJASON: Mar 8 2010, 10:50 PM
nipaa1412
post Mar 9 2010, 01:18 AM

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Never mind. Wrong choice of words

This post has been edited by nipaa1412: Mar 9 2010, 01:21 AM
crashtec
post Mar 9 2010, 01:32 AM

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Activision has made krap decisions over the past year. First scr*wing up MW2, then screwing up IW. IW scr*wed up MW2, then scr*wed themselves up.

In the end, we suffer as consumers. All i can say is, Activision is all about making money and they do whatever it takes. I speak from experience with dealing with them. Freaking politicians imho. FourZeroTwo is another bumbling idiot. Community leader my buttocks.
Jas2davir
post Mar 9 2010, 03:40 AM

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QUOTE(MYNAMEISJASON @ Mar 8 2010, 10:49 PM)
Did I even mention you? Retard, some people just don't know their place  doh.gif
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dont you have some burgers to flip? flipper boy?
kianweic
post Mar 9 2010, 09:19 AM

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Actually I still don't get Activision had to fire both of them.

Can't Activision just forced them to resign, that'll be cheaper and also less damaging.

H@H@
post Mar 9 2010, 09:34 AM

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QUOTE(kianweic @ Mar 9 2010, 09:19 AM)
Actually I still don't get Activision had to fire both of them.

Can't Activision just forced them to resign, that'll be cheaper and also less damaging.
*
Firing them with cause actually exempts them from most of the benefits conferred plus it also makes them less attractive to future employers (People would often think twice about hiring someone who was fired for "insubordination")... Its akin to Activision performing character assassination on them. Make them seem like a bunch of trouble makers in the hopes that they won't work in the industry again.

In other news:
jas2davir & MYNAMEISJASON, stop with the (under)handed attacks against each other unless you two like looking at a warning log screen instead of the forum.

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