Story first broken by G4’s Patrick Klepek, two key employees from Infinity Ward in an unseemingly bizzare turn of events. Evidence is reported by an SEC Filing by publisher Activision today regarding a human resources investigation into “breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward.”
One of these employees includes Infinity Ward’s CTO Jason West and the other rumored to be Vince Zampella. Infinity Ward Community Manager Robert Bowling has vaguely addressed the issue on his Twitter account by stating that he has “no info” on the matter at this time.
A screenshot has previously surfaced at Kotaku of Infinity Ward CTO Jason West’s Facebook page with the status update “”Jason West is drinking. Also, unemployed.” His Linkedin profile has been updated to reflect the following change in employment:
“President/Game Director/CCO/CTO Infinity Ward
January 2001 – March 2010 (9 years 3 months)”
Earlier in the evening, Klepek posted that a source close to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s developer has informed that a bunch of security guards have showed up at the studio offices unannounced and were unwilling to disclose any information why they were there. Infinity Ward’s studio heads Jason West and Vincent Zampella were reportedly meeting at Activision today and has not been seen since.
The atmosphere at the studio offices are described as “tense,” regarding the relationship between Infinity Ward and its publisher Activision. People are “freaked out” and “confused.” One source states, “We just wanna make our games.”
OPINION
In recollecting these distressing accounts of events, it seems of concidence to note Activision CEO Bobby Kotick’s choice of words of how he views the video games business, in promoting an atmosphere of “skepticism, pessimism, and fear and keeping people focused on the deep depression.” This is an example of corporate restructuring at its core. Activision has constantly shown their hand in developers affairs and by removing the Infinity Ward studio heads, effectively demonstrates the brutal nature of the business. Activision sent security guards as a cautionary measure for such an occasion like this to keep productivity afloat, but it certainly does not bode well for the job environment at all – considering that recent events have cited, for example, protest by former employees to the terrible working conditions at Rockstar Games San Diego.
