West / Zampella form Respawn Entertainment with backing from Electronic Arts (EA)

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http://www.mcvuk.com/news/38446/EA-signs-West-and-Zampella

Former Infinity Ward bosses form new studio called Respawn Entertainment

The very public fight between Activision and Infinity Ward's former bosses has taken an interesting twist.

Jason West and Vince Zampella have formed Respawn Entertainment - and the kicker for Activision is that they have a publishing deal with Electronic Arts.

The two were ousted for the studio in early March under accusations of insubordination. They filed a suit against Activision who last week filed a counter-claim accusing the pair of, amongst other things, delaying the development of Modern Warfare 3 as they renegotiated their contracts and attempting to poach staff as they looked to start a new studio.

New outfit Respawn is currently only just in its formative stages and "the studio is currently assembling a world-class team of designers, artists and engineers".

The studio's exec team get to keep the IP they make, and EA Partners gets distribution rights to all Respawn's future games.

They filed a suit against Activision who last week filed a counter-claim accusing the pair of, amongst other things, delaying the development of Modern Warfare 3 as they renegotiated their contracts and attempting to poach staff as they looked to start a new studio.

Looks like Activision may have a point - LOL

You dont sign a deal like this in a few days.

West / Zampella have had this on the stove for a while, maybe Activision were justified in firing them in the first place?

What with reports of MORE staff leaving Infinity Ward, I think the Modern Warfare franchise is done, unless Treyarch can fly the banner?

I think E.A are on a mission to wipe it off the face of the earth, good riddance I say.

Also, Zampella has said their first game will be a "Summer Blockbuster". Mmmm, something to compete with Halo perhaps?

So what with this and Medal of Honor, Activision are going to find it tough for the next COD game. Serves them right, Bobby Kotick is a douché.
 
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So they've just started a new studio but are claiming they are going to have a summer blockbuster?? This year??
 
Well, EA are one of the few big publishers left who really encourage their devs to put effort into PC ports. So i guess at least the next big shooter will have dedicated servers this time around :p
 
Yeah can't wait for MoH, multiplayer is being done by DICE :D

That's a point, MoH, Battlefield and (essentially) CoD under the same publishing/developing roof. It's a competitors nightmare.

When their forces combine what will be the result? (Captain Planet?)
 
They filed a suit against Activision who last week filed a counter-claim accusing the pair of, amongst other things, delaying the development of Modern Warfare 3 as they renegotiated their contracts and attempting to poach staff as they looked to start a new studio.

Looks like Activision may have a point - LOL

You dont sign a deal like this in a few days.
I don't see anything untoward here. Just what else were they going to do, other than start another studio? And who was going to outbid EA to sign them up?
 
It's a competitors nightmare.

If it was anyone else, I would feel sorry for the "competition" but seeing as it is Activision, I hope E.A blow them out of the water.

Bad Company 2 on the PC has been given superb support from the publisher. Good to see.
 
yeh activision deserve to be burnt to the ground....
i am sure activision had some merrits to firing team members but to be honest its clear west and zamp werent happy and looking elsewhere, theres lots of rumours around that activision intruded to much in mw2 making it completely poo, and wanted mw as a yearly franchise. im sure that would make many devs unhappy.

out of interest dont zamp and west own the rights to MW? or is that to be decided in the courts???
 
TBH I would hold back on the rejoicing, don't forget these two were heavily involved in the decision to drop Dedi support for MW2 and are renowned critiques of the PC market. I would fully expect most, if not every thing they to do to be 100% console focused.

People rightly berate Activision but the route that MW2 took was entirely IW's choice.
 
TBH I would hold back on the rejoicing, don't forget these two were heavily involved in the decision to drop Dedi support for MW2 and are renowned critiques of the PC market. I would fully expect most, if not every thing they to do to be 100% console focused.

The thing is though, EA constantly encourage their Devs to give the PC platform the best possible, hopefully they'll talk them around. Examples would be Mass Effect, a game that wasn't ever meant to be released on the PC, as soon as EA bought the franchise not only did they commission a port, they ensured their development team added enhancements to the gameplay to take advantage of the mouse + keyboard. The same can be said for Dragon Age in terms of adding functionality to reflect the more flexible control method.

In short i guess i'm trying to say, EA always work with the PC in mind, hopefully they will make the 'new' IW do the same.
 
Isn't it a bit ironic that they originally left the MOH developers 2015, published by EA, to start IW because of publisher interference.
 
so basically the team that started under ea then went to activision are slowly going back ? lol :D
 
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It should be noted that the E.A Partners deal which Respawn Entertainment has signed upto is a similiar one to which Valve have with E.A.

In the case of Valve, this is purely a distribution agreement.

If this one with Respawn is the same or different, we shall have to wait and see but I am unsure how much of a say E.A have on product development.
 
This could well be out of the frying pan and into the fire for West/Zampella. EA are not nice people to work for, and lol at thinking they encourage their developers to put effort into the games. C&C franchise anyone? Battlefield franchise? Pay £30+ for an addon that adds a few maps and maybe one or two more items? £40+ for a sequel which is the prequel reskinned, and only 6months after initial release?
 
What with reports of MORE staff leaving Infinity Ward, I think the Modern Warfare franchise is done, unless Treyarch can fly the banner?

no it isn't, they've brought a 3rd studio in anyway iirc.

The franchise will live a long time now they know it just has to be a basic rehash of the last with no invention.
 
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