movements5144d ago

You can't keep good men down....

StanLee5144d ago

They're foolish. They should have waited for the litigation to end. This will give credence to Activision's assertions that they were secretly in talks with EA and conniving to poach staff.

young juice5144d ago

do i smell.... oh wait, its just another FPS

thehitman5144d ago

There is no way of proving something like that they can easily say that once we were fired EA approached us or we approached EA all activision can do is throw up conspiracy theories. Activision fired them they didnt quit so all they can do is cry and hope this doesnt affect MW3 so much.

DEA Fresh5144d ago (Edited 5144d ago )

Glad to see these guys found work fast. Hope this studio moves fast. Can't wait to see the new IP's they come out w. Hopefully they get a game out this gen. What a smack in the face to Activison though I'm sure they wish they were still involved w/ IW and COD.

EDIT: See a lot of people saying more IW workers should switch studios and that'd be fine but the 1 guy I don't want to see is Robert Bowling aka 402. He is such a tool bag wish he was removed from IW.

Christopher5144d ago

Exactly #1. Lots of people would sit around and waste time pouting and trying to get back at their former employers, these guys just roll with it and get more of what they wanted in the first place. I'm guessing we'll be seeing an announcement for two lead positions being taken up by former IW staffers any moment now.

Brklynty15144d ago

AWWWWW SNAP! *snaps finger*

morganfell5144d ago

It will be interesting to see how many people bail from Infinity Ward to join them.

krisq5144d ago (Edited 5144d ago )

I actually think two ex-heads from IW mean s*** without their former team. I wouldn't be surprised at people from IW jumping ships soon. Activision desevers that.

lodossrage5144d ago (Edited 5144d ago )

Ok normally I never agree with stan lee. But you're actually both right

The thing is, them going to EA pretty much right after Activision already publicly said they were planning a mutiny of sorts and secretly in talks in EA makes Activision's claim LOOK (not necessarily is) more valid.

But at the same time, hitman is right because they were FIRED. They didn't leave of their own free will. It won't be easy for Acti to prove any mutiny because they didn't quit of their own free will. So yeah for the most part all Activision can do about that is toss up a theory here and there

morganfell5144d ago (Edited 5144d ago )

People here are not looking at this from an industry point of view, or in some cases even an intelligent one.

There is no way this new studio was announced without the permission of the EA lawyers as well as the Zampella/Ward legal team. No doubt there is full realization of what could occur had there been illegal meetings. Notice I said "illegal meetings" not "secret meetings." Despite loud mouth comments by Activision, the inability for Zampella and Ward to talk to other entities may not be that air tight from a legal perspective.

They likely did not talk to anyone at all.

The very fact that they (EA) have issued this statement is if anything baiting Activision to say something. It will be easy for EA, Ward, and Zampella to disclose emails and phone records that clearly show when there was a first contact.

OmegaSlayer5144d ago

It's a no brainer that 2 really skilled and talented guys would have found a BIG producer in a glimpse of an eye.

The time for the announcement are wrong imho, but, as a gamer, I'm more than pleased.

Sledgehammer now is at Activision trying to do something new, while Respawn while have new freedom at EA.

What would be good is that bigger publishers should "force" a certain kind of co operation between the developers, like Sony does with its studios.
Sharing some tech knowledge and some ideas could only do well to games.

Elven65144d ago

thehitman: There was a story recently that an ex IW staffer basically confirmed rumors that EA and other studios were trying to poach Zampella and West from Activision in 04/05. Activision probably has proof internally that something was indeed going down, they wouldn't have struck without it. Now that this studio has been founded it is basically the icing on the cake.

thehitman5144d ago

It could all be true but it becomes all irrelevant because Activision fired them and not for the reason of trying to leave for another company. The only way Activision would have a valid case if they left freely and then all of a sudden they joined EA. You forget that also EA wanted to take over Take-Two but it didnt happen. I bet its not uncommon that huge publishers try to steal developers from competitors.

Elven65144d ago

You can't fire someone without a valid reason in North America, Activision has claimed that Zampella and West were attempting to leave and take talent with them along with the IP apparently. When this originally happened their were also rumblings that they were already working on the rival title at Infinity Ward using Activision money, tech, etc. I think there's more to it but I haven't followed it as much as I'd like to.

jjohan355144d ago

If I got fired, I will not sit around and remain unemployed. This shouldn't affect their current litigation. It is very difficult to prove in court what Activision is accusing the two guys. The burden of proof is on Activision. The co-founders will not have a difficult time proving that they have rights to royalties. It's part of their contract.

Information Minister5144d ago

So these guys left EA at odds in 2002 after working in Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, resulting in a lawsuit. They joined Activision and even took a stab at EA when they closed a studio in 2008, using COD4 (remember the message "EA Chicago: Infinity Ward is hiring. [email protected]"?). Now they leave Activision, with a lawsuit in progress and go back to EA?

Please tell me I'm not the only one who sees the irony here.

morganfell5144d ago (Edited 5144d ago )

You bring up a good point but remember that Zampella and West were contracted employees and thus the Department of Labor regulations regarding Termination Without Cause do not apply in the same manner as an hourly wage employee.

That said, it does prop open the door for a host of legal actions by Zampella and West. Activision will be forced to prove that Zampella and West failed to perform to the level and specifics of their contract (MW2 will make that difficult) or they must prove that they violated some term or terms in their contract or the SOW (Statement Of Work).

And remember, there are places in North America where you can be fired with no reason...or worse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

Beast_Master5144d ago

Does anyone remember Sledgehammer games is the guys who did Dead Space that jumped ship to do COD action game for Activision. SO I kinda think this makes these guys even.

Solidus187-SCMilk5144d ago

Their first game should be

Call to Duty: Future Warfare.

DigitalHorror815144d ago

"Any hiring is presumed to be "at will"; that is, the employer is free to discharge individuals "for good cause, or bad cause, or no cause at all," and the employee is equally free to quit, strike, or otherwise cease work."

+ Show (17) more repliesLast reply 5144d ago
tdrules5144d ago

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
NO
THEY
DIDN'T

*SNAPS FINGERS*

frankymv5144d ago

The name makes perfect sense

thehitman5144d ago

And GJ on EA picking up some nice talent. Maybe EA can send some devs they had to cut to help their new studio.

Goldsack5144d ago

..now payback time Activenitches.

Show all comments (70)
100°

Former Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider pours scorn on EA's AI dreams.

"They want you to believe the devs under them are super stoked to work generative AI into their processes," continued Gaider, "but I assure you what they took as excitement was really a veiled wail of despair not unlike the time that team was informed of their new 'really cool' live service mandate.".

LordoftheCritics2d ago

Publishers see gaming as another stock market.

isarai1d 22h ago

I think anyone with some common sense knew this, im glad i don't support their games anymore, what a sh!t company.

Psychonaut851d 7h ago

Friends don’t let friends buy EA or Ubisoft.

Chocoburger1d 6h ago

I said this yesterday. AI isn't what we want when it comes to crafting artistry. Alas, these soulless corporate morons don't care about their work, only about cutting corners as much as possible.

120°

Phil Spencer and the Battle for Xbox’s Soul

Has the rapid growth of Xbox made the ship too heavy? Following the closures of Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, and Roundhouse, we explore what the future of Xbox could look like.

LG_Fox_Brazil2d ago

This ship was never meant to sail, this ship was made from the get go to sink as fast as possible. It almost feels that they want to lower the standards of quality in the industry so that they can fit in

rlow11d 10h ago

I disagree, Xbox from the get go innovated and changed the industry. They did a lot of firsts and standardized a lot of others. It wasn’t till the beginning of the Xbox1 era that things started to go south.

Stevonidas1d 6h ago

Yep, although I’d argue it started going to shit when they tried to hock Kinect on their audience instead of continuing to invest in their studios and IPs. 2001-2010 Xbox was peak gaming, though.

rlow11d 4h ago

@Stevonidas
I agree they never should have focused on it after the 360 era. But you do have to remember they were faked out by the huge volumes of Kinects sold. To quote info on Wikipedia, “Project Natal, It was first released on November 4, 2010, and would go on to sell eight million units in its first 60 days of availability.” So if your Xbox and see these huge sales on a peripheral where are you going to put some money? Criticism in hindsight is worthless…..if only we could all see our future. In other wards they had no way of knowing. Plus they had engagement numbers and a lot of signs pointed to people wanting it.

Their biggest mistake wasn’t the Kinect, but unlike Sony after the PS3 debacle. They didn’t double on down on exclusive good games. The other huge mistake was letting Call of Duty go to Sony.

Hedstrom1d 13h ago

Phil wants Xbox to be as soulless as him!

Tacoboto1d 12h ago (Edited 1d 12h ago )

Xbox has no soul and Phil has no confidence, and it's impossible to say either do when they killed Tango and Arkane Austin.

Everything they've said since has only made them look worse to a point that they're actually less competent than Embracer.

Markdn1d 12h ago (Edited 1d 12h ago )

Whe you release something like the series S and expect it not to hurt your business model, and developers have to have parity with games. Then you know Microsoft don't care. Series s is the final nail that broke developers,

Show all comments (12)
360°

Sarah Bond dodges questions on Xbox studio closures

While on stage with Dina Bass at The Bloomberg Technology Summit the President of Xbox, Sarah Bond, was asked about the Xbox studio closures of Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, and Roundhouse Studios

2d ago
ApocalypseShadow2d ago

Of course she did. She's part of the problem and will just tow the company line.

VenomUK2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Bloomberg’s Dina Bass could barely read her scripted question without looking at her notes, whilst Sarah Bond who WAS expecting the question spoke without saying anything of substance or answering the question in any meaningful way. Clearly she’s had the same expert PR training as Phil, but this avoidance was disrespectful. In time the short-sighted decision to shut down Tango Gameworks will be seen as of the most notorious examples why Phil Spencer messed up his tenure in charge of Xbox. That’s a fully built out talented team that could’ve been put to work on any project.

Additionally, Phil Spencer should not be using Sarah Bond as a patsy for his mistakes- he should be answering that question.

gleepot2d ago

I think you are all really overselling Tangos value. Hi-Fi rush was a lot of fun. Ghostwire was incredibly dull. Evil within 1 and 2 were just okay.

lucasnooker2d ago

Evil within 2 was incredibly under rated. I thought that game was surprisingly good

NotoriousWhiz2d ago

Someone else said it best. I don't think it was a Phil decision. It was most likely a Satya decision. I think Microsoft is done giving out free money to Xbox.

Cacabunga2d ago

people please boycott Activision Bethesda next release and support Hellblade.
these people mus understand that they cannot treat their fans and employees that way.
scumbags.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 2d ago
XiNatsuDragnel2d ago

Yikes you don't help Sarah 😬 making a problem worse

Christopher2d ago

She's playing her role. There's absolutely nothing any of them can say other than the truth, this is about profit margins and not quality, so they just don't answer anything and wait for gamers to forget.

shinoff21832d ago

I think news is coming of more ps5 release but they gotta be careful cause Xbox is still sitting on store shelves. They can't get left holding all that stock

Lightning772d ago

Come next month they'll flash nice looking games in our faces and expecting us to forget.

The only thing that'll be going through my mind at their showcase is how many of those studios will get shut down after release.

I'm not joking around either. MS probably expects every game to be like COD and do COD numbers. What a way to destroy gaming for the entire industry because they're dumb af at being realistic in what success means for each game.

-Foxtrot2d ago

Always feels she was brought in / promoted for this. Happened just before things started to be out in motion.

Phil and co have someone to throw under the bus and share the blame with

zaanan2d ago

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

darthv721d 22h ago

....won't get fooled again

Hofstaderman2d ago

Like a deer caught in the headlights.....

notachance2d ago

I always wondered why xbox had multiple leaders with similar titles like Phil Spencer, Matt Booty, and Sarah Bond, like, how many heads do you actually need?

Seems to me it would be more cost efficient to cut 2 of them instead of all those studios.

DarXyde2d ago

Frankly, I suspect she is the most competent of them. I don't mean that I like her more, I mean that she's the best at articulating herself and giving the talking points MS wants to give. The others are starting to sound more like her than her sounding like any of them.

Are any of these people "responsible" for what's happening? No. This reeks of Nadella. But that being said, I don't see any of the Xbox heads stepping down in protest.

"Don't shoot the messenger", sure, but at the same time, the messengers don't seem to take umbrage with the message. Not enough to remove themselves from it, anyway.

CS72d ago

I disagree. Nadella is looking for profit as a CEO should in my opinion.

The problem is Dr. Phil & Co. had 10 years to bring Xbox back on track and have been failing woefully.

Phil needs to sell to Nadella that if we are to make a profit, we need to make great games. And to do that we need employees here for the long haul and the freedom to work on creative projects.

But as Phil said himself he doesn’t believe great games sell consoles.

RpgSama2d ago

Dude, 100%, forgot Major Nelson and Aaron Greenberg, like what is the point for all these suits? They have more C-level executives than games released in a generation.

This is just so they can all pass along the hot potato one at a time and in between all of them can say a lot without actually saying anything, misinformation at its finest.

Show all comments (46)