210°

Kotick on why firing West, Zampella was easy, turning down a CoD film

Joystiq: "Activision CEO Bobby Kotick settled a lawsuit with former employees Frank West and Vince Zampella, both now at EA, in May. Kotick fired West and Zampella in 2010, after learning they were going to bail on their contracts to join EA, Kotick said, and from there, his job was easy."

majiebeast4142d ago (Edited 4142d ago )

"Kotick said movies based on games rarely do well with fans and could blemish the Call of Duty brand."

I think every game after cod 4 already did that.

Godmars2904142d ago

Isn't that because in almost every case directors feel that they put their own stamp on things? Which basically means straying away from the source material. Then on top of that they try to appeal to the general public all but ignoring the fan base. Also there some inherit disrespect towards games as an entertainment and art medium.

Eyeco4141d ago (Edited 4141d ago )

Its also due to the fact that most directors are not gamers to begin with, whenever a director, or producer, actor, screenwriter are involved in movie adaption of a book, they would have read the book multiple times, and understood it granted there have been some horrible adaptions but thats a testament to how well the book was revised.

When it comes to Videogames however, these guys don't play games, let alone the game they were given to adapt, I mean look at the SMB movie or Resident Evil it's clear the director and writer never played the games, thats why Video game movies always suck a$$ they completely miss the point.

MikeMyers4141d ago

Bobby Kotick; "You find out two executives are planning to break their contracts, keep the money you gave them and steal 40 employees. What do you do? You fire them,"

If only it were that easy.

It's called trying to work with talented people and not smother them or their creativity. It's not all about the dollar. They probably got sick of working within a bubble of just pumping out Call of Duty games on an annual basis. They also probably tried to convince those 40 employees there is life outside of Call of Duty. That's not stealing, that's being rational and acting like someone who got into the craft for the enjoyment and the challenge. Kotick just wants the company to keep making money by milking a popular franchise.

So what you need to do is work 'with' the people you have. You'll get far more production out of happy employees than shoving a contract in the face on daily basis and saying sorry, that's just the way it is.

Egos need to get out of the way. How about running a company that is based on staying profitable but also having a good relationship with its customers? One that respects each other.

blackbeld4141d ago

Yep, cod4 is still the best. Played last knight and still enjoy it. MW 2 & 3 are milks and BO's are terrible milky ways

Welshy4141d ago

OR! Just maybe they weren't impressed by the direction the franchise was being taken by Activision, wanted to leave and you realised that you were gonna have to pay them off a healthy sum for creating your biggest selling title Mr Kotick? Or perhaps they were still quite happy, but it dawned on you that you actually had to PAY them for their efforts on your companies game?

Nah, can't be that, you're just an average good guy who wants to honourably protect his companies assets /s

2pacalypsenow4141d ago

mw2 was good not as good as cod but after mw2 it ruined it

rpd1234141d ago

Eh, I like World at War and MW2.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4141d ago
GraveLord4142d ago (Edited 4142d ago )

"You find out two executives are planning to break their contracts, keep the money you gave them and steal 40 employees. What do you do? You fire them," Kotick told The New York Times

Anyone would do the same thing....if you say you wouldn't then you're just blinded by your Call of Duty hate.

Glad they didn't do a Call of Duty film. It would have been horrible.

modesign4141d ago

you instantly lose a court case if you fire them solely on the company violating the terms of the contract, if Acti had proof of what west/zambella were doing, use that evidence AFTER the contract is up to sue them individually.

fei-hung4141d ago

I think you need to read this first before jumping to a conclusion.

http://www.gameinformer.com...

Jinkies4142d ago

He looks like a squashed up sausage roll

Hufandpuf4142d ago

I was playing COD4 last night, and I am amazed at how it looks so close to war. It makes the later games look like Saturday morning cartoons.

Can't wait to see what Weat and Zampella have in store for us at EA.

Chard4141d ago

This. We should see what they've been up too early next year.

rickybadman4141d ago

Fuck Kotick. If COD was a prostitute, Kotick turned it from a $10000 a night escort into a 100/hr hooker. Five, five fully staffed studios are working on COD games right now. SMH

As much joy as the franchise has brought me, can't wait until the COD bubble burst.

pandehz4141d ago

Where do i find these 100/hr hookers?

Show all comments (27)
200°

Players claim Fortnite ruined Call of Duty by letting in more corporate greed

Do you remember what gaming was like before Fortnite entered the gaming space? One of the biggest arguments was about loot boxes. Now we have conversations about crossovers, battle passes, and community outreach.

Read Full Story >>
gamesandwich.com
GoodGuy092d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Idk. Loot boxes did disappear and battle passes and in game purchases are all cosmetic. We get free weapons and maps post launch, any gameplay affecting content. I could care less about all the cosmetics.
I absolutely hated the days where weapons were locked behind a less than 1% chance lootbox pull where it'd take 5+ hours to have enough tokens to do a single pull and lazy remastered/remake maps cost you $15 each wave or $50 for the season pass that you didn't know what you'd get and these maps were only available to those that bought it so you get a smaller pool of players match with.

Tacoboto23h ago

The "good ole days" are actually what drove me away from COD and Halo 3/Reach. Halo 4 becoming a COD-like drove me away from that only a week or so after it launched and I beat its campaign.

It sucked way back then, going a month or two without playing online-shooter-of-the-moment, and then needing to buy a $15 map pack to play with the majority of the population or your favorite playlist. The "community" rejecting Spartan Points in MCC killed that game's support, too. No revenue = no support, plain and simple.

Cacabunga15h ago

That headline could easily be something Spencer could have said 😅 I had to check if it was really an opinion piece

KyRo14h ago

As times gone on, the COD battle pass has got ALOT worse so they can push people to buy the more premium battle pass which itself is a huge rip off and nearly half the price of the base game.

The cosmetics can be fine but they've taken it to far to the point of no return. Why make a military themed game then have rabbits, dinosaurs, cats, rats & z list rappers as skins? You wouldn't add a Lamborghini to a fantasy RPG to replace a horse and you would never see Mario have limb dismemberment because they know what they are. COD is having identity crisis but kids and streamer but then all

franwex1d ago (Edited 1d ago )

Call of duty can simply not copy the bad aspects of Fortnite? Or is that too out of this world? Like COD, a realistic shooter-just HAD to have Nicki Minaj running around? Or super heroes?

Inverno22h ago(Edited 22h ago)

Exactly! Trends don't all need to be followed. Plus where Fortnite got somewhat better with it's monetization, Acti got worse. Or at least Fortnite has lended itself more to the wacky stuff, and has put more effort and quality into that stuff.

jjb198123h ago

I prefer the battle passes with free maps than the $50 season pass that divided the community. I definitely feel that Fortnite had some influence on CoD having loot boxes with Blackout being introduced in 2018 with Black Ops 4.

PRIMORDUS22h ago(Edited 22h ago)

Actually Fortnite bullshit ruined Unreal Tournament. Epic are sellouts and I will never have that shitty store on my PC, fuck them and that shit bag Tim Sweeney. At least the community keeps the games alive, I still play UT2004.

StoneTitan11h ago

I mean cant really blame them for supporting the game that made them the most money and the most people player...ever?

Psychonaut8522h ago

Call of Duty ruined Call of Duty. They needed no outside assistance.

Ra30303h ago

100% correct! The makers of Call of Duty ran out of ideas long, long ago so they take ideas from other games like Ghost Recon, Fortnite and any other FPS game hat had success hell CoD remasters maps that they've remastered several times already then charge you again for it. Call of Duty is simply a cut, copy and paste and then put the $70 price on it every year. Activision and now Microsoft has been essentially remastering Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare every year since it was released in 2007 its to the point it's worse than the sports game like the Madden, NBA and others yearly sports franchises.
@Psychonaut85 is spot on "Call of Duty ruined Call of Duty. They needed no outside assistance"!

Show all comments (24)
100°

Massive new COD Black Ops Gulf War leak lifts the lid on loadouts

The Black Ops Gulf War leaks continue with a list of weapon descriptions giving more info on what you can expect from new and returning weapons.

Read Full Story >>
theloadout.com
80°

Call of Duty Players Disappointed by $80 B.E.A.S.T. Glove Bundle Deal

Recently, players of Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone were met with a new bundle featuring the B.E.A.S.T. Glove, inspired by King Kong's armament in the Godzilla x Kong movie. However, the $80 price tag attached to this themed accessory left many Call of Duty fans feeling underwhelmed.

Read Full Story >>
xpgained.co.uk
Kaii8d ago

Morons that allow themselves to be milked continuously by this company is the definition of irony.
Spend more $$ and you'll end up In easier lobbies so you win both ways when ya spend that cash

melons8d ago

Controversy in the COD community feels like it happens within an alternate timeline. Activision will take the piss with something, there will be a momentary fuss about it, and then they will forget about it and carry on anyway. Repeat this cycle literally every year for the rest of time.

Gridknac8d ago

They call that a crack head! Thats what this is really about, its an addiction. People who dont smoke cigarettes look and laugh at the addicts that spend $8-$10 a pack, but they cant help themselves, they are addicted. That same analogy applies perfectly to the whole MT industry. Only an addict that was not thinking clearly would spend this kind of money on something so frivolous. A round of multiplayer provides the same high a person gets from scratching a lotto ticket, or putting money on a sports bet. MT in general need to really be regulated because you have a generation of kids becoming adults who grew up only knowing the MT era of gaming. Its normal to them and they will in turn teach their kids the same by just being a gaming parent and getting their kids involved with them in gaming. Thats why no matter how ridiculous the headlines keep getting out of the MT industry, it never seems to fade or go away.

X-236d ago

I'm so tired of hearing about what they're doing with this game, its never going to change and it's never going to value the consumer over money, furthermore the people who engage so heavily in the microtransactions I guess allegedly are having a blast and can't wait to do it some more this year when the new version of the game drops.