Infinity Ward Says Activision Created 'Police State'
It doesn't sound like those developers were having much fun at work.
Although we haven't heard much about it in the headlines recently, the saga continues between the ex-Infinity Ward group and Activision.
According to new documents obtained by Kotaku, the Modern Warfare 2 team claim that they were subjected to "police state" atmosphere. The suit alleges that Activision forced members of Infinity Ward into secret interrogations and the publisher also posted security to man the office exits.
The story supposedly goes that Activision paid only 40 percent of the Modern Warfare 2 bonus money to the team, and withheld the remaining until the team would agree to develop, produce and publish Modern Warfare 3 by November 2011.
Former Infinity Ward leaders West and Zampella in March met with Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, who allegedly agreed to pay out the rest of the bonus at the end of the month, but the money never happened.
A group of Infinity Ward employees also called for a meeting in April with Activision CFO Thomas Tippl, who when asked for payment of the bonus, responded to the workers with, "Get over it."
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That's what happens when you sell your soul to the devil.
So glad i have not purchased that game. Now i sure as hell wont. How dare they treat not only their consumers but their own employees the way they have. Surely a lawsuit is in the VERY near future.
Never understood why people think abuse of staff is ok.
It never gets the best out of people.
last time i got **** like that directed at me was in the military and i knocked my sargent out.
same **** would happen if i worked there. trust me or i walk respected me or i knock your teeth out...... its that simple
*Post edited by moderator* Cool it on the language.
The CFO's comment is entirely believable. I hope it comes back to bite him HARD.
Hopefully the Sergeant bet the crap out you too before throwing your sorry ass into the stockade.
This seems to be the norm anymore for game developers. We've heard stories time and time again. Multiple companies...and pretending to be Foxconn.
I think game developers should form a union?
I love how EA has almost completely eliminated its reputation of being the giant evil game company, while Activision seems intent on making it their trademark as of late.
Can't believe someone like Bobby Kotick is still in charge of such a huge game company; what a disaster for people who enjoy the hobby.
People who have/deserve respect earn it, they don't demand it. Poeple who try to demand respect never get it and always look like a fool. If you were in the Mob you'd get your cement shoes for trying to be a big shot.
And now because they treated them badly, they have real competition. The best thing ex infinity ward employees can do is make a cod killer, and release it soon.
And now because they treated them badly, they have real competition. The best thing ex infinity ward employees can do is make a cod killer, and release it soon.
Agree, but then lawsuits will fly once more.
It almost sounds unreal that it's hard to believe. But it's not that hard if Activision is involved.
Activision is the latest entry on my blacklist. I was reserving judgment until all the facts were in, but this is just too damning on their part.
If this is true, I can now completely say that I will NEVER buy another activision game. Assuming that these accuasations are accurate, I hope that the IW staff sues the pants off of Activision. After all the profits that THEY made for the company, they sure deserve their bonuses!
Sounds like Vivendi needs to step in and clean house on the Activision-Blizzard board since they're the principle owners of the company.
Good, now I'm not buying Black ops. Activision has done enough. There's nothing they can do to resent. It's up to us. We have to stop buying games from Activision.
This is such a disappointment... MW2 is a great game. Now it lacks the support from the people who made it great.. This is bad for all parties involved (mostly the consumer in my opinion). I happen to love this game. I use ATI's eyefinity technology to get a huge FOV in game. Its awesome. Check out my knife throwing montage here:
www.youtube.com/delanoche21
P.S. montage is using eyefinity (three 23inch Monitors)
Good to Know this is a good one to pirate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good, now I'm not buying Black ops. Activision has done enough. There's nothing they can do to resent. It's up to us. We have to stop buying games from Activision.
I'm fairly sure that the Black Ops will do poorly. The Call of Duty games coming from the Treyarch camp are all of (in my opinion) significantly lesser quality for the CoD games coming from Infinity Ward.
BUT, then again, most people don't even know the CoD games have two different developers, nor do they care, so Black Ops might sell well just because of the "Call of Duty" name and the rep that Modern Warfare 2 achieved (at least in the console market).
Anyway, I do think that if any game can beat Black Ops, it will be Medal of Honor. We'll see.
The crew let their unhappiness be known at nothing less than the E3 press event stage demonstration. Look what the lead multiplayer designer names the clasees he creates as he demonstrates on the big screen: Skepticism, Pessimism, Fear.
You can see this in the last few seconds of the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cWSNhWixuE
Never understood why people think abuse of staff is ok.It never gets the best out of people.
that's why you abuse them after a work well done.
The employees who walked early on instead of holding out for the bonus can at least retain some pride and dignity.
This sounds a bit over the top to me. Sounds like the German Gaustaupl. But call centers I worked at had similar atmosphere. So, I cause it is plausible.
This sounds just like some corporate executives I've known. They don't care about longevity, they just want immediate results.
These are the type of guys who would rather clearcut the entire pacific NW in order to make numbers instead of farming the forests properly, planting new trees in place of old ones and creating a sustainable situation.
In other words, they'd rather make $500 now than $5000 over the next 6 months. They're stupid enough to kill their revenue stream just for immediate numbers.
guys like this don't deserve jobs. They deserve to be booted out on the street.
I think you mean GESTAPO
It's really a small percentage of gamers that actually care how these gaming companies treat their employees. Passionate gamers(gaming is their primary hobby) care, but we're not the target demographic anyway.
When it comes to the video game industry, Bobby Kotick is the devil. From a PR and reputation standpoint, he's the worst thing that could ever happen to a development studio. From a business perspective though, this man is pure gold.
In the end it is not the consumer who decides the direction of a company, it's the shareholders. We'd do well to remember that.
that's why you abuse them after a work well done. The employees who walked early on instead of holding out for the bonus can at least retain some pride and dignity.
If it was contractual then that would be fine, but the way its being described its like the Gestapo and the Cultural Revolution of China had a baby...
I learn something new everyday: It takes a fascist organization to make a game about an fascist organization.
I'm fairly sure that the Black Ops will do poorly. The Call of Duty games coming from the Treyarch camp are all of (in my opinion) significantly lesser quality for the CoD games coming from Infinity Ward.BUT, then again, most people don't even know the CoD games have two different developers, nor do they care, so Black Ops might sell well just because of the "Call of Duty" name and the rep that Modern Warfare 2 achieved (at least in the console market).Anyway, I do think that if any game can beat Black Ops, it will be Medal of Honor. We'll see.
I thought BFBC2 already beat it? Funner to me at least. But BF2 was still the best...
This sounds just like some corporate executives I've known. They don't care about longevity, they just want immediate results. These are the type of guys who would rather clearcut the entire pacific NW in order to make numbers instead of farming the forests properly, planting new trees in place of old ones and creating a sustainable situation. In other words, they'd rather make $500 now than $5000 over the next 6 months. They're stupid enough to kill their revenue stream just for immediate numbers.guys like this don't deserve jobs. They deserve to be booted out on the street.
My boss' boss should be booted with you as the immediate replacement. With the kind of 'investing' they do, it's no wonder we nearly went bankrupt last year.
Sounds like Vivendi needs to step in and clean house on the Activision-Blizzard board since they're the principle owners of the company.
I thought Activision also owned Blizzard? I know they "merged" but I was always under the impression Activision got the bigger piece of pie there.