Activision Signs 10-Year Deal with Makers of Halo

In one of their smarter moves, Activision has signed a 10-year exclusive contract with Bungie, the developer of Halo (and other less noteworthy games). Having lost (both deliberately and then more as backlash) their main FPS talent at Infinity Ward, Activision was forced to scrabble for a new deal to keep their name in the adventure/FPS market. There are two interesting parts to this contract. First, in a blow to Microsoft, the deal is for cross-platform game development, so we can expect to see games on the PS3 and maybe also the Wii instead of just on XBox and Windows-based PCs. Second, the creation of an online community is part of the terms. Whether this just means continued support and updates for XBox Live play or a whole new paradigm of online FPS play (MMOFPS? World of Halo?), I am interested to see what a talented developer such as Bungie will come up with when partnered with Activision. Per Thomas Tippl, Activision's COO, "When it's ready and when we're talking about it, I think you will be blown away." I hope he's right for both gamers' and Activision's sakes.

26 Infinity Ward staffers leave; 2 join Respawn

Another update on the backlash from the West/Zampella sacking: since the lead Infinity Ward developers were fired by Activision, 26 other IW employees have voluntarily left, with 2 joining up with West and Zampella at Respawn (funded by EA). This is clearly terrible news for the Modern Warfare 2 dev team. I won't be surprised to see a steep decline in game quality for the next installment and/or a lack of continuity with the rest of the series.

Update: Sacked Infinity Ward Developers Sign with EA

Jason West and Vince Zampella, developers fired from Activision's Infinity Ward, have officially signed with EA, coming as no surprise based on the preceding events of the last month. They are creating a new company called Respawn Entertainment which will grant exclusive publishing rights to former employer EA. Infinity Ward is still wholly owned by Activision and the question of legal rights to the Modern Warfare brand will not be settled until July at the earliest. In the meantime, keep an eye out on the aptly-named newcomer Respawn; I am sure we can expect development to begin on a fantastic new FPS.

EA Places $1 Million Bounty on Infinity Ward Developer Recruitment

Rumors are circulating that EA is eager to get its hands back on head Infinity Ward developers, reportedly offering a recruitment bonus of $1 million to any EA employee who can lock one down. Remember, you heard it here on Ahead of the Games first. I previously predicted and continue to believe that Activision will lose the lawsuit posed by Vince Zampella and Jason West and therefore lose the rights to the Modern Warfare brand to the Infinity Ward developers. EA must agree with me, as in hiring the devs, they would gain not only their raw talent, but also the rights to the lucrative MW series. I will continue to update as events unfold.

Activision-Blizzard Restructures Management Teams; Change is Scary

Acti-Blizzard has undergone a full restructuring of its management team. There will be four units with different focuses: 1. Call of Duty; 2. Activision brands including Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero; 3. Blizzard; 4. licensed properties. This news follows the sacking of Infinity Ward developers Vince Zampella and Jason West; it comes as no surprise that some rearranging would need to occur. Without these visionaries, it is difficult to imagine that the future of the CoD series could live up to its past, but with an entire business unit focusing on its development, it is clear that Acti-Blizzard continues to place much value on the brand. Without legal closure on Zampella's and West's lawsuit to regain control of MW games, though, it strikes me as odd and early to enact such a major restructuring. Activision must be pretty confident that they can't lose this battle.

Activision vs. Infinity Ward Update

Looks like Infinity Ward is fighting back. The two lead developers who were let go, Vince Zampella and Jason West, are filing a lawsuit against Activision. It turns out that the royalties from Modern Warfare 2 were just about to kick in, making the timing of the devs' terminations suspiciously lucrative for Activision. In addition to attempting to gain some sort of compensation for their groundbreaking work, the devs are also trying to regain the rights to the Modern Warfare brand. If they are successful, and in my opinion they will be, so much for Treyarch; the co-developer has exclusivity with Activision and as such would no longer be able to participate in the development of CoD7.

Activision fires lead developer at Infinity Ward

Story at Kotaku

A lead developer at Infinity Ward, Jason West, has been fired by Activision for insubordination and breaches of contract. Vince Zampella, another lead dev, was also present in meetings with management and his status with the company is currently unknown. As respected as West is, I don't think it's a stretch to expect other IW developers to jump ship with them. I have two main questions at the moment:

1. Where will West and whoever follows him go? IW devs (then under 2015, Inc.) left EA in late 2003 for Activision in order to develop non-Medal of Honor titles. After the success of the Call of Duty series, I'd be willing to bet that EA is tripping over itself trying to recruit the IW boys back on their team.

2. What will this mean for future installments of the Call of Duty series? The brand is one of the strongest in the industry and they know it - note that Activision's new FPS Singularity, developed by Raven (exclusive contract with Activision), was delayed to June 2010 due to strong demand for CoD: MW2 despite solid hype and positive previews. Clearly they are maintaining focus on existing brand awareness and not so much on riskier new ventures. I wonder which way they will go to keep the series on top: keep CoD mainly at IW with presumably weaker developers, or shift more responsibility on to Treyarch (lesser dev of MW, known to be working on CoD 7)?