When your game sells half a billion dollars’ worth of copies in five days, you might consider your job safe. But as the saying goes, “things are tough all over,” and apparently, even the rock stars of video gaming can’t rest on their laurels these days. On Monday, Activision axed both the president and CEO of developer Infinity Ward, the studio responsible for the 2009 blockbuster Modern Warfare 2.
G4 TV first dropped the story with a handful of unconfirmed details from an anonymous source, while the Facebook profiles of both president Jason West and CEO Vince Zampella later corroborated their respective firings. (“Jason West is drinking. Also, unemployed,” West’s profile status said.)
Details as to what actually transpired remain sparse, but a recent SEC filing from the same day notes that “The Company is concluding an internal human resources inquiry into breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward. This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation.”
Speculation remains rampant as to “breaches of contract and insubordination” West and Zampella were actually canned for, but the promise of “upcoming litigation” likely means we’ll know the details when legal papers fly.
