GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.

Kotick: Easy decision to fire Infinity Ward devs

Activision CEO Robert Kotick says taking action against Vince Zampella and Jason West was easy decision to make; no plans for Call of Duty movie.

Comments

Firing Infinity Ward top talent Jason West and Vince Zampella in 2010 was not a difficult decision for Activision CEO Robert Kotick to make. In a New York Times profile published this week, Kotick addressed the swift and severe action taken against the high-profile developers.

No Caption Provided

“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 said.

Activision's high-profile court case against West and Zampella, along with 40 other former Infinity Ward developers, was settled in May this year before it could be heard by a trial. Terms of the deal were not disclosed at the time and have not been since, though one analyst previously projected this figure to be in the tens of millions.

Elsewhere in the profile, it was revealed why the massively popular Call of Duty brand has not spawned a Hollywood adaptation. Kotick said game-to-film adaptations rarely work out and could in fact blemish the franchise. Hollywood studios have reached out to Activision, he said, though all requests thus far have been denied.

Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.
This video has an invalid file format.
00:00:00
Sorry, but you can't access this content!
Please enter your date of birth to view this video

By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's
Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

Join the conversation
There are no comments about this story