Home Gaming Activision Explains Infinity Ward Head Sackings. Or Doesn’t.

Activision Explains Infinity Ward Head Sackings. Or Doesn’t.

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Kotick

It’s the result of compromised friendship, says the guy every gamer loves to hate. In a recent investor call, Bobby Kotick, the affable CEO of Activision who’s shown gamers just how much he genuinely cares for the people that have made him a multi-squintillionaire, has attempted to explain his side of the story.

Only he hasn’t really explained much at all. What he hasn’t done is explain what exactly Jason West and Frank Zampella actually did. It’s really about time we knew.

He’s also tried to allay investor fears, affirming that Infinity Ward is still a thing, and that it’ll continue to churn out Call of Duty games. Hooray! Kotick’s full statement after the jump.

Since we terminated the two executives at Infinity Ward, approximately 35 others have resigned and it is likely that a few more people will leave, as well. Many of these people have been recruited by other studios because of how talented they are. We are obviously disappointed about this and we wish we could have convinced some of these incredibly talented people to stay.

The decision to terminate the two Infinity Ward executives was not done lightly. It was not done to deprive them of their bonuses, nor was it done without a great deal of deliberation about the consequences.

The background leading up to our decision to separate the two former Infinity Ward executives for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty is outlined in our cross complaint that we filed in April, which I’m sure many of you have read.

Against this background, we felt we had no choice but to terminate the two Infinity Ward executives. We did this to protect the company’s assets and the interests of our shareholders. I personally considered the two of them friends and their conduct was a compromise of our friendship, which was equally disappointing. Once we began to understand what had occurred, there was no gray area. There was nothing that would have allowed us to retain their services, as talented as they might have been.

This is an example of our commitment to pursuing the difficult right, rather than the easier wrong. Our actions were firmly rooted in our longstanding values of integrity and an expectation that our employees, who signed and acknowledge our code of conduct, will behave with the highest ethical standards.

We have a great team in place at Infinity Ward, which continues to work on downloadable content and the studio’s next unannounced project. We continue to support the culture of excellence that has defined Infinity Ward and we’re already strengthening the studio with additional talent and financial resources.

source : Kotaku

Last Updated: May 7, 2010

4 Comments

  1. Bobby Kotick is in tears

    May 7, 2010 at 15:50

    *As taken from the personal journal of Robert :heart: Kotick aged: Unknown*

    Dear Diary,

    I don’t know what to say. I considered Jason and Frank to be my friends. In fact we were more than friends. We were inseparable. I even allowed them to fly on Air Kotick to some godless impoverished hell hole in Africa. Frank and Jason shared my hobby of making fun of the impoverished locals. It was almost as if they were cloned versions of me.

    Oh Frank… I miss you more. The way you dangled that burger in front of that starving man, made me love you even more.

    It breaks my heart diary. I really loved them. We even spent a whole weekend in our hotel room, the very essence of a ménage à trois.

    But.. Diary, they became greedy and cheated on me, and I, Robert Kotick can be a jealous bitch! *snaps his fingers*

    XXX
    At least I have Bungie… and THEY WILL LOVE ME!!

    Reply

  2. darthdad

    May 7, 2010 at 19:20

    Something moved for me too! :silly:

    Reply

  3. AlKi

    May 8, 2010 at 17:29

    that guy looks like somebody out of a disney movie!!!

    Reply

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