Guriamo, how long have you been working in the industry, and how many AAA titles of the scope of MW2 have you worked on?
2 years for a game like MW2 is incredibly aggressive, especially if that includes all R&D and design ramp up, and if all content creation was done in house.
I don't understand why you're giving Activision the benefit of the doubt. Publishers pull shady shit and screw over developers far more often than developers act in an unfair manner. Unlike the publishers, who are just businessmen out for a buck, developers are skilled labor looking to produce a product (artists, designers, coders), and have much less reason to screw a publisher, than vice versa.
And like Ferg cited earlier, the Activision guy responsible for this decision has pretty much established himself as a douchebag with no regard for the developers.
hi, i'm guriamo, despite the fact that I said many times that we don't have enough evidence to know who is right and who is wrong, I will vehemently defend activision to my dying breath.
What are you, their official spokesperson?
(in the end I don't really care about either side. Neither are the "little guys.")
Guriamo, how long have you been working in the industry, and how many AAA titles of the scope of MW2 have you worked on?
2 years for a game like MW2 is incredibly aggressive, especially if that includes all R&D and design ramp up, and if all content creation was done in house.
to answqer that, about 6 years with 3 AAA (hate that term) titles worked on... well the scope of MW is hard to reach but the budgets were similar
of coure you have to consider team size, pre production phase, outsourcing, etc... i assumed 2 years of full production & polish phase , plus pre production while MW1 was still in development (which would be the normal case) if it was 2 years with pre production, production, polish all together with no outsourcing and a small team then i would too call that agressive
i dont want to defent anything.... i m just looking at it from a different perspective... If atvi did just try to screw them then flame on, but its just that there surely is more behind that.... as i said, if you would explain to me why they would try to kick out the head of their best performing studio that would make them billions more just to save a bit of royalties....
and i m with you all that looking for another job while employes is nothing bad, why should it..
i give them the benefit of a doubt because the world just isnt black & white...
well, i dont know where you re working, but 2 years is quite a normal dev cycle for an established IP & tech ... depends if the 2 years includes pre production or not...if not, then it can get hard considering the standart of quality & polish....
still, its not unusual for any publisher to force a 2 years cycle on a product
Again, I'm not giving you my opinion. I'm directly quoting from a legal brief, filed by the Infinity Ward CCO and CTO. I didn't work on the game, and so I have no idea what pressures the team was under.
For what it's worth, the wikipedia entry for the game says they developed a new iteration of the engine for MW2, "which is claimed to be a generation beyond the capabilities of the engine used in Call of Duty 4." More importantly, Infinity Ward's guys didn't sign their contract until March 31, 2008, and it was only then that the team began work on MW2. That means they produced the game in 1 year, 8 months - significantly faster than a 2 year cycle. I expect if we put a poll up here at Polycount and asked if producing a game like Modern Warfare 2 in 20 months was 'aggressive', the answer would overwhelmingly be yes.
Im jumping on the band wagon a little late, but are there not laws that protect unfair treatment of employees, working hours, number of holidays, unfair dismissal etc
This kind of treatment woudn't happen in other professions, not so blatantly anyway, so why is it tolerated or seem to be the norm for games industry? Anyone is willing to work hard for what they love of course, but theres a limit.
Just read now what has been going on with the leads at IW and Activision. It sucks alot that this just happened, and now CoD is going to be milked real bad like a golden cow. Id imagine the "bouncers" were to make sure the co-founders fired from IW wouldn't take a stroll down to the office which is ofcourse dumb, considering they may have personal belongings to pick up. Anyways, sadly, it is the price you pay when you make a deal with a multi-billion dollar corporation. Its something to be considered carefully and I have no doubt that they did initially. Its like being between 2 knifes. Go it alone and risk losing out becuase of the economy, or join a publisher where you just might lose your creative property. Corps are like vampires, they suck you dry then leave you to rot or they use you as a toy for a pre-determined time.
Im jumping on the band wagon a little late, but are there not laws that protect unfair treatment of employees, working hours, number of holidays, unfair dismissal etc
Im jumping on the band wagon a little late, but are there not laws that protect unfair treatment of employees, working hours, number of holidays, unfair dismissal etc
This kind of treatment woudn't happen in other professions, not so blatantly anyway, so why is it tolerated or seem to be the norm for games industry? Anyone is willing to work hard for what they love of course, but theres a limit.
I don't see them taking it laying down. We'll have to wait and see how it all plays out. I suspect that someones crack team of lawyers was pretty crafty when drawing up the contracts, but then again it wouldn't be the first time someone with a few bills in his wallet thought he was above the law.
One major concern I have right now, is all this anti-activision clout and people saying they will never buy anther activision game ever again. People you are mostly hurting the developer that is just doing its best to make a great game. Developers that may be owned by Activision but are not involved with all this crazy stuff going on. All I ask is you think about your fellow polycounters who just want to make great games and keep there jobs.
Yes. Because writing angry notes has a large effect. Or worse group notes.
"Dear Bobby. We hate your business practices, but we are going to buy the game even so."
Bobby laughs, checks his latest stock portfolio and throws the note away.
I support them greatly, but really. How much does Amnesty International have with getting policy changes in countries if all they do is just point out whats wrong? The countries just say they are lies and keep doing what they are doing.
Look. If your going to go on about how fellow game artists jobs are at stake. Then give something. Some way to fight this abuse. Other than each and everyone one of us becoming indie developers and not getting suckered into selling out to a publisher.
I just read some of the court docu posted at ign....soooooo basically they say Activision fired them to get out of paying them royalties based on the last game. Thats pretty freakin shitty if thats what happened.
If they fire them, surely they still owe them royalties? How could firing them get out of that?
For example, say a music producer decides to ditch a certain musician from the label, for whatever reason (insubordination lol) - if the singer/songwriter wrote the songs for any given album/song, they are owed the royalties, whether they are still signed to the label or not.
Well you don't have to if you specify that they were going behind the publisher's back on matters. At that point they forfeit any bonuses/royalties/severance/etc.
Basically they don't owe you a thing. I'm siding with the IW guys here, what Activision is doing reminds me of some sort of militaristic state, where anything you say and do is watched. Not cool at all.
Well you don't have to if you specify that they were going behind the publisher's back on matters. At that point they forfeit any bonuses/royalties/severance/etc.
Basically they don't owe you a thing. I'm siding with the IW guys here, what Activision is doing reminds me of some sort of militaristic state, where anything you say and do is watched. Not cool at all.
If thats true and its acceptable, then you have one crazy country. Its not like insurance where they can look for any excuse not to pay, it shouldnt be.
If you do the work and have completed the work then you should get all payment that was agreed before you started the work. No matter what you did. Nothing you do, should impact that, except the completion of the work. If someone can look for any excuse to default on payment not to do with the work, then whats the point in doing the work?
If they signed a contract which said if they do this other thing unrelated to work, they lose any rights to payment, then they are idiots.
About the only things, I think which they could legitimately default on payment is if you break the law(probably not even then), and thats the laws of the country, not the law of the company, or did something wrong in the completion of the work(cheated somehow, stole/reused assets, faked half a game or something).
If they fire them, surely they still owe them royalties? How could firing them get out of that?
For example, say a music producer decides to ditch a certain musician from the label, for whatever reason (insubordination lol) - if the singer/songwriter wrote the songs for any given album/song, they are owed the royalties, whether they are still signed to the label or not.
I believe they're going for a breach of contract. Odds are the royalty agreement is in the contract. If there is a breach of the Contract from one party, the other party does not have to hold up their contractual obligations.
*Been a few years since I had a law class so my memory is fuzzy. Not to mention I am going of Canadian laws which can be different from various US and State laws
Can't help but think that Activision just tried to weasel their way out of parting with some cash on this. It seems that publishers have only money on their minds. Everything else is secondary. The problem with business in America. But that's another tangent on it's own. I do wonder if the facts will come out on this or not.
I believe they're going for a breach of contract. Odds are the royalty agreement is in the contract. If there is a breach of the Contract from one party, the other party does not have to hold up their contractual obligations.
*Been a few years since I had a law class so my memory is fuzzy. Not to mention I am going of Canadian laws which can be different from various US and State laws
Thanks for the info.
That's completely insane.
If this is all true, that Activision basically don't plan on paying them royalties, and that's what all this is about - then for one it's sick. I mean fuck, AV might have put up the money, but the sheer work and creativity all came from IW, it's their product.
What amazes me is (assuming this is true etc) the sheer audacity of Activision to unleash a high profile skanking of the popular MW developer.
People are going to hate Activision for this, it seems like a retarded and short sighted "business" decision.
The irony is they've chucked, converting hours into pounds, the best developers on the planet.
If they had 1 quarter of a brain they would have done all they could to keep these cash making monkeys, happy and on side.
Logically, that's what one would assume isn't it?
Seems obvious to me, I would have thought a dev like IW would and should get treated like royalty by a publisher, just like a rock star bringing in shit loads of £££ would get treated as such by their record label.
I think that's what I find most surprising about it to be honest. Treating them like they're just some scrubs.
Seems obvious to me, I would have thought a dev like IW would and should get treated like royalty by a publisher, just like a rock star bringing in shit loads of £££ would get treated as such by their record label.
I think that's what I find most surprising about it to be honest. Treating them like they're just some scrubs.
It is because the publisher believes the power is in the brand, and that they've powered it up enough to just send it to a hundred places to make a hundred new things out of that powered up brand.
while fans know of rockstars, they most certainly do not know of developers, I mean, when people think diablo2, they think blizzard, but they're still a bit off there, their lead singers of diablo2 moved on.
It is because the publisher believes the power is in the brand, and that they've powered it up enough to just send it to a hundred places to make a hundred new things out of that powered up brand.
while fans know of rockstars, they most certainly do not know of developers, I mean, when people think diablo2, they think blizzard, but they're still a bit off there, their lead singers of diablo2 moved on.
Problem being is that it's not a recipe like for Cheerios cereal they can be assured to follow now that the original chefs are gone. One or possibly two versions might milk some more cash, but without the surefire developers (if it was them making the secret sauce) it won't be making a billion dollars again.
It is because the publisher believes the power is in the brand, and that they've powered it up enough to just send it to a hundred places to make a hundred new things out of that powered up brand.
while fans know of rockstars, they most certainly do not know of developers, I mean, when people think diablo2, they think blizzard, but they're still a bit off there, their lead singers of diablo2 moved on.
I dont blame the developers really, if you could avoid being famous wouldnt you?
Sources tell Kotaku that Modern Warfare publisher Activision is delaying paying Infinity Ward employees their royalties. Every employee who worked on Modern Warfare 2 is apparently in for royalties. Traditionally, Infinity Ward has paid staff regular or even "low" salaries, sources tell Kotaku, but offer ridiculous royalties to compensate.
Delaying royalties so your development staffs sticks around? Low.
And this just happens to happen the night that BFBC2 comes out? Not to mention that they are releasing DLC info soon, and the fact that this whole situation sounds very very fishy. My gut says "Publicity stunt"
It seems odd that Activision can get away with this sort of nonsense...One would think that royalties would be owed no matter if an individual continued working for them or not.
When a band leaves a record label they dont suddenly forgo all royalties for work done previously.
Is this even legal?
metalliandy, I don't think they (Activision) care much. Seems to me that you have zero protection in America but what do I know. Never worked there. (GODDAMN YOU AMERICA!)
Wouldn't surprise me if theres a little note in their contracts saying... "We can do whatever we want with you bitch."
while fans know of rockstars, they most certainly do not know of developers, I mean, when people think diablo2, they think blizzard, but they're still a bit off there, their lead singers of diablo2 moved on.
That's the reason why project leaders should push to get their names printed on the box and try to get better publicity; something like this would never happen to Kojima, Carmack, Newell, Miyamoto, Meier or Wright. Ignore the fact that they are considered to be gurus in their areas; they are recognizable by the audience and inseparable from the brands they have created. This makes the publishers much more reluctant to meddle with their business.
But when a game is associated with something as ambiguous as a name of a development studio, publishers are free to treat their workers as shit. As long as they own that name, they can fire the whole team and replace it with a bunch of talentless hacks. If this had happened to IW, most of Modern Warfares fans wouldnt even notice.
I truly wish that more game developers were trying to maintain a much closer relationship with their customers; this would benefit not only their careers, but their creative freedom as well.
It seems odd that Activision can get away with this sort of nonsense...One would think that royalties would be owed no matter if an individual continued working for them or not.
When a band leaves a record label they dont suddenly forgo all royalties for work done previously.
Is this even legal?
I said the same thing a few days ago, making the exact same analogy.
metalliandy, I don't think they (Activision) care much. Seems to me that you have zero protection in America but what do I know. Never worked there. (GODDAMN YOU AMERICA!)
Wouldn't surprise me if theres a little note in their contracts saying... "We can do whatever we want with you bitch."
Yea :S
I think generally Europeans have a great deal more protection in matters such as working regulations and things of that nature
I dont think that Activision would get away with something like this over here as it seems that the European Commission enjoy handing out huge fines to large corporations like its free cake day.
I really hope that America catches up soon in that regard.
As a former recruiter in the video game industry (as well as a tester, localization editor, and an Assistant Producer), I can tell you this: California Labor Code states that if an employee is fired or quits, the employer has 72 hours to pay the employee IN FULL everything that the employee is owed by the employer. That includes cashing out unpaid PTO, commissions, royalties, etc. The only exception to this LAW is for cumulative compensation that cannot be calculated.
This would be royalties or commissions for the current month, for instance. So, if somebody was fired on, say March 15th, and royalties are not calculated until the last day of the month, then the royalties for March would have to be paid by the end of August 3rd (72 hours after the end of the royalty period). IW employees, I hope you are reading this. If you don't want to take my word for it, call the CA Lobor Board or look it up online (I encourage you to do so).
Here's the best part: for every day that the employer is late in paying due compensation, the employee will be awarded one full days pay in penalties. My advice to the IW PoWs: Do some fact checking on what I have told you here. If you do not want to stay, then leave. If Activision does not pay you within 72 hours, wait as long as you can afford to and then file a grievence with the CA Labor Commission.
The reason I say wait is because the day you file, the daily penalties stop accumulating. Do remember this, there is a backlog, so no action will be taken on your case for 4-6 weeks (last that I heard). As a recruiter in the game industry, I always championed my consultants, whether they were testers making $11/hour or server managers making $50/hr. That led to me getting fired by one staffing agency. I'm rooting for everybody that has been wronged by Activision - including some of my friends at IW.
Do they really want to shoot themselves in the foot... I mean... The map pack is 1200 points... and contains 3 new maps and 2 we already own... What the FRIDGE?
That's the reason why project leaders should push to get their names printed on the box and try to get better publicity; something like this would never happen to Kojima, Carmack, Newell, Miyamoto, Meier or Wright.
You forgot to mention Richard Garriot, a publisher would be mad to force someone as recognizable as Lord British into signing a bogus resignation letter.
Their just going to make more competition for themselves!. IWs former/soon to be former devs should go knocking on EAs door or do what Chris Taylor did when he created Supreme Commander but was't allowed to call in Total Anihilation. Then go and make Modern Warfare 2 the way they wanted to - or a new IP all together.
You forgot to mention Richard Garriot, a publisher would be mad to force someone as recognizable as Lord British into signing a bogus resignation letter.
As mad as their decision was, the case of Richard Garriot was more of an exception to that rule. If I recall correctly, I've read that there was a big animosity going on between him and the upper management long before his departure; though to be honest the whole thing was rather ugly.
Obviously, I did not mean that being recognizable can fully protect you from being used as a corporate pawn, but in the worst case scenario it increases your chances when fighting back. Public opinion can be a powerful weapon and being recognizable makes starting a new much easier. Garriot himself got a decent amount of coverage after this mess (not that he wasnt recognizable already) and his new company seems to be doing fine.
Both Zampella and West shouldn't have any problems with finding a new position after this scandal. Though it might sound harsh, I think that once everything settles down they might actually benefit from the situation they have been put in; many people heard of their names and now associate them with Modern Warfare franchise.
As mad as their decision was, the case of Richard Garriot was more of an exception to that rule.
From what I heard the only exception was the fact that Richard Garriot went public with it. It's usually easy to keep these things quiet when everyone who knows the truth are contractually required not to say anything about it.
From what I heard the only exception was the fact that Richard Garriot went public with it. It's usually easy to keep these things quiet when everyone who knows the truth are contractually required not to say anything about it.
That's a good point, it's hard to estimate how many people are keeping things like this to themselves. However, Garriot probably wouldn't go public if he hadn't have this level of popularity; someone less recognizable would face rather grim consequences after spilling the beans.
Replies
2 years for a game like MW2 is incredibly aggressive, especially if that includes all R&D and design ramp up, and if all content creation was done in house.
I don't understand why you're giving Activision the benefit of the doubt. Publishers pull shady shit and screw over developers far more often than developers act in an unfair manner. Unlike the publishers, who are just businessmen out for a buck, developers are skilled labor looking to produce a product (artists, designers, coders), and have much less reason to screw a publisher, than vice versa.
And like Ferg cited earlier, the Activision guy responsible for this decision has pretty much established himself as a douchebag with no regard for the developers.
What are you, their official spokesperson?
(in the end I don't really care about either side. Neither are the "little guys.")
to answqer that, about 6 years with 3 AAA (hate that term) titles worked on... well the scope of MW is hard to reach but the budgets were similar
of coure you have to consider team size, pre production phase, outsourcing, etc... i assumed 2 years of full production & polish phase , plus pre production while MW1 was still in development (which would be the normal case) if it was 2 years with pre production, production, polish all together with no outsourcing and a small team then i would too call that agressive
i dont want to defent anything.... i m just looking at it from a different perspective... If atvi did just try to screw them then flame on, but its just that there surely is more behind that.... as i said, if you would explain to me why they would try to kick out the head of their best performing studio that would make them billions more just to save a bit of royalties....
and i m with you all that looking for another job while employes is nothing bad, why should it..
i give them the benefit of a doubt because the world just isnt black & white...
Again, I'm not giving you my opinion. I'm directly quoting from a legal brief, filed by the Infinity Ward CCO and CTO. I didn't work on the game, and so I have no idea what pressures the team was under.
For what it's worth, the wikipedia entry for the game says they developed a new iteration of the engine for MW2, "which is claimed to be a generation beyond the capabilities of the engine used in Call of Duty 4." More importantly, Infinity Ward's guys didn't sign their contract until March 31, 2008, and it was only then that the team began work on MW2. That means they produced the game in 1 year, 8 months - significantly faster than a 2 year cycle. I expect if we put a poll up here at Polycount and asked if producing a game like Modern Warfare 2 in 20 months was 'aggressive', the answer would overwhelmingly be yes.
thanks for the info, for this short time they did a astonishing job
This kind of treatment woudn't happen in other professions, not so blatantly anyway, so why is it tolerated or seem to be the norm for games industry? Anyone is willing to work hard for what they love of course, but theres a limit.
not really
Btw I wish some IW guys were on this forum. Does Serozh still work there? Wonder if he can shed some more light (probably not allowed).
Yes. Because writing angry notes has a large effect. Or worse group notes.
"Dear Bobby. We hate your business practices, but we are going to buy the game even so."
Bobby laughs, checks his latest stock portfolio and throws the note away.
I support them greatly, but really. How much does Amnesty International have with getting policy changes in countries if all they do is just point out whats wrong? The countries just say they are lies and keep doing what they are doing.
Look. If your going to go on about how fellow game artists jobs are at stake. Then give something. Some way to fight this abuse. Other than each and everyone one of us becoming indie developers and not getting suckered into selling out to a publisher.
For example, say a music producer decides to ditch a certain musician from the label, for whatever reason (insubordination lol) - if the singer/songwriter wrote the songs for any given album/song, they are owed the royalties, whether they are still signed to the label or not.
Basically they don't owe you a thing. I'm siding with the IW guys here, what Activision is doing reminds me of some sort of militaristic state, where anything you say and do is watched. Not cool at all.
If thats true and its acceptable, then you have one crazy country. Its not like insurance where they can look for any excuse not to pay, it shouldnt be.
If you do the work and have completed the work then you should get all payment that was agreed before you started the work. No matter what you did. Nothing you do, should impact that, except the completion of the work. If someone can look for any excuse to default on payment not to do with the work, then whats the point in doing the work?
If they signed a contract which said if they do this other thing unrelated to work, they lose any rights to payment, then they are idiots.
About the only things, I think which they could legitimately default on payment is if you break the law(probably not even then), and thats the laws of the country, not the law of the company, or did something wrong in the completion of the work(cheated somehow, stole/reused assets, faked half a game or something).
I believe they're going for a breach of contract. Odds are the royalty agreement is in the contract. If there is a breach of the Contract from one party, the other party does not have to hold up their contractual obligations.
*Been a few years since I had a law class so my memory is fuzzy. Not to mention I am going of Canadian laws which can be different from various US and State laws
Enter public outcry.
Thanks for the info.
That's completely insane.
If this is all true, that Activision basically don't plan on paying them royalties, and that's what all this is about - then for one it's sick. I mean fuck, AV might have put up the money, but the sheer work and creativity all came from IW, it's their product.
What amazes me is (assuming this is true etc) the sheer audacity of Activision to unleash a high profile skanking of the popular MW developer.
People are going to hate Activision for this, it seems like a retarded and short sighted "business" decision.
If they had 1 quarter of a brain they would have done all they could to keep these cash making monkeys, happy and on side.
Logically, that's what one would assume isn't it?
Seems obvious to me, I would have thought a dev like IW would and should get treated like royalty by a publisher, just like a rock star bringing in shit loads of £££ would get treated as such by their record label.
I think that's what I find most surprising about it to be honest. Treating them like they're just some scrubs.
It is because the publisher believes the power is in the brand, and that they've powered it up enough to just send it to a hundred places to make a hundred new things out of that powered up brand.
while fans know of rockstars, they most certainly do not know of developers, I mean, when people think diablo2, they think blizzard, but they're still a bit off there, their lead singers of diablo2 moved on.
Problem being is that it's not a recipe like for Cheerios cereal they can be assured to follow now that the original chefs are gone. One or possibly two versions might milk some more cash, but without the surefire developers (if it was them making the secret sauce) it won't be making a billion dollars again.
I dont blame the developers really, if you could avoid being famous wouldnt you?
http://kotaku.com/5491675/rumor-why-call-of-duty-developers-are-sticking-around
Delaying royalties so your development staffs sticks around? Low.
When a band leaves a record label they dont suddenly forgo all royalties for work done previously.
Is this even legal?
Wouldn't surprise me if theres a little note in their contracts saying... "We can do whatever we want with you bitch."
That's the reason why project leaders should push to get their names printed on the box and try to get better publicity; something like this would never happen to Kojima, Carmack, Newell, Miyamoto, Meier or Wright. Ignore the fact that they are considered to be gurus in their areas; they are recognizable by the audience and inseparable from the brands they have created. This makes the publishers much more reluctant to meddle with their business.
But when a game is associated with something as ambiguous as a name of a development studio, publishers are free to treat their workers as shit. As long as they own that name, they can fire the whole team and replace it with a bunch of talentless hacks. If this had happened to IW, most of Modern Warfares fans wouldnt even notice.
I truly wish that more game developers were trying to maintain a much closer relationship with their customers; this would benefit not only their careers, but their creative freedom as well.
I said the same thing a few days ago, making the exact same analogy.
Yea :S
I think generally Europeans have a great deal more protection in matters such as working regulations and things of that nature
I dont think that Activision would get away with something like this over here as it seems that the European Commission enjoy handing out huge fines to large corporations like its free cake day.
I really hope that America catches up soon in that regard.
I must of missed your previous post...But they do say that great minds think alike :P
As a former recruiter in the video game industry (as well as a tester, localization editor, and an Assistant Producer), I can tell you this: California Labor Code states that if an employee is fired or quits, the employer has 72 hours to pay the employee IN FULL everything that the employee is owed by the employer. That includes cashing out unpaid PTO, commissions, royalties, etc. The only exception to this LAW is for cumulative compensation that cannot be calculated.
This would be royalties or commissions for the current month, for instance. So, if somebody was fired on, say March 15th, and royalties are not calculated until the last day of the month, then the royalties for March would have to be paid by the end of August 3rd (72 hours after the end of the royalty period). IW employees, I hope you are reading this. If you don't want to take my word for it, call the CA Lobor Board or look it up online (I encourage you to do so).
Here's the best part: for every day that the employer is late in paying due compensation, the employee will be awarded one full days pay in penalties. My advice to the IW PoWs: Do some fact checking on what I have told you here. If you do not want to stay, then leave. If Activision does not pay you within 72 hours, wait as long as you can afford to and then file a grievence with the CA Labor Commission.
The reason I say wait is because the day you file, the daily penalties stop accumulating. Do remember this, there is a backlog, so no action will be taken on your case for 4-6 weeks (last that I heard). As a recruiter in the game industry, I always championed my consultants, whether they were testers making $11/hour or server managers making $50/hr. That led to me getting fired by one staffing agency. I'm rooting for everybody that has been wronged by Activision - including some of my friends at IW.
Lets hope they all get what they are owed
You forgot to mention Richard Garriot, a publisher would be mad to force someone as recognizable as Lord British into signing a bogus resignation letter.
As mad as their decision was, the case of Richard Garriot was more of an exception to that rule. If I recall correctly, I've read that there was a big animosity going on between him and the upper management long before his departure; though to be honest the whole thing was rather ugly.
Obviously, I did not mean that being recognizable can fully protect you from being used as a corporate pawn, but in the worst case scenario it increases your chances when fighting back. Public opinion can be a powerful weapon and being recognizable makes starting a new much easier. Garriot himself got a decent amount of coverage after this mess (not that he wasnt recognizable already) and his new company seems to be doing fine.
Both Zampella and West shouldn't have any problems with finding a new position after this scandal. Though it might sound harsh, I think that once everything settles down they might actually benefit from the situation they have been put in; many people heard of their names and now associate them with Modern Warfare franchise.
From what I heard the only exception was the fact that Richard Garriot went public with it. It's usually easy to keep these things quiet when everyone who knows the truth are contractually required not to say anything about it.
That's a good point, it's hard to estimate how many people are keeping things like this to themselves. However, Garriot probably wouldn't go public if he hadn't have this level of popularity; someone less recognizable would face rather grim consequences after spilling the beans.
More like jumping off in a hurry before they drown or burn.
Whoo dug ZEE tunnel!? UND where dooze it go!?
What tunnel Col, Kotick?
/cue Hogan's Heroes theme song.