I know what you’re thinking, it’s been on all our minds since March 1st - after the sudden firings of Infinity Ward’s top brass, Jason West and Vince Zampella, why didn’t the rest of the Infinity Ward team simply stand up and follow them out the door and on to greener pastures - where they’d be free to make contemporary combat games until the end of time?
It’s a fair question, and this latest rumor, courtesy of Kotaku, may help answer it.
A source close to Kotaku states that Activision is deliberately withholding bonus payouts from the team, essentially using said bonuses as leverage against their potential disloyalty.
Since Modern Warfare 2 reportedly hit over a billion dollars at retail, that’s some serious cheddar the company is holding back. It has long been standard operating procedure at Infinity Ward to pay low, but reward high; but this latest move by Activision could seriously impact the staff and their ability to, you know, make mortgage payments and buy food - and all they did to put them in the doghouse was make the biggest selling game of all time.
Again, I want to stress that this is a rumor. But, if this really is the current state of affairs at Infinity Ward, it is precisely the kind of ugly corporate behavior that moves fans to boycott products. Also, if this rumor turns out to be true, I will be one those fans boycotting Activision-branded games.
If the rumors are true and this is actually happening right now, how does that affect your opinion of Activision? Is it enough to steer you away from Activision-branded games in the future?
Source: Kotaku
