Kotick: West and Zampella compromised our friendship

A lot’s been already said about the controversial departure of Jason West and Vince Zampella from Infinity Ward because of their tiff with Activision. While the duo have moved on to a much more pleasant environment that will suit their creative needs, Activision is still feeling and continues to reel from the brunt of the said departure. Bobby Kotick has decided now is the time to speak up and explain why they did what they did.

 

 

A lot’s been already said about the controversial departure of Jason West and Vince Zampella from Infinity Ward because of their tiff with Activision.

 

 

 

While the duo have moved on to a much more pleasant environment that will suit their creative needs, Activision is still feeling and continues to reel from the brunt of the said departure. Bobby Kotick has decided now is the time to speak up and explain why they did what they did.

 

 

 

 

The explanation was given during an investor call with Activision earlier today — a necessary step given that he had to allay the concerns of his investors resulting from the ongoing mass exodus in their company.

 

 

 

 

“We have long term, well thought through plans in place,” said Kotick. “There’s nothing accidental about the continued success of the Call of Duty brand.” He also justified the termination of West and Zampella by saying that they did it “to protect the comapny’s assets and the interests of our shareholders.”

 

 

 

“A compromise of friendship” was how Kotick also described the Infinity Ward heads’ actions preceding their termination.  “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.”

 

 

 

 

The transcript of Kotick’s lengthy explanation on the matter can be found below.

 

 

 

“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.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Via [Kotaku]

 

 

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Related Articles:

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• Infinity Ward staffers sue Activision for US$ 125 million, Activision responds
• Activision: Infinity Ward departures will probably continue, West and Zampella’s bonuses “redistributed”