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Infinity Ward Lead Developers Axed Unexpectedly
RogueyWon writes "Kotaku is reporting that Infinity Ward, the development studio behind Modern Warfare 2, has been at the center of strange events recently. Jason West and Vince Zampella, two lead developers, have been fired by parent company Activision for 'breaches of contract and insubordination.' Speculation is rife as to the reasons behind this; following Modern Warfare 2's spectacular sales figures, it seems unlikely that the studio's performance could be to blame."
These guys will have no problem getting another job, and they won't have to work under Activision anymore.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
...that I can buy the next MW again and we'll get servers again?
(yes, I'm selfish)
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Would you care to cite where you copied that "business strategy" from?
The games industry as a whole treats their programmers like crap. As a matter of fact, every romanticized occupation with a ton of people lined up outside the door treats their employees poorly. Apple pays less than their Silicon Valley neighbors because they get more applications and the job has that mystique. Coveted jobs = lower pay, higher stress, worse working conditions, more hours, etc.
I thought ego was the middle finger of the invisible hand.
- "We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games." Kotick later stated he tries to promote an atmosphere of "skepticism, pessimism, and fear" in his company and, "We are very good at keeping people focused on the deep depression."
Well firing your top two devs will certainly help you with that goal. Imagine anyone's review, "You think you're *that* special? Shit son, we just fired our top two guys, now work 90 hours a week without over-time or you're out the door too!"
Sadly, since this is the gaming industry, this cheese wad Kotick will not only get away with this abusive behavior, but he'll be rewarded (like you said, it brings in money). In most other industries, when a CEO tries to create a similar culture, the good people jump ship right away (go to the competition, or start their own company), and the average people jump ship as soon as the economy improves, and this works to punish the company by losing a lot of brain power. However, in the gaming industry, all you have to do is license an engine, hire and teach someone from the endless supply of sucker.. er.. talented prospects, and you're right back on track - abusing the new employee.
It's always an interesting story when a big company decides to fire people who just made them a load of money.
When are game developers going to understand what the movie-making workers have known for many decades: That they need to be in a union.
Today, just about every body working on the movies you watch is organized. The writers, the directors, the cinematographers, the special-effects people. Notice that this has not "destroyed" the movie industry or even hurt profits one little bit. All it's done is provide some protection to the people who are actually bringing you the goods from the worst impulses of the flabby asses who sit in the boardrooms and CEO suites.
As we've seen with Germany, having the entire workforce unionized is not only good for the workers, but it's good for business and it's good for the entire country's economy. Germany is probably the country in the world with the most favorable labor laws and the strongest unions. Yet, they are also the NUMBER ONE EXPORTING NATION, with exports almost 300% of China's. They're also the country in the EU that has the biggest trade surplus and the most cash in the coffers. When they bail out Greece, it's going to be Germany that puts up the dough.
Here's my new political slogan:
"Socialism: It's Good for Business
You are welcome on my lawn.
He's working really hard to turn that joke into serious business.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
So they are about tied for raw export value. Now consider that there are 16 Chinese for every German. While you also have to consider that the two countries are at different stages of development, to just say they are neck and neck for exports isn't really being honest about it. (You could also consider geographic area instead of per capita productivity since natural resources are a big part of export activity, in which case the ratio is even bigger, 27 to 1 in China's favor). I think it's pretty darn hard to argue that Germany's not doing something right/better than most other nations.
Socialism is good for progress. In a climate of rapidly changing technology, a country has to be able to shift gears quickly. Whole outmoded industries need to be able to just die painlessly, without hurting the people in those industries. We need a social safety net so that people can leave old, obsolete careers without fear, and educational programs that will enable us to rapidly retool our society to take advantage of the next big thing.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Get a union.
Seriously!
Hollywood actors, screenwriters and directors all have strong unions. And when they strike (as the writers did in 2007), they are not easily replaced. If Joss Whedon walks off the set you can't just grab some random schmuck off the street to replace him.
Game developers are creative people too. They have just as much leverage as the showbiz creatives in New York and LA do. All they need to do to stop being treated like crap is to exercise it.
Read my blog.
The key difference between programmers and actors/screenwriters/directors is that big publishing houses like Activision probably regard them as expendable. I'm sure the bean counters figure if the geeks organize, they'll just fire them and hire cheap replacements in China/India.
Which would be just as well, because the quality of the product and support will plummet, ensuring the death of the beast.
"We are Microsoft. You shall be assimilated. Competition is futile."
When I think of progress I think of North Korea, China, Cuba, and Venezuela socalism has made them great at adapting. And nothing is better at handleing change then the USPS they always handle the holiday rush so well.
Knowledge = Power
P= W/t
t=Money
Money = Work/Knowledge so the less you know the more you make
Here's hoping the pair were trying add a dedicated server mode in addition to IWNET, or that Activision is going to implement dedicated servers, or that someone at that company actually cares about the end user.
Otherwise, one of the best games I've played in terms of playability, weapons load out, and graphics is hobbled by IWNET, "migrating Host", no admin, no kicks, to many hacks (PC side) no end user mods, the list goes on.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
What is socialism, then? Look at most of the countries that consider themselves socialist democracies, and you will see they attempt to function as I've described. Socialism is not communism, it does not mean collective control over all resources, and it does not mean the state owns all property.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Socialism is not communism, it does not mean collective control over all resources, and it does not mean the state owns all property.
Actually, the classic definition of socialism is precisely collective (which doesn't necessarily mean state - it would be commune in anarcho-socialism) ownership of means of production, and collective administration of resources.
Communism is much more than that - it's supposed to be a classless and stateless society where any such collective ownership does not have to be enforced, and is inherent in the behavior of all members of the society.
By definitions above, there is a line between "market socialism" and "social capitalism". The former is when some amount of free trade is permitted, but not with respect to means of production and natural resources. A typical showcase would be late Tito's Yugoslavia.
"Social capitalism" is where you can actually buy and sell factories and land, for example, but where all business transactions are regulated to ensure that they do not cause unacceptable harm to the society at large - this is what most Western countries today are.
By the way, while I'm at nitpicking the terms, there is a difference between "social democracy" (which is what most countries actually label themselves) and "socialist democracy".
The reason why I go into this kind of nitpicking is because, for too many people, socialism in its pure sense is unacceptable, and when you use the word merely to denote some socially conscious policies, you get an extremely negative reaction. Just look at some of the replies to your original post - I see someone has already brought up Cuba and North Korea...
Why do you ignore Germany, UK, France, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Israel, Italy and the many very successful socialist countries?
These are countries who have adopted various degrees of socialist policies and still maintain high levels of personal liberty, private innovation, and middle-class wealth.
Plus, nobody has to go broke and lose their homes just because a family member gets cancer.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Even though I kept warning for months that Bob (call me Rob) Kotick is a menace. oh ya.. So I also thank the powers to be around here for modding my comments a big fat zero, unless I identify what I do that is. Then I score high.
I'm glad to see this happen. The more people that leave infinityward and the more Chaos that is generated there the better. It was the only real profitable division, so now lets see what happens next. I look forward to watching this story to its conclusion over the next many months. I hope Kotick crashes and burns in hell. Unfortunately he has his big fat contract where he wins even if he loses, so he could care less.
My brother-in-law started out as a fry cook as recent immigrant with practically no English skills. 20 years or so later, he's a director responsible for 500+ stores
Much like the NBA... anyone 'can' get to the top. Also like the NBA, most won't. There simply aren't enough positions at the top to allow more than a fraction of a percent to get there, no matter how hard everyone tries.
I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
I would never join a union, because I don't want to be limited by the abilities of every other union member that works in my department. Unions seem to benefit people that are lazy/don't have the skills to get paid more than a decent wage.
So you won't mind handing back all those benefits and rights that Unions have fought for and won over the years, you know, like better working conditions, education reforms, paid holidays, healthcare etc. Do some research please before spouting off your baseless polemic, you sound like a throw back to the of 1800s. Really, this sort of me-me-me 'I'm alright Jack' attitude is indicative of a the selfish malaise that infects society. Lets see you get screwed over by a large company and see how you like it.