Joystiq

West and Zampella on Activision lawsuit and 'Project Icebreaker'

JC Fletcher — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 EST

Jason West and Vince Zampella have lived with their impending lawsuits from (and against) Activision to be bemused about the whole thing. "[Activision] said, 'He orchestrated his own firing' - I will never forget that," said West in a Game Informer interview, prompting Zampella to add "We're geniuses, apparently."

According to the pair's attorney Robert Schwartz, Activision's claim against them stems around an "expert's" determination that Modern Warfare 3 would have been a bigger moneymaker had they and the rest of the now-absent Infinity Ward team been present to work on it; instead of having been fired by Activision (a state that the two allegedly 'orchestrated'.)

Schwartz corroborated reports of a "Project Icebreaker" at Activision designed to secretly scour their computers for evidence that would support a firing. "Do you know who George Rose is? He was the head lawyer for [Activision]," Schwartz said.

"So George Rose goes into the office of this guy named Thomas Fenady. He's some kind of IT whiz at Activision." According to Schwartz, Rose asked Fenady, under the auspices of CEO Bobby Kotick, to "break into [West and Zampella's] computers and dig up dirt to be used to justify firing them." Schwartz added that Fenady "testified to this."

We'll have to wait to see how this insanity plays out in court; the trial was delayed to around June 1.

West and Zampella on Activision lawsuit and 'Project Icebreaker' originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Respawn Entertainment's big reveal won't be at E3

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:30:00 EST

Respawn Entertainment employees will attend this year's E3, but no, the studio won't be showing any new project at the big show. "Some of us will be present at E3, but we won't be showing anything or doing any press related to the game," Respawn community manager Abbie Heppe told Joystiq.

Thus far, little information exists on Respawn's first project. Aside from a single, extremely blurry screen and news that it's an EA Partners title, Respawn has kept the game out of the public eye. But with a team comprising many ex-Infinty Ward folks - the same folks who helped launch Call of Duty into the world of sports playoff trailer debuts - it's hard to imagine Respawn working on anything small.

Respawn wouldn't tell us whether the mystery project will be revealed this year, nor if the studio would attend the various gaming events scattered across the next several months. We're hoping for a surprise reveal during Tokyo Game Show, just to mess with the Japanese market.

Respawn Entertainment's big reveal won't be at E3 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 16 May 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Activision v. Infinity Ward court date delayed

Jessica Conditt — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:00:00 EST

Former Activision employees and Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vincent Zampella are taking Activision to court on May 29, after a few years of legal back-and-forth negotiations and counter-suits from Activision. The date was initially set for May 7, but was pushed back at Activision's request.

West and Zampella claim Activision owes them $125 million in unpaid royalties, and they seek the rights to the Modern Warfare brand.

Activision's counter-suit is free to move forward as well, where Activision is asking for $400 million from EA, claiming EA stole its employees and that West and Zampella were consorting secretly with the competitor while still Activision employees.

Zampella and West were fired from Activision in 2010 on the grounds of these supposed secret meetings. They soon after founded Respawn Entertainment and now have 40 former Infinity Ward employees in their ranks.

Activision v. Infinity Ward court date delayed originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'Outernauts' trademarked by Insomniac, could be part of EA Partners deal

Mike Schramm — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:30:00 EST

The wily gentlemen at NeoGAF have spotted a copyright registration by Insomniac Games for something called Outernauts, supposedly a new game the developer is working on. If you thought the company was already working on "O-something," you're also right: Overstrike was announced at last year's E3. But Outernauts is new, and Insomniac has also registered "outernauts-game.com," and "outernauts-game.net," so the game, as they say, is afoot.

There's more, too: A Google search for the recently unburied title revealed a wiki page that was apparently meant for EA Partners marketing planning, and revealed both Overstrike and Outernauts, along with "Respawn" (probably the new project from the studio of the same name), The Secret World (which EA is publishing with Funcom) and "Populous," which might be a new version of that old strategy series. And as if all of that isn't enough, the wiki page was created by one "pmarineau," which matches up to Phil Marineau, who happens to be EA's director of marketing.

Whew! Did we mention that the NeoGAF folks were wily? We've contacted Insomniac for comment on this one, but it's unlikely they'll confirm at this point. We'll probably just have to wait for the official Outernauts announcement to know what it's all about.

'Outernauts' trademarked by Insomniac, could be part of EA Partners deal originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Infinity Ward's day in court: May 7, 2012

Jessica Conditt — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:20:00 EST

Former Infinity Ward bossmen Jason West and Vincent Zampella have an official court date of May 7, 2012 to settle their dispute with Activision. West and Zampella seek $125 million in unpaid royalties from Modern Warfare 2 sales and wish to reclaim their contractual rights to the Modern Warfare brand. Activision fired both developers in March 2010 for illegally consorting with EA, and has counter-sued West, Zampella and EA for $400 million, claiming EA hijacked its employees.

Since The Firings, West and Zampella founded Respawn Entertainment and now have 40 former Infinity Ward employees working at the studio, which is creating an unannounced, blurry IP. Activision's suit is clear to proceed, but doesn't yet have a date -- considering how long this first case could drag on, we guess it'll go to court around January 2068.

Infinity Ward's day in court: May 7, 2012 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Respawn Entertainment is home to 55 employees, for now (and later?)

Christopher Grant — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 19:54:00 EST

Coincidentally, on the eve of Activision's Call of Duty XP live event, IGN spoke with ex-Infinity Ward leads Vince Zampella and Jason West about their new studio, Respawn Entertainment, and the next best thing to major game reveals: Employee numbers. "55 full-time employees," Zampella revealed, "and then we have some contractors [...] 4 or 5 people right now that are contracting."

"That's boring," you protest. "What about the guns?" you demand. We know, we want to know all about the guns in Respawn's game as well, but for now we've got to divine as much as we can from the crystal ball of employee headcount. "We'll get bigger, but we're slowing growing," Zampella rhymed. "The trick there is it's always just time versus size of the team. So you can take longer and have fewer people or you can get bigger and do some things faster," West added.

If you'll allow us to read between the lines here, it should be clear: Respawn is following the Nice & Smooth school of hiring, meaning its new IP won't be coming out anytime soon if they hire slow ... or it will, if they hire quick. "So if things have to take a little longer they could take a little longer," West suggested, "and if we're fortunate enough to find more awesome talent then we'll do that." So Q4 2012 then? 2013 maybe? We give up.

Respawn Entertainment is home to 55 employees, for now (and later?) originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 19:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here's the first (very blurry) image of Respawn Entertainment's unannounced game

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:08:00 EST

Interested in seeing what's next from the duo who headed development on the majority of Call of Duty games? So are we. Unfortunately, all we've got is this very blurry image seen on Respawn Entertainment's newly launched website. Perhaps the unannounced project is being developed in Unreal Engine 3, and the textures simply haven't popped in yet?

Beyond the screen is a star-studded developer page, full of many CoD dev veterans, as well as a handful of other impressive credentials (Pilotwings 64!). There's a forums section as well, presumably where the team will be dropping clues about that unannounced game they're working on for EA.

Finally, a news section highlights the cursory details made available about the controversy-embroiled studio thus far, and shows off the group's new digs, blurred computer monitors and all. Feel free to dig around and let us know if you find any tantalizing nuggets.

Update: A second, much clearer though somehow even less distinct image is used on the company's front page. It's a background for a link to the forum topic discussing Respawn's next game, and we've dropped it after the break.

Continue reading Here's the first (very blurry) image of Respawn Entertainment's unannounced game

Here's the first (very blurry) image of Respawn Entertainment's unannounced game originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Judge: Activision's suit against EA and former IW heads can proceed

Mike Schramm — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 20:30:00 EST

A California judge has ruled that the lawsuit filed by Activision against former Infinity Ward studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West can move forward. EA originally filed to dismiss the case after Activision claimed that its rival colluded with West and Zampella while they were still under contract, but California Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle decided today that there was enough evidence for the case to go on towards trial.

EA can still file a request for a summary judgment, so there's still one more option for the courts to reject Activision's claims of collusion and avoid actually going to trial. If that request isn't filed or the judgment doesn't eventually pass, then the lawsuit itself is set to go to trial in May of this year.

Judge: Activision's suit against EA and former IW heads can proceed originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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THQ nearly signed Respawn, but IP ownership was a deal-breaker

Griffin McElroy — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 14:40:00 EST

THQ vice president Danny Bilson recently told Wired about a potentially powerful, but ultimately thwarted partnership the company sought early last year, with ex-Infinity Ward heads Vince Zampella and Jason West's new ensemble, Respawn Entertainment. According to Bilson, the deal almost went through, though one point in the THQ contract was a deal-breaker for the young developer: Respawn wanted ownership of any IP it created while in the publisher's employ.

"My responsibility to our stockholders and to my CEO and the company is to build an IP library," Bilson explained, adding that granting their request would "open the doors for everyone else to say, 'I wanna own it too.'". Zampella corroborated Bilson's story, explaining, "As for the IP ownership, frankly, after what we'd just been through with Activision, owning the IP we were going to create was important to us." We can't possibly imagine why.

THQ nearly signed Respawn, but IP ownership was a deal-breaker originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA calls Activision's legal claims 'deliberate misdirection'

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST

In light of last night's revised lawsuit announcement by Activision, Electronic Arts corporate spokesperson Jeff Brown responded on behalf of his company, characterizing the announcement to the LA Times as "a PR [public relations] play filled with pettiness and deliberate misdirection." The revised suit added EA as defendants in the case between Activision and West/Zampella, citing several alleged interactions between the ex-Infinity Ward heads and EA, a relationship said to have been fostered by talent agency CAA.

Brown continued, accusing Activision of attempting to "hide the fact that they have no credible response to the claim of the two artists who were fired." He further contends that West and Zampella "now just want to get paid for their work." Unfortunately, it seems for all parties involved that this whole affair is a bit far beyond the basic reconciliation point.

EA calls Activision's legal claims 'deliberate misdirection' originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Activision claims EA and former IW execs schemed to 'inflict serious harm on the company'

Christopher Grant — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 21:07:00 EST

Following last March's lawsuit filed by ousted Infinity Ward execs Jason West and Vince Zampella against former employer Activision, and Activision's countersuit filed the following month, Activision has filed a motion to amend its countersuit based on new evidence born of the discovery phase. What kind of evidence? Namely that "Electronic Arts conspired with two former senior Activision executives, West and Zampella (the "executives") to derail Activision's Call of Duty franchise, disrupt its Infinity Ward development studio, and inflict serious harm on the company."

As a result, the lawsuit now includes Electronic Arts as a cross-defendant and is asking for $400 million in "actual and punitive damages from EA and the former executives, including profits Activision would have made but for EA's interference, costs incurred in rebuilding the affected studio, and damages suffered as a result of delays and disruptions." Activision is also asking the court to allow it to "recapture compensation previously awarded to its faithless executives" and, even more notable, "to prevent Electronic Arts and the former executives from benefiting from their illegal conduct."

The 39-page document details the history of Infinity Ward, the Call of Duty franchise and the public termination of its two founders, West and Zampella. It seeks to prove that West and Zampella colluded with Electronic Arts, despite having more than two years on their employment contract. The suit reveals that, following a private meeting in August 2009 at EA CEO John Riccitiello's house in San Francisco -- coordinated by CAA agent and former Xbox face Seamus Blackley -- CAA enlisted the help of lawyer Harold Brown to evaluate their employment contracts. Brown was ostensibly chosen because he is a "former Activision board member and former legal counsel to Activision."

Continue reading Activision claims EA and former IW execs schemed to 'inflict serious harm on the company'

Activision claims EA and former IW execs schemed to 'inflict serious harm on the company' originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 21:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Respawn Entertainment 'starting at absolute zero' with EA Partners

Alexander Sliwinski — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:35:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

A recent interview by Eurogamer with EA Partners boss David DeMartini offers some good perspective on the actual state of Respawn Entertainment. For those just joining us, Respawn is the studio created by Jason West and Vince Zampella, former heads of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare studio Infinity Ward, after an uncomfortably public break-up with Activision earlier this year. DeMartini says, "I know everybody is going to say, 'Well what are they working on?' The thing everybody needs to remember is they were starting at absolute zero."

DeMartini explains that when EA took the pair on they didn't have a workspace, furniture, HR or any of the basic administration that goes into a development house. The executive claims to have no idea what the duo is working on -- and if the dude fronting the cash doesn't know, it'll be quite a wait before the public finds out.

In comparison, Insomniac's multi-platform project with EA seems to be coming along more rapidly, with DeMartini expecting its unveiling much sooner.

Respawn Entertainment 'starting at absolute zero' with EA Partners originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Respawn duo, Richard Garriott speaking at QuakeCon 2010

Mike Schramm — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:30:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

The official schedule has been announced for this year's QuakeCon, which is taking place August 12-15 in Dallas, Texas. In addition to the usual id gallery, none other than Jason West and Vince Zampella of the newly formed Respawn Entertainment will be in attendance.

The ousted Infinity Ward heads will sit on a panel the Friday morning of the conference called "Building Blockbusters," talking with Tim Willits and Tom Howard of id and Bethesda about how to make big games (like the "huge summer blockbuster" they're supposedly working on). Todd Alderman, also of Respawn, will sit on a panel the previous day speaking about "The World of Design" with a few other developers.

Elsewhere in the schedule, John Carmack and Richard Garriott will hold court on Thursday evening discussing rockets and space travel, and Friday and Saturday afternoons will bring preview panels for RAGE and Brink. Sounds like an excellent weekend of FPS gaming -- so if you're in Dallas (or plan to be there), the event is free and open to the public.

Respawn duo, Richard Garriott speaking at QuakeCon 2010 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA: 'We're going to be in the Medal of Honor business for a long time'

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 05 May 2010 18:00:00 EST

EA's upcoming reboot to the Medal of Honor franchise has a few major contenders, one of which EA itself created, to compete with when it arrives at retail this October. But EA Games prez Frank Gibeau remains confident in MoH, telling Gamasutra in a recent interview that, "With Medal of Honor, we're rebooting the series to get into the top 10." Gibeau lays out plans for an extensive marketing campaign first aimed at "core shooter fans," then branching out to a "true mass-market campaign." Speaking frankly, he claims "It'll be a big launch with a lot of dollars behind it. We're going to go in and we're going to compete." He believes that, between the IP's pedigree and the quality of this reboot, EA's " going to be in the Medal of Honor business for a long time."

Meanwhile, executive producer Greg Goodrich and senior creative director Rich Farrelly do their best to assuage worries of internal competition between themselves at EA LA and DICE, the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 developer now working on MoH's multiplayer mode, or the ex-Infinity Ward founders' new studio that EA recently inked a deal with. Goodrich says, "Battlefield and Medal of Honor are two very different franchises. They have a certain tone, and we have a certain tone for our game. We think there's room for both, not only in the genre, but within EA."

Also of note, apparently DICE has been working on MoH's multiplayer since "right after Battlefield 1943 came out" (last July), which might help to explain why we've seen such little post-launch support for the downloadable title. That said, with Medal of Honor's development assuredly nearing completion, we're holding out hope that those folks will have some time to invest in the other downloadable title we heard about recently.

EA: 'We're going to be in the Medal of Honor business for a long time' originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 05 May 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Respawn picks up four more Infinity Ward vets

Ben Gilbert — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:58:00 EST

Out of the four ex-Infinity Ward employees discovered today to be taking up positions at Respawn Entertainment, the new home of former IW heads Jason West and Vince Zampella, two held senior positions and all four are currently members of the "Infinity Ward Employee Group" suing Activision for millions of dollars. Preston Glenn ("designer"), Chad Grenier ("senior designer"), Sean Slayback ("game designer"), and Zied Rieke ("lead designer) have all confirmed on LinkedIn to have made the quick switch from their former bosses' studio to their new, EA-backed startup.

According to G4's report, the tally of Infinity Ward employees that have joined West and Zampella's still nascent studio is up to 16 as of today. The studio has seen a flood of employee vacancies in the wake the co-founders' firings early last month, and a not-so-surprising recent rush of ex-IW developers jumping on to Respawn's staff. West and Zampella's new dev house has yet to announce any projects but, well, all those employees have gotta be up to something.

Respawn picks up four more Infinity Ward vets originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More Infinity Ward staffers leave, join Respawn [update]

JC Fletcher — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 20:02:00 EST

The siphon that delivers Infinity Ward expatriates to Vince Zampella and Jason West's new company Respawn Entertainment appears to have been primed. Two more have joined the new studio: senior software engineer Chris Lambert and designer Brent McLeod are new hires at the new EA Partners-funded studio, according to their LinkedIn profiles.

In addition to those two, three more have left Infinity Ward. Lead character artist Joel Emslie announced his departure on Facebook, along with artists Ryan Lastimosa and Brad Allen. Either these three have yet to join Respawn -- or they have yet to get over to LinkedIn to announce that they've joined Respawn.

Update: Lastimosa and senior level designer Jason McCord have joined Respawn, GameSpot reports. Three more IW staff have announced their departure from IW as well.

More Infinity Ward staffers leave, join Respawn [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 20:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pachter: EA, DICE and Respawn will impact future Call of Duty sales

David Hinkle — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 21:15:00 EST

Do you imagine that every morning, when Michael Pachter wakes up, he dons a black robe, a pointy hat, drops a bunch of stuff into a bubbling cauldron and just predicts? Yeah, we do too. What a life, right?

His latest portent involves Respawn Entertainment, the new shop of former Infinity Ward-ers Jason West and Vince Zampella, and it goes a little something like this: the Call of Duty franchise will see lowered sales, thanks to more competition in what we like to call 'the near-superhuman military dudes blowing junk up' market.

"I think that it is likely that future games will sell fewer units in the past, primarily due to increased competition from Respawn, DICE and EA games that will likely be in the same or similar genres," Pachter said. He also anticipates that many gamers will recognize that West and Zampella are off the franchise, but that "the majority of consumers will either not know or will not care enough to shun future games." The lack of Infinity Ward's branding certainly didn't stop World at War from moving a bajillion units.

Pachter: EA, DICE and Respawn will impact future Call of Duty sales originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 22 Apr 2010 21:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Infinity Ward lead designer now Respawn lead designer [update]

JC Fletcher — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:29:00 EST

The LinkedIn profile (login required) of former Infinity Ward Lead Designer Todd Alderman, one of the 2015 Inc. staffers who left to form Infinity Ward, reveals that he has signed on as the Lead Game Designer for the new Respawn Entertainment. Hey, don't some other guys from Infinity Ward work at Respawn now? What a happy coincidence!

Though we all assumed that departing Infinity Ward staffers would join up with the new studio headed by Vince Zampella and Jason West -- of their own volition, of course, and not through "active soliciting" from Respawn, since the new developer is legally barred from such activity -- this is the first indication of such a thing actually taking place. So now the company has at least three employees. That's enough to make a AAA game, right? Each person only has to work on one "A."

Update: G4 is keeping a running tally of the former IW-ers joining Respawn. It's now up to six, including animators, artists, and programmers.

[Via G4]

Infinity Ward lead designer now Respawn lead designer [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Four more Infinity Ward employees leave studio

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:00:00 EST

Lead designers Zied Reike and Steve Fukuda, as well as programmer Rayme Vinson, have left ailing Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward, according to "sources close to the studio" speaking with Kotaku. Additionally, lead artist Chris Cherubini is confirmed to have left the studio. And yes, folks, this is the second story we've written today about developers exiting the Activision-owned dev house, bringing the number of employee departures since studio co-founders Jason West and Vince Zampella were fired up to nine in total.

As with other developers that left IW recently, little information has been given as to where everyone will end up -- none have been confirmed as moving to West and Zampella's newly formed Respawn Entertainment as of yet. Regardless, if previous reports about low studio morale and unpaid royalties were true, we wouldn't be surprised to see quite a few more IW departures in the near future.

Report: Four more Infinity Ward employees leave studio originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Three more leave Infinity Ward

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:35:00 EST

IGN reports that three more staffers have left Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward. Programmer Jon Shiring and senior animator Bruce Ferriz independently confirmed that they were leaving IW, with Ferriz heading to Big Red Button Entertainment and Shiring not providing more information. "I'm not trying to create spectacle, I just wanted to avoid the LinkedIn nonsense," Shiring said of his move, referring to two former IW employees who were discovered via LinkedIn to have left the studio. Lead designer Mackey McCandlish has also confirmed (via Twitter) that he's leaving the studio after "a great 8+ year run."

This news comes just one day after the ousted IW co-founders announced the creation of Respawn Entertainment and a partnership with ... ahem ... EA Partners. As of this writing, no ex-Infinity Ward employees have joined the new venture.

Report: Three more leave Infinity Ward originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Interview: Vince Zampella and Jason West talk Respawn Entertainment

Christopher Grant — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:23:00 EST

Today we spoke with recently laid off Infinity Ward cofounders Vince Zampella and Jason West about their new project, Respawn Entertainment, and their new partner, Electronic Arts. While there's no game to promote just yet, and no physical location determined for the new studio, and just two employees battling it out for Employee of the Month, there's still plenty to talk about -- including the best magician-themed analogy we've heard in awhile. Read on!

Continue reading Interview: Vince Zampella and Jason West talk Respawn Entertainment

Interview: Vince Zampella and Jason West talk Respawn Entertainment originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Respawn Entertainment announced by ex-IW heads, partnering with EA

Christopher Grant — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:47:00 EST

We learned on Friday that ousted Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Vince Zampella planned to have an announcement "very soon" concerning their "creative future" - and now, at 9am ET the following Monday, they've issued a press release announcing Respawn Entertainment, a new development studio that will give West and Zampella ownership of the games they create. "We have learned the hard way," Zampella told the LA Times, "that the best way to ensure the integrity and quality of your work and make sure the fans get what they deserve is to own the intellectual property."

But West and Zampella aren't going it alone; the pair have teamed up with (who else?) Electronic Arts through its EA Partners business. EA Games Label prez Frank Gibeau said, "This is the start of a great publishing partnership -- one that I expect will develop blockbuster game franchises ... At EA, we're honored to be their partners and to give them the support they need to hire a team and return to making incredible games." In addition to handling future publishing duties, EA is funding the new developer "with several million dollars in seed capital," LA Times reports. That's unusual for a developer that's retaining the intellectual property rights to its games. "What makes Vince and Jason's deal so ground-breaking is that EA is investing in them as individuals, not as part of a larger, established company," the pair's agent (and former Xbox pitchman) Seamus Blackley told the Times.

Of course, neither West nor Zampella would comment on what Respawn will be working on or what genre it might land in (military shooter, anyone?), but West did say it would be of the "huge, summer blockbuster" variety. Did you expect anything less?

[Update: Activision issued the following statement following the announcement of Respawn Entertainment: "This agreement comes as no surprise to Activision given the myriad of improper activities detailed in the cross-complaint filed on Friday against Jason West and Vince Zampella. We look forward to continuing to work with Infinity Ward's deep bench of proven talent on exciting new projects."]

[Update 2: We spoke with West and Zampella about Respawn - read our interview here.]

Source: Jason West and Vincent Zampella's new call of duty [LA Times]
Source: Jason West and Vince Zampella Form 'Respawn Entertainment' [press release]

Respawn Entertainment announced by ex-IW heads, partnering with EA originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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