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Development duties on worldwide hit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 were nearly taken from Infinity Ward and handed to Treyarch.
That’s due to the extent of the tension between Activision and then Infinity Ward bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella, more details of which have been revealed by fresh court revelations.
Having mentioned a proposal” sent to the pair, Activision’s EVP of studios Dave Stohl said that we should also discuss what the plan B is going to look like – there could be a ton of risk getting Modern Warfare 2 done depending on how the team takes it”.
Whatever the ‘proposal’ was, it lead Stohl to add: "Treyarch taking it over now is also an option but scary given the tight timeline."
The documents also mention a time when West and Zampella had told Activision that they may not be able to deliver a live MW2 gameplay demo for Microsoft’s 2010 press conference.
"Microsoft will go ballistic over this and the deal is seriously risked," former Activision publishing president Mike Griffith wrote, adding that when he called up the pair to discuss the situation they hung up” on him.
Boss Bobby Kotick replied if they really did I would change their locks and lock them out of their building” to which Griffith replied "as soon as I get that gold master…"
West and Zampella were eventually escorted from the IW offices and fired in March 2010. And Activision weren’t oblivious to how the press would react.
"Is everyone ready for the big, negative PR story this is going to turn into if we kick them out? It’s freaking me out a little," Stohl added.
