Acti predicts more IW walkouts

Speaking on a Facebook page called ‘Gamers Against Bobby Kotick and Activision’, an Activision’s media manager Dan Amrich has insisted claims that Activision sacked former Infinity Ward owners Jason West and Vince Zampella to avoid honouring bonus payments outlined in their contracts are untrue.

Instead, he insists the money once destined for the pair will now be shared out amongst all those who remain after the widely-reported walkouts finally dry up – though Amrich thinks we’ve not seen the last of the departures quite yet.

More people will probably go too, looking for new situations,” Amrich stated on the site. Maybe they will join Respawn, maybe not.

Those leaving are giving up their bonus. The more people that leave, the bigger the bonus gets for the people who stay. Vince and Jason had very large bonuses; those bonuses are being redistributed to everybody else, to the people who did not allegedly attempt to steal company secrets.

Activision is not pocketing that bonus money; it’s still going to the people who work at IW. But you have to work at IW to get it. I don’t want to see talented people screwed out of a paycheck any more than you do.”

Amrich went on to admit that the studio will have to undergo radical changes once the dust finally settles.

Infinity Ward still exists,” he added. Obviously its identity and company culture are going to go through huge changes in the coming months and years.

I’d think if you are young and hungry and have a vision for a new game, IW would be a really good place to be right now. There are so many young and hungry designers, programmers, and developers out there, and I suspect some of them are already employed at IW, just waiting for their shot. When the dust settles, I expect to see some talented people step up and redefine the studio.”