As all gamers know Modern Warfare 2 was a blockbuster hit that took the Xbox 360 by storm last last year. The game broke every entertainment record including selling 4.7 million copies and raking in an estimated $310 million in North America and United Kingdom alone on day one. Many including myself stood at stores at midnight of the launch just for the chance to be the first to play the game. Clearly the game lived up to the the name and made its investors millions.
The interesting story when things settled down after the launch is some key Infinity Ward developers Vince Zampella and Jason West’s were fired and since staffers have been leaving in droves to join a new company. The new company is called Respawn and was started by Vince Zampella and Jason West. According to Joystiq more have left this week:
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.
How all this came about is unclear and not being talked about much, the really telling story is what will do to the Call of Duty franchise. The next version of the game is already underway by Treyarch, but what will happen two years from now when Infinity Ward was as in the past the company of choice to run? That remains to be seen but I believe hard core gamers will be ready to follow Vince Zampella and Jason West at Respawn. They are seen by many to be the real brains behind the series and I personally can’t wait to see what Respawn brings to the table.
Please leave your comments about what you think about this interesting story that seems to just grow by the day.
