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Vince Zampella and Jason West start off Call of Duty franchise
After producing the wide-spread hit - 'Medal of Honor: Allied Assault' - in 2002, 22 members of the developing team '2015' led by Vince Zampella decided to break away from their contractor 'EA' and start anew (Werner, Nicholas). With Zampella and Jason West at the helm, they decided to name their new company 'Infinity Ward' and started immediately working on a game that would come to change the entire industry. -
Continued - Vince Zampella and Jason West start off Call of Duty franchise
That game was 'Call of Duty'. 'Call of Duty' broke the norm and reinvigorated the gaming community in the shooter genre ("The Thrill of Heroics in a War Unquestioned"). Infinity Ward's success had already caught the eye of the major company 'Activision' (Werner, Nicholas). Vince Zampella was making history. Picture by: Doug Kline -
Activision vs. West and Zampella
On March 2, 2010, Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella were fired by Activision. That day Activision pulled a stunt and had secret-service-like guards take over the Infinity Ward studio and monitor the entrances without telling anybody what they were doing (Fritz, Ben and Pham, Alex). The remaining members of Infinity Ward were later informed that the company had no choice but to fire the duo ("Call of Duty creators, Activision settle legal fight"). No reasons were given as to why. -
Continued - Activision vs. West and Zampella
In response to this, Jason and Vince sued Activision claiming that the company had fired them just two weeks before they were due $36 million in royalties for the top-selling 'Modern Warfare 2' game ("Call of Duty creators, Activision settle legal fight"). Soon after, Activision launched a countersuit upon the allegations that the two had broken their contract by contacting Activision's rival, EA, and discussing recruitment (Fritz and Pham). Picture by: sony.hongkong -
Continued - Creation of Respawn Entertainment
Many of the top lead designers in Infinity Ward quit their jobs and joined Zampella and West in their new studio; after just three months more than a third of the employees of Infinity Ward - most of them leading members of the studio - had voluntarily chosen to leave to work at Respawn (Fritz, Ben and Pham, Alex). The team now assembled, Vince and Jason led the group onward to start a new project that they hoped would be revolutionary. -
Creation of Respawn Entertainment
Soon after Jason and Vince were fired by Activision, the pair created a new studio that they fittingly called 'Respawn Entertainment'. This picture of the two was taken by Mel Melcon soon after they decided to create Respawn. -
Suit is Settled Privately
Instead of letting the case go to court, however, Activision and Zampella and West reached an agreement privately. Both Activision and Zampella and West's attorney released identical statements stating "All parties to the litigation have reached a settlement of the dispute. The terms are confidential" (Snider, Mike). It is suspected that Activision paid them off quite a bit (Snider, Mike), but nothing is known for certain. Picture by: Brian Rubin -
Titanfall Released
Titanfall, is scheduled to release on March 11, 2014 (TitanfallGame). The game has already "gone gold" (which means the game is complete and is in its final stage of production) and is readily anticipated by a mass audience of gamers. Being released for X-Box and PC, Titanfall looks to be a huge hit and Zampella is to be given the credit. He and his team have constructed an amazing product and have battled the odds alone to get to where they are. Titanfall is there legacy, Zampella's legacy.
