After the flurry of rumors over the past few days, Activision has confirmed that Infinity Ward’s studio heads, Jason West and Vince Zampella, have been terminated. According to the publisher’s latest press release, the studio will now be run Activision’s own chief technology officer Steve Pearce and head of production Steve Ackrich on "an interim basis."
An amendment to Activision’s annual report also confirmed the existence of an inquiry into the former heads possible "breaches of contract and insubordination" and the possibility of litigation. Of course, these insinuations of insubordination come as no surprise given the history of tension between the two parties.
If any readers were possibly apprehensive about the implications of this shakeup, let your fears be assuaged; Activision-Blizzard claims to "not expect this matter to have a material impact on the Company." Whew, we were worried for a minute there, but if Activision thinks that firing the creators of one of the most successful video game series of all time is a good idea, well, we’re sure they know best.