Infinity no more - What's the bigger picture?

The sudden departure of Jason West and Vince Zampella from Infinity Ward set in motion a chain of events that essentially left Activision with the Call of Duty and Modern Warfare brands, but without the creative minds that built the franchise. It's hard to get a grasp of the details of who did what and when at this point, and exactly what is likely to remain of Infinity Ward in the future.

But what I find more interesting is whether this could be a sign of the future. If the creative minds that built this industry will break free from the shackles of the super publisher and truly bring about the age of the super developers. The rise of super developers is nothing new, Valve is the perfect example, and Bungie cutting loose from Microsoft is another example, but what we are seeing with Infinity Ward is a rather glaring example of what can happen if a publisher mistreats their talent. Microsoft opted for another route with Bungie, they let them loose, but they are still getting Halo: Reach and they may even publish future Bungie projects. Meanwhile, Activision has to bank on the strength of the Call of Duty brand and the talent of newly formed Sledgehammer and veterans Treyarch.

Sledgehammer is in fact another example of creative talent moving between EA and Activision's stables. However, there are differences. EA have chosen a softer approach through their EA Partners programme, while Activision prefers to own the studio and everything they develop. The latter is more traditional, but it's also something that has cost EA a lot of talent over the years, and slowly the giant publisher has realised this.

There is a very clear risk for publisher that unless they want to suffer the fate of Activision and Infinity Ward, they may have to give their studios more freedom as well as a bigger share in potential profits.

The fact that Jason West and Vince Zampella sought outside help through The Creative Artist Agency to find a new deal (or if they did indeed seek out a new home before they were forced to leave their old one), is also interesting. Having created one of the biggest earners in entertainment it is only natural that they would seek assistance.

The bottom line is that people make games. These days a lot of people are involved, but there are still those whose creative vision fuels the industry. Publishers publish games, package them, promote them, get them on shelves (or online). It's not as fancy, but equally important from a business standpoint. The relationship between development and publishing has matured over the years, to a point where those financing the development called most of the shots. This has slowly started to change, and perhaps Activision should think about setting up some kind of Activision Partners programme. I don't see many top level studios in their stable these days apart from Blizzard, and when Bethesda picked up Id Software they lost a bit of prestige. And Infinity Ward that used to be their flagship internal studio, well, it's still there, but the question is whether it will be an empty shell in a few months time.

More important than prestige, is perhaps the signal the whole Infinity Ward debacle sends to other developers, both within Activision and outside. If Activision pulled the trigger on West/Zampella, no one is safe. Then again, the jury is still out on what truly happened a few months back at Infinity Ward.

I think executives like Robert Kotick may want to take a look at what they are doing to the creative forces within their companies. Holding on to your wife with both hands on her throat may not be the best way to get a perfectly cooked slice of bacon each morning. I'm not sure just how deep the strangle marks of West's and Zampella's throats were, but they looked elsewhere... and from Activision's standpoint, from the shareholders standpoint, this isn't good. For gamers everywhere, it could be another sign that the creative forces are regaining some of their lost power. And that is most likely a good thing for the future of video games...