"We Treat Our Developers Extremely Well"
Well, it's really going to be tough for Activision that a lot of people left. It's understandable that Mr. Tipple didn't convey any negative comments that may further degrade morale to its remaining troops. Only time and results of the next upcoming games in the Call of Duty series will surely tell the true effect of what has happened.
After most of IW's senior staff left, one can only imagine what the future holds for Activision and its subsidiary developer. Also, Activision has been pretty much quiet about the whole affair. Well until now. Here's a quick view of Los Angles Time's interview with Thomas Tippl, chief operating officer and chief financial offcer at Activision:
Q: A few days ago, Infinity Ward lost two other top developers, Todd Alderman and Francesco Gigliotti. Should fans be worried about the future of the Call of Duty franchise now that four of its top developers have either quit or were fired?
Tippl: It’s not a secret that Call of Duty has been one of the most successful franchises in the industry. The franchise plays an extremely important role within the overall plans for Activision. A couple of weeks ago, we announced we will get more focused with a dedicated Call of Duty business to rally the best talent of the company against the opportunity that Call of Duty presents for the company. We’ve had multiple studios working with the franchise so we can come up with innovative, new content every year. Nobody should be surprised that we will continue to focus disproportionately against the franchise.
Q: What's going to happen at Infinity Ward? Word on the street is that the studio lacks leadership and direction.
Tippl: We have interim leadership in place. We have two senior execs currently: Steve Pearce, our chief technology officer, and Steve Ackrich, who is the head of production for the company. We are currently in the process of configuring the new leadership team there. Infinity Ward still has nearly 100 people. They’ve built a deep bench, and the change of guard will provide an opportunity for some of the rising stars to put their own stamp on the Call of Duty franchise. In addition, we will provide them with all the resources internally and recruit talent from the outside.
Q: There's a lot of sympathy out there for West and Zampella expressed on fan sites and gaming sites. But Activision is being painted as a greedy corporate overlord. How does this sit with you?
Tippl: We treat our developers extremely well. We have an independent studio model that provides them a lot of creative freedom while we take care of the back office stuff so they can focus on making games. If their games are successful, they are compensated better here than anywhere else. We’ve been paying our talent millions of dollars for their work. Our setup provides a win-win opportunity. We ensure your work will reach a wide audience. Therefore, we have attracted, and we will continue to attract, the top talent in this industry.
Well, it's really going to be tough for Activision that a lot of people left. It's understandable that Mr. Tipple didn't convey any negative comments that may further degrade morale to its remaining troops. Only time and results of the next upcoming games in the Call of Duty series will surely tell the true effect of what has happened.
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