If you thought the soap opera involving Activision and Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Vince Zampella was over then you’re wrong. Yeah, West and Zampella are suing Activision in the wake of their somewhat unjust and shocking firing and in turn Activision has filed a countersuit. But that is only the start of what could turn into a developer rivalry that harkens to the East Coast vs. West Coast rap battle from the mid 90s. EA has announced today that they’ve signed West and Zampella and the two will head a new development studio named Respawn Entertainment.
West and Zampella joining EA isn’t too surprising as after the pair were fired from Activision there were rumors abound that EA was trying to court them. EA nabbing the duo who gave us Modern Warfare isn’t exactly a coup of sorts but it’s definitely a nice punch to Activision. I just wonder what Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has to say about this news and how much his hair has risen due to anger.
It’ll probably be a long time before we hear or see what EA and Respawn has in store for us but I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait. With the reputation of West and Zampella and EA’s dedication to top Activision, the next few years should be interesting as this developer battle heats up. But in a flight of fancy if a mere title card only teaser trailer of Respawn Entertainment’s first project is shown at E3 this year then I expect that to be the biggest “Holy sh!t” moment of the show.
Aww damnit, I was hoping they were going to name their new studio "FU Activision" lol
Maybe the new game will deal with corporate trickery. "Hey this level looks a lot like the Activision HQ" 
i was hoping they would join some studio like Capcom or Namco. they seem to have gone from one corporate giant to another.
Applauds,this is awesome and i would just like to see bobby K. face when he heard this. Respawn entertainment FTW. I hope they produce some solid stuff,and see other IW artists go to Respawn as more of them left.And seeing a snippet at E3 would be a OMG moment.
