«If anything, most of the team was feeling even more upset.»
In 2009, Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella were abruptly fired by the company’s owner Activision. West and Zampella had directed the original Call of Duty, and brought the series to superstardom through Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Their sacking just before the release of Modern Warfare 2 shocked the industry, and arguably changed the course of both Call of Duty and the FPS forever.
Now a developer who worked at Infinity Ward at the time has recalled the dramatic events of that day. Paul Sandler, who is currently Lead Designer at NetEase games, wrote am article on Linkedin detailing the day’s events. «Jason and Vince just got fired!» the article starts, in the words of a «lead artist» who broke the news to Sandler while riding a scooter around Infinity Ward’s office. «I just sat there in stunned silence with my eyes wide open,» Sandler recalls. «I stood up from my chair and sad: «What the fuck?…Why?»
Some of what Sandler recalls is familiar from articles written around the time.
