Ousted Call of Duty creators ink EA deal
Electronic Arts says it still be the sole distributor for titles from Respawn Entertainment, the newly formed studio from ousted Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella.
The ongoing drama between ousted Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella and ex-employer Activision has taken another twist. Monday morning, Electronic Arts announced a deal with the pair to be the sole distributor for their newly formed studio, Respawn Entertainment. According to Zampella, the new studio will be based in the same part of Los Angeles as Infinity Ward, which created the $3 billion Call of Duty series, including last year's $1 billion hit, Modern Warfare 2.
While some studios search for years for a publishing partner, Respawn already has one lined up. Electronic Arts will be the sole international distributor of future titles from the studio under its EA Partners program. For a cut of the sales proceeds, the EA Partners program distributes titles from many top-tier independent developers, including Valve Software (Left 4 Dead 2), Crytek (Crysis 2), and Epic Games (Bulletstorm). The program also distributes MTV Games and Harmonix's Rock Band series; will publish Grand Theft Auto co-creator Dave Jones' massively multiplayer game APB; and has partnered with No More Heroes designer Suda-51's Grasshopper Manufacture.
Read more of "Ex-Infinity Ward heads, EA announce deal" at GameSpot.