Travicity
01-14-2011, 10:11 PM
Following the great Infinity Ward Purging of 2010, we all know Call of Duty creators Jason West and Vince Zampella ended up forming Respawn Entertainment and signing a publishing deal with EA Partners. But according to THQ core games boss Danny Bilson, it very nearly turned out differently -- and would have expect for one demand THQ couldn't meet.
"We were one deal point away from signing [Respawn]," Bilson said to Wired at a New York City event earlier this week. "I saw [West and Zampella] recently, and they said it was that only one deal point, one that I wouldn't cave on." That deal point was about IP ownership: West and Zampella wanted to own the IP they created, and THQ couldn't agree to that demand.
"My responsibility to our stockholders and to my CEO and the company is to build an IP library," Bilson said. And apparently it came down to not wanting to set a precedent that would "open the doors for everyone else to say, 'I wanna own it too.'" Zampella confirmed Bilson's account, saying they had "serious discussions" with THQ but "frankly, after what we'd just been through with Activision, owning the IP we were going to create was important to us. Unfortunately, THQ did not want to agree to that."
Electronic Arts, however, did -- EA Parters will publish whatever new franchise West and Zampella create, but Respawn Entertainment will still own the rights to it.
1UP
"We were one deal point away from signing [Respawn]," Bilson said to Wired at a New York City event earlier this week. "I saw [West and Zampella] recently, and they said it was that only one deal point, one that I wouldn't cave on." That deal point was about IP ownership: West and Zampella wanted to own the IP they created, and THQ couldn't agree to that demand.
"My responsibility to our stockholders and to my CEO and the company is to build an IP library," Bilson said. And apparently it came down to not wanting to set a precedent that would "open the doors for everyone else to say, 'I wanna own it too.'" Zampella confirmed Bilson's account, saying they had "serious discussions" with THQ but "frankly, after what we'd just been through with Activision, owning the IP we were going to create was important to us. Unfortunately, THQ did not want to agree to that."
Electronic Arts, however, did -- EA Parters will publish whatever new franchise West and Zampella create, but Respawn Entertainment will still own the rights to it.
1UP