Going beyond the ‘Call of Duty’: Game creators launch company

April 14, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES

In the video-game world, “respawn” means a character that was killed off has come back to life.

So when two of the top creative talents in the industry form a new independent company called Respawn Entertainment, they are sending an unmistakable message to colleagues, competitors and fans.

The pair, Jason West and Vincent Zampella, who played key roles in the development of the multibillion-dollar military shooter franchise “Call of Duty,” have been embroiled in a bitter dispute with their former employer, Activision Blizzard Inc., which fired them a month ago in a move that shook the industry with the force of a rocket-propelled grenade.

West and Zampella first responded by suing Activision for more than $36 million. On Monday, they made their next move with the announcement that they are forming a new game studio and hooking up with Activision’s chief rival, Electronic Arts Inc., which will have exclusive distribution rights to their next creation.

The company is initially being funded with several million dollars in seed capital by EA, according to people familiar with the situation. In a typical publishing deal, developers are given money by a publisher up front that they can earn back from the game’s sales revenue.

In a rarity for the highly corporatized video-game world, however, West and Zampella will own and have full control over the intellectual property they create.

“This is a total reset,” Zampella said. “We’re starting again from ground zero. It’s daunting and exciting.”

West and Zampella are among a handful of creators well-known by video-game players. Their creation of a company is roughly equivalent to the shake-up in the film business when Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen formed DreamWorks Studios in 1994.

The move, a rare bet on individual talent in an industry usually focused on big brand names, means there will be a major new title competing for gamers when Respawn finishes its first product in two or three years.