Infinity Ward Co-Founder Is Gone from Activision, Questions Swirl

Ars Technica reports: Last night reports began to spread across the Internet that something was happening at Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward's offices. G4 reported on a tip that uniformed men showed up at Infinity Ward's offices, and refused to answer questions from employees. Soon after, it became clear that cofounder Jason West has left the company, either forcibly or by his own choice.

"Jason West is drinking. Also, unemployed," West's Facebook status read. His LinkedIn profile was also updated, showing his work as president of Infinity Ward as ended. He was with Infinity Ward for nine years and three months.

It seems as if Activision knew this was coming. On Monday, Activision filed a form with the SEC, detailing problems at the developer. "Consistent with past practice, the company intends to release a Call of Duty game in 2010 developed by another wholly-owned studio," it read, in part. "The company is concluding an internal human resources inquiry into breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward. This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation. At present, the company does not expect this matter to have a material impact on the company."

At the moment, all that's known is that Jason West is no longer with the company, and the information contained in the SEC filing. Modern Warfare 2 has been a monster success for everyone involved, selling millions of copies across multiple systems.

Tim Schafer, whose Brutal Legend was dropped by Activision before the company circled back to attempt to profit from the game, commented on the story via Twitter: "Getting mad at Activision for this kind of thing is like getting mad at an ape for throwing feces. It's just how the beast communicates."