Petition Against The Perpetuation of the Call of Duty Franchise

We, the undersigned, have become increasingly agitated at the conduct of the company Activision Blizzard Inc. in regards to their treatment of the video game franchise Call of Duty, the employees of the founding developer Infinity Ward Inc. (as well as the company itself), and the creative minds behind the creation of the Call of Duty franchise, Vince Zampella and Jason West. Specifically, the undersigned feel that Activision Blizzard Inc. has lost all respect for the integrity and quality that the Call of Duty franchise once had. They now view the franchise as only a device to make profit for their company, as opposed to taking pride in their work and developing the best product they can before releasing it to the public. The grounds for this belief are many, including:

- The hiring of multiple other developers -- Treyarch Invention LLC (hereafter known as Treyarch) and Sledgehammer Games, primarily -- to work concurrently on installments to the franchise.
- The yearly release of major-production Call of Duty games, alternating between releases by Treyarch and by Infinity Ward Inc., and now Sledgehammer Games.
- A shortened development timetable being forced upon the aforementioned developing subsidiaries to fit this yearly release cycle.
- The grounds for the ongoing legal battle between Activision Blizzard Inc. and Vince Zampella and Jason West, as well as numerous other developers that either currently or formerly worked for Infinity Ward Inc. (Specifically, this refers to the yet-unproven claims of insubordination that were the grounds for Zampella and West being dismissed from the employ of Activision Blizzard Inc., the owning publisher of Infinity Ward Inc., as well as the claimed royalty payments not delivered to the employees of Infinity Ward Inc. for their latest product, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.)

For these reasons and more, we, the undersigned, believe that Activision Blizzard Inc. will continue to only utilize and abuse the Call of Duty franchise in this respect (ie. viewing it only as a device to earn more profit for their company). We also believe that Activision Blizzard Inc. believes that the general public is willing to accept this treatment of a beloved franchise and will continue to spend their hard-earned money on it, despite questionable behaviour towards the parent developer and its employees; despite a general decline in the quality of the games in the Call of Duty franchise; and despite a general lack of respect for the consumer or the consumer's concerns about the quality of products being released on the market. We believe that, for a game to be truly exceptional in quality, it must have been entertaining and engaging to develop, and that it is more than just a simple equation of cost versus return. Activision Blizzard Inc. would seem to disagree.

(The last is given credence by statements made by Activision Blizzard Inc. President and CEO, Robert A. Kotick, including, but not exclusive to, the following: The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks that we brought into Activision 10 years ago was to take all the fun out making video games. I think we've definitely been able to instill in the culture the skepticism and pessimism and fear that you should have in an economy like we're in today.)

As such, by signing this petition, we vow not to spend any more money on the Call of Duty franchise, thus declaring to Activision Blizzard Inc. that we, as gamers, appreciate good quality games and compassionate customer service, and that we have certain expectations of respect from those who give us the games that we love to play. We believe that the video game industry is about more than just considering the profit margin, and that games should be worth every cent that we pay towards them.

By signing this petition, we refuse to purchase any game bearing the Call of Duty franchise name, whether released by developer Infinity Ward Inc., Treyarch, Sledgehammer Games, or any of the various other developing subsidiaries which have been tasked with working on this franchise. This begins with the newly-announced Call of Duty: Black Ops currently being developed by developer Treyarch, which is currently scheduled for release on November 9th, 2010. We are tired of being treated like mindless consumers and wish to prove to Activision Blizzard Inc. that not only do we care about the games we spend our hard-earned money on, but that we will not blindly buy the next product in a franchise simply because it is part of said franchise. It is time for Activision Blizzard Inc. to take notice and treat their games, their developers and their customers properly.

We have had enough.