Zampella now "daunted" and "excited"
EA grabbed at "stunning opportunity".
Vincent Zampella has admitted to being nervous about his new Respawn Entertainment venture, having been kicked from multi-million seller Infinity Ward back into the arms of old employer EA.
"This is a total reset," Zampella told the LA Times. "We're starting again from ground zero. It's daunting and exciting."
Jason West and Vincent Zampella announced the formation of Respawn Entertainment this afternoon. EA Partners will have exclusive publishing rights to future titles, but EA does not own the new studio.
West and Zampella had worked for EA on the Medal of Honor series as developer 2015 Inc. but left to join Activision and establish Infinity Ward and Call of Duty.
"It has a certain irony to it," added EA Games boss Frank Gibeau. "But the fact that they were in this situation was a stunning opportunity for us."
Crucially, this new situation allows West and Zampella full ownership of games they create, unlike Modern Warfare 2, over which the pair are suing Activision Blizzard for unpaid royalties.
"We have learned the hard way," said Zampella, "that the best way to ensure the integrity and quality of your work and make sure the fans get what they deserve is to own the intellectual property."
EA Partners boss David DeMartini has told VG247 that Activision "blew up" Infinity Ward by firing West and Zampella. DeMartini added that the media recognises Treyarch as the Call of Duty "B-Team" and that EA will fire its first shot for genre supremacy with Crysis 2, because "we're in this game to win".