Jason West, former Infinity Ward president, has left Respawn Entertainment, the company he helped found in 2010 with fellow Infinity Ward founder Vince Zampella, Polygon has learned.
West's departure was, sources familiar with the situation tell Polygon, not related to any issues at the studio, but rather family related. Multiple sources say that West has been gone for some time.
West and Zampella left Infinity Ward in 2010 amidst accusations of corporate espionage, employee mistreatment and broken promises. Their spectacular break up with Activision resulted in a series of lawsuits filed by and against the duo. A settlement was reached in the billion dollar lawsuit last summer. The terms of that settlement were strictly confidential according to an Activision statement.
West and Zampella formed independent studio Respawn Entertainment in 2010 with many of the Infinity Ward employees who resigned in the aftermath of the suits. As of 2011, the studio was working on an EA-published, sci-fi shooter, according to EA Games Label president Frank Gibeau who mentioned the game at that year's E3.
Just last week, Zampella took to Twitter to announce that the studio would be at E3 this year. While a Respawn representative told Polygon that they wouldn't be providing any additional details about their appearance at E3, Zampella did tweet that he has "no intention of showing up empty handed."
Last summer, two other high profile Respawn employees left the studio to form their own company. Francisco Gigliotti, former Respawn lead software engineer, and Todd Alderman, former lead game designer, co-founded Scary Mostro in August, according to their LinkedIn profiles. Alderman had been with Zampella and West since their days at 2015, Inc, the studio that developed Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.
Respawn declined to comment for the story.
Update: Respawn Entertainment co-founder Vince Zampella officially confirmed West's departure from the developer on the company's website.
Jason has left Respawn to take care of some family issues. We have worked together on some amazing accomplishments over the years, starting with an early Segasoft project that never shipped. It is sad to see things come to an end, but there are times when change is best for growth, both personally and professionally. I wish Jason the best and send my best wishes to his family. Respawn continues to amaze me, the team here is resilient and talented. E3 will be therapeutic for us, as we finally get to start showing our work again. I know the team was excited about the response we got from just admitting we were going to attend.