It looks like the former leadership of Infinity Ward are not going down without a fight. Former Infinity Ward CTO Jason West and president Vince Zampella have officially filed a lawsuit against Activision, according to a press release issued by their law firm, O'Melveny & Myers LLP.
According to the release, West and Zampella were terminated by Activision "weeks" before receiving royalties for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Activision purchased Infinity Ward in 2003.
"We were shocked by Activision's decision to terminate our contract," said West. "We poured our heart and soul into that company, building not only a world class development studio, but assembling a team we've been proud to work with for nearly a decade. We think the work we've done speaks for itself."
O'Melveny & Myers LLP attorney Robert Schwartz is suing Activision in pursuit of West and Zampella's right to compensation for the production and sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and the contractual rights allegedly granted to the duo to control "Modern Warfare-branded games." If seems West and Zampell may be fighting for the right to create Modern Warfare games outside Activision or to prevent Activision from creating Modern Warfare-branded games. Until we have more details, it's difficult to draw a specific conclusion.
Here's the full passage.
"Modern Warfare 2 is arguably one of the most successful games in history and together with Call of Duty, has generated more than $3 billion in sales for Activision. In addition, Activision seized control of the Infinity Ward studio, to which Activision had previously granted creative control over all Modern Warfare-branded games. The suit was filed to vindicate the rights of West and Zampella to be paid the compensation they have earned, as well as the contractual rights Activision granted to West and Zampella to control Modern Warfare-branded games."
"Activision has refused to honor the terms of its agreements and is intentionally flouting the fundamental public policy of this State (California) that employers must pay their employees what they have rightfully earned," said Schwartz in the release. "Instead of thanking, lauding, or just plain paying Jason and Vince for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public, last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual 'investigation' into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of 'insubordination' and 'breach of fiduciary duty,' which then became the grounds for their termination on Monday, March 1st."
According to the release, the suit is alleging "breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, wrong termination in violation of public policy, and declaratory relief."
The implications of this lawsuit are tremendous and far-reaching. Stay tuned for more.
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SilverJC
seems another hit for Robert "Hitler" Kotick is in the making.... Down with the evil emperor!!!!!!
Jeez you google this guy on images and you will find a photo of a bullseye on his forehead. This dude deserves his hate. And if this is true about of the royalties.... Shame on you Activision. After this I may not buy any more games from this publisher, rather will get them some other way. (get the picture)
zenmastersamuraimonk
i hope the heads the ex heads of infinity ward win there case or whatever i personally couldn't care less about what happens to activision.
Philbo1965uk
Good on Activision for removing incompetent warts from IW
hungshortbus
This will be a benchmark case, seeing as Infinity Ward is wholly owned by Activision, but the employees are based in CA, which has a ton of laws protecting from wrongful termination. I also think it's interesting how closely this situation parallels the Itagaki/Tecmo situation from last year.
StuntDouble2483
I just hope that EA, not wanting to be out done by Activision, doesn't see this and think, "Let's fire Zeschuk and Muzyka."
I think my soul would die if that happened...just a little bit.
TOYBOXX
As they say, 'The plot thickens'. Yes, it has indeed. How Activision handled this sort of situation, and how they conduct business as a whole, is unbelievable. It seems that their motto is to make as much money as possible no matter who they screw over, or how many bridges they burn in the process to make money. This type of practice is damaging to the gaming industry.
From the outside looking in Activision doesn't seem like this evil empire that everyone hates. But when you delve into what Bobby Kotick says at various gaming conventions it makes one wonder if they're in the business to make great products for everyone to enjoy, or just to make big money.
Louiedupointedulac
Bobby Kotick is like the antichrist of the gaming world...for all his bussiness savvy, he is just a douche...and i dont wanna buy games from a douche...
skinjob
They should hire Phoenix Wright.
boohoodman
activision is just jealous because they can't make a better game than infinity ward
SageofHalo123330
Anyone who plays on the stock market might want to dump their activision stock. i smell a drop coming.
autofaux
I wonder if Activision even knows how the creative process works. Grabbing the chicken by the neck and forcing it to lay eggs isn't going to improve your profit margins for very long. I hope that West and Zampella win this lawsuit, poach some talent from IW, and tell Activision to shove it.
autofaux
I wonder if Activision even knows how the creative process works. Grabbing the chicken by the neck and forcing it to lay eggs isn't going to improve your profit margins for very long. I hope that West and Zampella win this lawsuit, poach some talent from IW, and tell Activision to shove it.
b10laine2290
F Activision
DerekRD
I can just imagine Patrick banging his head against his desk hoping that they'll stop announcing this stuff just before he gets off work.
Aerindel_Prime
Death to Tyrants!
ricosan
If I were any of the other Activision developers, I would get the eff outta dodge as soon as possible. Even if there was "insubordination", Activision is really hurting itself. Going about holding Zampella and West accountable for what ever they did to warrant said insubordination should be done with a little more grace.
Even if someone were to look at this objectively, they now have all this press that makes Activision look like the bad guy no matter what West and Zampella did.
Nova Kit Fox
IT'S ON LIKE DONKEY KONG!!!!!
Gannandorf
My first reaction is HELLZ YEAH, glad to see they aren't going down w/o a fight, but what scares me is, say they win, and Activision loses the rights to the Modern Warfare series, their second in line cash cow to shoot and milk to death is Blizzard (aka World of Warcraft, and possible to a lesser extent is Diablo & Starcraft). Having been playing WoW since two months after its launch I've already started to see Activisions tentacles making changes to the way WoW proceeds (ex Blizzard store and the haste'nd development) and am deeply terrified that it too, will soon be Guitar Hero'd
Anonymousnow
Good i hope they cripple Activision; i'm tired of seeing corrupt corporations hurting people!
tsglass
Its called great business. Activision let two guys create a game series so well that now they can put any crap on the market with "call of duty" on the cover and sell billions. Then you get rid of the two guys without having to pay them and collect all the money for years to come. Bravo.
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