Mar 4, 2010
After the chaos between Activision and Call of Duty developers Infinity Ward, Jason West and Vince Zampella, former heads and founders of Infinity Ward have filed suit against Activision over claims of unpaid “substantial royalty payments.”
Earlier this week, West and Zampella were fired from their positions as studio heads by Activision, citing an investigation of insubordination.
However, in the court documents as uncovered by Kotaku, the duo’s attorney claims elsewise.
“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 the pair’s attorney, Robert Schwartz, of law firm O’Melveny & Myers. “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.”
It’s quite clear that West and Zampella aren’t going to take this lying down. In addition to seeking the unpaid royalties, they are also looking to obtain the contractual rights granted to them by Activision to control Modern Warfare-branded games. It is yet unclear whether it’s to make more Modern Warfare-branded games without Activision, or simply to control the name so games can’t be made without their input remains to be seen.
“We were shocked by Activision’s decision to terminate our contract,” Jason West told Kotaku. “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.”
“After all we have given to Activision, we shouldn’t have to sue to get paid”, Zampella adds.
Update: Activision has responded to the lawsuit, via an emailed statement.
“Activision is disappointed that Mr. Zampella and Mr. West have chosen to file a lawsuit, and believes their claims are meritless. Over eight years, Activision shareholders provided thexe executives with the capital they needed to start Infinity Ward, as well as the financial support, resources and creative independence that helped them flourish and achieve enormous professional success and personal wealth.
“In return, Activision legitimately expected them to honor their obligations to Activision, just like any other executives who hold positions of trust in the company. While the company showed enormous patience, it firmly believes that its decision was justified based on their course of conduct and actions. Activision remains committed to the Call of Duty franchise, which it owns, and will continue to produce exciting and innovative games for its millions of fans.”
According to an internal memo at Activision reported by G4TV who originally broke the story on Ward & Zampella leaving Infinity Ward, Activision is seeking documentation of West and Zampella’s alleged communication with other publishers, specifically naming Electronic Arts as one such possible company.
Me and a friend of mine where joking about the EA thing, saying it'd be funny if they ended up back there. Maybe there was something going on this whole time, who knows.