Post by Steve Farrelly @ 11:25am 05/03/10 | 26 Comments
According to the report Activision set an internal investigation against the two for acts of "insubordination" and "violations of Activision policies", however, it is alleged the two were cleared of any wrongful claims just prior to their being fired on Monday, sparking an immediate legal response from the two.
They have also filed for complete control of the Call of Duty franchise for any games set after the Vietnam War, demanding that Activision not release any games baring the name without their expressed permission. They have also asked for a payment of "unpaid" royalties in excess of US$36 million.
Activision responded to the lawsuit to the LA Times stating the following:
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 these 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.
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Posted 11:36am 05/3/10
Posted 12:04pm 05/3/10
Posted 12:08pm 05/3/10
The plot thickens.
Posted 12:47pm 05/3/10
Posted 01:19pm 05/3/10
Posted 01:22pm 05/3/10
On a side not, this all but confirms that the next call of duty is set in Vietnam as has been rumoured for some time now.
Posted 01:37pm 05/3/10
Posted 01:38pm 05/3/10
Which neither West or Zampella have any control over. If you read the docs filed you find they define Modern Warfare as post Vietnam. Further, they don't actually disassociate CoD from MW and I think it can be easily established that Modern Warfare is a CoD title. The court may in fact find that they do have control over the "post Vietnam" development of the next X number of games but if Activision doesn't produce or intend to release a "post Vietnam" game under that title they have effectively no control nor any right to it.
If Activision chooses to they will bankrupt both West and Zampella because in the US "Money talks and bulls*** walks". That is how the US legal system works.
Posted 01:39pm 05/3/10
Next up - Call of Duty: American Revolutionary Warfare!
Posted 01:41pm 05/3/10
Yep, can't agree with you more. There are plenty of battles and actions from Vietnam that translate well into the CoD genre.
Posted 01:46pm 05/3/10
Posted 01:46pm 05/3/10
Sad but true. Bankrupt them with the billion odd dollars that these blokes helped earn for activision. Ouch!
The documents posted sound a bit like a cranky childhood rant though, either they're owed money under some contract or they're not. The wrongful termination claim is probably of dubious merit since it looked like there was bad blood well before it came to this. The Activision dude seems to think their lawyers have all the contracts sewn up tight though. Time will tell!
Posted 01:51pm 05/3/10
I'm at the point with CoD now that I was at with MOH, which is f*****g over it.
Posted 01:53pm 05/3/10
Posted 01:59pm 05/3/10
I don't think it sounds like a childs rant at all, I would be pissed off too if I was cheated out of $36 million dollars.
It also states in their contract that they have full creative control over the post Vietnam call of duty title.
It also goes into detail about how their investigation was carried out which states that it even brought some members of the Infinity Ward staff to tears and West and Zampella were told that if they tried to console they that it would count as further acts of insubordination.
It also goes into say that they never actually told them of any specific event that they were investigating and simpy took the you know what you did approach.
I think that they will win this case as it is fairly evident by the actions taken by Activision that they were doing this in order to assume full control over the Call of Duty franchise and to avoid paying the two ex studio heads, it is fairly evident to me that Activision has breached their contract towards the two and I would not be surprised if they walked away with more than the $36 million that they are asking for.
Posted 05:43pm 05/3/10
Posted 07:40pm 05/3/10
Posted 08:21pm 05/3/10
Posted 09:04pm 05/3/10
Posted 09:20pm 05/3/10
That's what they claim. Activision probably sees it differently otherwise it would likely have avoided going to court.
In one of the paragraphs of the document they complain that Activision bought the whole company for $5 million and the product they were making went on to make around $3 billion. It seems like they sold out cheaply to just survive and now they're a bit annoyed about it.
If they have a contract that says they're owed $36 million bucks in royalties then great, I hope they win - but I doubt the beast's lawyers are stupid.
Posted 11:11am 06/3/10
Posted 12:43pm 06/3/10
And they'll start up a new studio and release a game called Brothers of Honor: Medal of Duty
Posted 10:04am 07/3/10
Posted 01:17am 08/3/10
Actvision wouldn't know an exciting and innovative game if it dangled it's dice on their collected foreheads.
Posted 08:48pm 09/3/10
Posted 02:45pm 07/8/10