Activision is sued by former heads of Infinity Ward studio
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has led to legal warfare at Activision.
Jason West and Vince Zampella, the former heads of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare development studio Infinity Ward Inc. who were fired Monday, have filed a $36-million lawsuit against publisher Activision Blizzard Inc. alleging wrongful termination and breach of contract.
The complaint, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Wednesday, alleges that Santa Monica-based Activision fired the executives to avoid paying them royalties on the military shooter game Modern Warfare 2, which was released in November and has generated more than $1 billion in retail sales.
“Activision has adopted the corporate strategy of forcing Mssrs. West and Zampella to sue for their pay,” the complaint alleges, “in the hopes of either getting away with not having to pay them anything or maximizing its leverage to reduce that pay.”
Activision released a statement calling the lawsuit “meritless” and claiming that the pair did not “honor their obligations” to the publisher, though it failed to specify what actions led to their dismissal.
“Over eight years,” the statement added, “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.”
Activision completed its $5-million purchase of Encino-based Infinity Ward in 2003, the same year it published the studio’s first title, the original Call of Duty.
In 2008, after the release of Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, the fourth game in the series and a huge hit that has sold more than 13 million units, West and Zampella signed a contract extension through 2011.
The complaint says that it called for them to receive additional royalties and other payments, as well as the right to operate Infinity Ward independently and have creative control over any Call of Duty games set after the Vietnam War.
Previous Call of Duty games without the Modern Warfare subtitle have been set in World War II.
A sequel set for release this fall that is not being made by Infinity Ward is said by people close to the company to be set in the Vietnam War.
The complaint states that Activision launched an investigation of West and Zampella on Feb. 3.
They received a notice of discharge Monday that, the lawsuit alleges, “contained charges that were disproved in the investigation; included events that West and Zampella were never even asked about during the investigation; identified conduct that other Activision executives engaged in with impunity; and cited ‘insubordination’ and alleged conduct from over a year ago.”
The lawsuit asks the court to rule that West and Zampella have creative control over Modern Warfare games, that Activision can’t release Call of Duty games set after the Vietnam War without their approval and that the publisher owes damages of more than $36 million.
