Former Infinity Ward heads sue Activision

Former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella aren’t keen on letting this one slide--not one bit. After Activision fired them for their acts of “insubordination” and “breaches of contract,” West and Zampella filed a lawsuit against their former parent company, with the reason being the “breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, wrong termination in violation of public policy, and declaratory relief."

 

According to the lawsuit posted on PRNewswire, Activision terminated West and Zampella’s contracts weeks before claiming they were to be paid a huge royalty sum of money for their work on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The IW execs’ legal representative had this to say regarding the lawsuit:

 

"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," attorney Robert Schwartz said in a statement. "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 1."

 

Jason West said they “were shocked by Activision's decision to terminate our contract," and stated they “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. “

 

"After all we have given to Activision, we shouldn't have to sue to get paid," Zampella added.

 

Afterwards Activision countered the issue, stating the company is “disappointed” that West and Zampella filed a lawsuit against them, in which they added the former’s claims are “meritless.” Activision also said their 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."

 

The publisher went on to say they “legitimately expected them to honor their obligations to Activision… 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."

 

I expect this drama between Activision and the former Infinity Ward studio heads will continue to escalate as days pass. Expect more content in the future.

 

David Gabriel, NoobFeed