Infinity Ward lawsuit going to trial with EA, Activision, West & Zampella

The big "he said, the monolithic corporation said" video games kerfuffle of 2010, the fallout from Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Vincent Zampella leaving Activision then signing up with Electronic Arts, is indeed going to trial. On Wednesday, a California Superior Court judge denied EA's motion for summary judgement on the complex lawsuit, as well as one from West and Zampella, meaning the big Call of Duty mess will go before a jury next year.


West and Zampella were fired by Activision in March 2010, and quickly sued the publisher for unpaid royalties and control over the Modern Warfare brand, created at Infinity Ward. Activision counter-sued in April, saying the pair attempted to undermine IW so it could poach employees for a new studio, and had been in clandestine meetings with a competitor.

A few days later, West and Zampella announced the formation of new studio Respawn Entertainment in April, signing an exclusive publishing arrangement with EA. Forty-odd Infinity Ward members eventually follow West and Zampella to Respawn. A number of people who worked at IW on Call of Duty also sued Activision for up to $125 million in unpaid royalties.

Activision later added EA to its counter-suit, claiming that it had conspired with West and Zampella, and seeking $400 million in damages for contract interference.

With the summary judgement motions from EA and the duo denied, the case will go before a jury on May 7, 2012.

In a statement provided to USA Today, West and Zampella's attorney said, "We are eager to get to trial on May 7 to prove Jason and Vince's case against Activision for firing them without cause and denying them the money they earned. Activision's claims against EA are a smoke screen, seeking to distract attention from Activision's atrocious behavior to Jason, Vince, and the rest of the Infinity Ward team.

http://www.shacknews.com/article/71707/activision-ea-west-zampella-lawsuit-going-to-trial

 

This is so old but I had looked into it a long time ago and I can tell you activision is going to be FUCKEDD when that trial goes under. I doubt they will loose the call of duty franchise since activision can say infinity ward only built part of the franchise the other parts being treyarch and now sledgehammer. Cant wait to see the outcome

 

Call of Duty isn't even going to be worth a court case by then, it's so shit and recycled it's starting to lose hype already.

 

Never saw the post sorry but lets keep it up

 

It's because they are sucking the series dry. Look at what they did with Guitar Hero.

 

Says the guy with a mw2 themed avatar and signature.

 

Oh what? So it looks like MW2 font. I just like the look of it that's all, MW2 is ok but I don't LOVE it. Although my 650 hours on it may state otherwise. I've left COD now anyway.

 

Hmmm...really? Is that why mw3 sold millions more times on launch day compared to how much BF3 managed to in a week. Is that why it surpassed the income of movies such as Avatar and Titanic...yeah, good assumption, the cod franchise won't be worth a court case in a year.

 

Meh. I only stopped buying them because they cost so damn much. Go back to the basics of them without all the shitty frills that new games come with and it would be much better.

 

No COD is slowly starting to fall now. Unless they do something about the reskinned engine then they will lose a lot of customers within the next two years.