14 DAY TRIAL // When bouncers declining to tell who they were working for showed up at the offices of developer Infinity Ward, it seemed like something out of a bad gangster movie.
Then, we found out that Vince Zampella and Jason West, co-founders of the developer and the main leaders of the studio that produced the Modern Warfare saga, were unemployed and that Activision Blizzard was reconfiguring the Call of Duty franchise, talking about Sledgehammer Games being brought in to create an installment for 2011 and about a free-to-play MMO based on the series coming to Asia.
Now, further details about the conflict are coming out. Apparently, Activision suspects that both West and Zampella were interested in moving to a rival company.
These are a few of the things Activision Blizzard is seeking as part of its investigation of Infinity Ward, as revealed by G4: “Documents regarding past, current or future IW projects, including but not limited to any and all businesses analyses of future projects;” “Documents regarding any potential 'spin out' of IW, including but not limited to any communications with IW employees, West or Zampella regarding forming a new studio independent of Activision” and “Documents regarding West and Zampella's communications with Activision's competitors, including but not limited to Electronic Arts.”
After those precipitous events, it seemed that things would cool down, as publisher Activision fired off a lawsuit aimed at the former employees claiming they had not performed their duties while the pair counter sued claiming that they had been denied royalties and that the company had abused its position.
West and Zampella originally worked for Electronic Arts, where they created the Medal of Honor series, and then jumped ship. It seems that Activision believes they planned to do the same after Modern Warfare 2, taking the name with them while leaving it with the rights to use Call of Duty for future titles.