14 DAY TRIAL // With Activision already engaged in what is shaping to be a long legal battle with Vince Zampella and Jason West, the ex leaders of developer Infinity Ward, over the issue of unpaid bonuses, abuse of position on the part of the publisher and breach of contract on the part of the two game creators, it seems that the company might have further problems on its hands as a group of 38 other developers who are no longer working for Infinity Ward have filed a lawsuit against the publisher.
Documents related to the new legal action have been obtained by The Feed, a blog linked to G4TV, and show the group, which is self-described as the “Infinity Ward Employee Group,” is saying that Activision has violated the labor code, which governs employment in California and withheld payments linked with the extraordinary commercial success of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
The language used is quite strong at some points, the ex developers stating “in an attempt to keep the employees hostage so that Activision could reap the benefit of the completion of Modern Warfare 3.” Ironically, the publisher says that Zampella and West aimed to hold Activision hostage by refusing to begin work on the next installment in the Call of Duty franchise. Likely, the same argument will be used in this new legal battle.
The Infinity Ward Employee Group is asking for a sum between 75 and 125 million dollars in compensation, revealing that Activision only paid 28 million in bonuses while withholding about 54 million. The group is also hoping to get punitive damages from the videogame publisher.
Bruce Isaacs, the attorney for the ex Infinity Ward developers, told G4, “Activision has withheld most of the money to force many of my people to stay, some against their will, so that they would finish the delivery of Modern Warfare 3. That is not what they wanted to do.” According to the publisher, the new suit is “without merit.”