Activision pays $42 million to ex-Infinity Warders, more to come

West, Zampella and the rest are getting their way

Jeremy ProomeMay 15, 2012

For those who may not know, Activision and a bunch of ex-Infinity Ward developers have been having a little tiff since the release of Modern Warfare 2.

A tiff that is worth $1 billion.

So what’s been going on? Basically, the lawsuits have been on-going since March 2010, when then Infinity Ward studio heads, Jason West and Vince Zampella, sued Activision for unfair dismissal and compensation for royalties.

38 other IW employees have also filed lawsuits against the publisher, in relation to (once again) unpaid royalties. These various claims were bundled together and the Infinity Ward Employee Group was created for the purpose of a single lawsuit against Activision.

West and Zampella went on to form Respawn Entertainment (see what they did there?) under the EA umbrella. Activision dragged EA into the lawsuit claiming that Vince and Zampella broke the terms of their employment contracts by meeting with EA while they were still working for Activision.

Respawn managed to attract a number of ex-Infinity Ward developers, notably many whom were embroiled in the lawsuit with Activision, leaving the Activision owned Infinity Ward studio a shadow of its former self.

Now, Activision have apparently paid out $42 million, as the company issued a cheque to the Infinity Ward Employee Group’s lawyers.

This is in addition to an original $22 million already paid out for the promised first quarter launch bonus for the developers.

Activision are now seeking to delay the court battle in order to bring in a new lawyer, as possible costs to the company are hitting the $1 billion mark.