Background

On March 1, 2010, G4 reported security guards entering the developer’s studio. Infinity Ward (IW) leads, Vince Zampella, and Jason West were nowhere to be seen. On that same day, West, the game director, and IW president updated his Facebook, “no longer employed.” The following day, more details came out in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Activision. It stated, “the company is concluding an internal human resources inquiry into breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward.” Although it didn’t specify any names, Zampella, and West fit the bill.

Activision soon confirmed the firings but didn’t give an explanation. This lead to Zampella, and West suing Activision over unpaid royalties. West stated, "We were shocked by Activision's decision to terminate our contract." "We 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. We think the work we've done speaks for itself."

Details from their lawsuit against Activision emerged, Zampella, West, and Activision publishing president Mike Griffith signed a memorandum of understanding in 2008 that would allow the pair to continue as IW leads, and grant royalties based on MW2 sales. According to the suit, Activision refused to honor these agreements, and they lead the investigation to fire the pair, “before the first Modern Warfare 2 royalty payment would be paid."

Legal Warfare

The 16-page complaint filed by the duo alleged that, "from the very beginning, it was clear that the purpose of the investigation was not to uncover any facts concerning any actual wrongdoing, but to manufacture a basis to fire West and Zampella." "Activision conducted the investigation in a manner designed to maximize the inconvenience and anxiety it would cause West and Zampella," and they were "interrogated for over six hours in a windowless conference room."

The duo’s lawsuit was filed on March 3, 2010. The following day, Activision responded to the lawsuit in email to Kotaku. "Activision is disappointed that Mr. Zampella and Mr. West have chosen to file a lawsuit, and believes their claims are meritless." They claimed that for over eight years, they provided IW the financial support, and resources they needed to become successful. "In return, Activision legitimately expected them to honor their obligations to Activision, just like any other executives who hold positions of trust in the company.”

On April 9, 2010, The Los Angeles Times reported Activision was counter-suing Zampella, and West for scheming to, "hijack Activision's assets for their own personal gain." They also highlighted how Zampella, and West were allegedly taking secret plane trips to meet with one of Activision’s competitors, Electronic Arts. The duo made the Medal of Honor games at EA before moving to Activision to work on the COD series.

Respawn

After the counter-suit, key players, among other employees began to leave IW. Zampella, and West started a new studio, appropriately titled Respawn Entertainment. They signed to exclusively publish games for EA, and their partner program would allow the studio to own the games they make, unlike Activision. About a year later, the majority of the IW crew that worked on MW2 had moved over to Respawn Entertainment. Activision was left with a hollowed out IW studio, missing the people that made the game great.

Conclusion

In 2012, an internal Activision email revealed that the duo were set to receive over $16 million in the year they were fired. In the same email, Mike Griffith stated, "we are paying way too many people way too much," and "we need to find a way to put caps on our bonus payouts." About two weeks later, the duo’s case against Activision had been resolved. Their lawyer stated, "trial is not going forward. All parties have reached a settlement of the dispute. The terms are confidential." Activision’s statement, “Activision Blizzard, Inc. (ATVI) today announced that all parties to the litigation have reached a settlement of the dispute, the terms of which are strictly confidential.”

It’s highly suspicious that these two were fired right after they delivered one of the best Call of Duty games. Activision even boasted about how big its launch was. Their pockets were filled, but they didn’t want to pay the people who made their product. Over the years, Activision’s reputation has declined. They tend to put their bottom line before their consumers, and in this case, they put it before their very own employees. While Activision may take issue with paying its employees, it has no issue paying its CEO with the $28.6 million he made last year, 306 times the median Activision employee.

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