Yesterday's news that a third lawsuit had originated from the ongoing Infinity Ward / Activision breakup wasn't exactly a shocker, and a handful of revealing tidbits have surfaced from the depths of the legalese. We retrieved a copy of the latest lawsuit's full complaint document (found below in the gallery) and spent the evening scouring it for details on yesterday's allegations.
For instance, approximately 21 of the 38 members of the "Infinity Ward Employee Group" have already left IW, with the remaining 17 still employed at the studio (or being "held hostage," as their complaint document puts it). All 38 group members are seeking anywhere from 10.8% ($98 million) to 13.6% ($123 million) of the $900 million in profit the suit claims Activision has earned on Modern Warfare 2 sales since it debuted last November -- a percentage claimed to have been worked out previously between said IW employees and Activision, under the "Bonus Pool Agreement" (the "BPA" is said to be "based on incomes earned from MW2," though nothing more specific is spelled out). Furthermore, the group is seeking "bonus/royalty/profit participation" from MW2's "sister games," which includes not just Call of Duty: Modern Warfare - Reflex, but also Modern Warfare 3, "if MW3 is ultimately delivered and marketed."
Additionally, the suit alleges that, on March 26 of this year, Activision "made a partial payment of Infinity Ward's Fourth Quarter of 2009 Bonus Payment" (an undisclosed amount). When asked by employees "how much payments would have been had Activision not fired West and Zampella," representatives said they "would have received approximately 2.5 times the amount they were paid." This stands in stark contrast to claims made recently that IW employees who stay with the studio would receive larger bonuses.
Reader Comments (32)
Posted: Apr 28th 2010 12:44PM Victoryismine52 said
we have the less poppular "nobody poops but you" in our house.....
This makes me think that Kotic is Catholic..
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This makes me think that Kotic is Catholic..
Posted: Apr 28th 2010 12:20PM Abalistar said
Honestly, I don't think they care. At the moment, Call of Duty is a much more valuable name than Infinity Ward is. Of course that'll only be true for a couple more titles, but since they own the name Infinity Ward, they can always just keep that running and fool the average buyer... at least for a few years.
And unfortunately, by the time this could all bite them in the ass, they'll have moved onto the next franchise milking and CoD won't matter as much anyways.
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And unfortunately, by the time this could all bite them in the ass, they'll have moved onto the next franchise milking and CoD won't matter as much anyways.
Posted: Apr 28th 2010 10:11AM itskrislol said
Look I'm all for IW getting money, but now that you've left Activision you can't seriously be expecting royalties on a game that hasn't yet been announced/released.
For me, THAT is too far.
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For me, THAT is too far.
Posted: Apr 28th 2010 10:15AM itskrislol said
I'll add an addendum: the only way ex-IW could get royalties from Activision would be if Activision used the same engine/whatever for MW3 as they did for MW2/Reflex/etc.
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Posted: Apr 28th 2010 12:19PM commonperson said
Here's the thing, if the contract states that they are entitled to product based on the IP which they worked on then yes they can. From what the documents from their side of things imply Activision promised them this. So ol' Bobby's Boys dug their own graves on this one it would seem.
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Posted: Apr 28th 2010 12:45PM itskrislol said
@commonperson, I can get what you're saying, but I have 2 problems with that argument.
First, you'd have to be a special kind of idiot to sign a contract that states, in essence, "you'll retain the rights to your IP while you work here and if you quit, but we'll own the rights if we fire you." It doesn't make any sense, because even if you DO quit, they could say "you can't quit you're fired, oh and we're keeping IW/MW/COD because it says we fired you instead of you quitting."
Second, I don't think they did have that written in their Activision contract because I don't think they would have made the deal with EA that they did (retain rights to IP, not just a dev).
But then again, I can't say one way or another, it just seems silly that IWEG would try and get money on future games THAT THEY WON'T EVEN WORK ON.
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First, you'd have to be a special kind of idiot to sign a contract that states, in essence, "you'll retain the rights to your IP while you work here and if you quit, but we'll own the rights if we fire you." It doesn't make any sense, because even if you DO quit, they could say "you can't quit you're fired, oh and we're keeping IW/MW/COD because it says we fired you instead of you quitting."
Second, I don't think they did have that written in their Activision contract because I don't think they would have made the deal with EA that they did (retain rights to IP, not just a dev).
But then again, I can't say one way or another, it just seems silly that IWEG would try and get money on future games THAT THEY WON'T EVEN WORK ON.
Posted: Apr 28th 2010 10:14AM (Unverified) said
Seeing all this lawsuit stuff go around makes me want to join the party.
Can I sue Infinity Ward for emotional distress and defamation after having to deal with how they butchered the prestige of the Modern Warfare name with the campaign in Modern Warfare 2?
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Can I sue Infinity Ward for emotional distress and defamation after having to deal with how they butchered the prestige of the Modern Warfare name with the campaign in Modern Warfare 2?
Posted: Apr 28th 2010 12:39PM TraceurRyuk Prepping for LBP2 said
I agree, it was more fun. But the COD4 campaign was still better…
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Posted: Apr 28th 2010 10:18AM (Unverified) said
"Oh boy, I’d probably use this all the time if I knew how to write. Thank you Frylock, that is so sweet."
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Posted: Apr 28th 2010 12:03PM (Unverified) said
"teachers don't want to come here to...ahhhh!"
*gets lifted up by static electricity*
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*gets lifted up by static electricity*
Posted: Apr 28th 2010 10:20AM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said
sadly, this sis going to be a long drawn out procedure, one that could take a turn for the worse, if activision files some sort of stop order for any game being worked on by the employees that left in a few years. One thing is certain, it will be the next console generation before this is close to being over
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Posted: Apr 28th 2010 6:29PM Crusty Magic said
I agree. Activision is going to drag this thing out for as long as they can.
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Posted: Apr 28th 2010 12:22PM leobebes said
Don't mean to go off topic, but what I am about to say is somewhat related. I know there is a perception that many mainstream gamers won't care who makes the next Call of Duty or Modern Warfare and will buy it up because they don't know better about the history of IW or the current situation at Activision, but I will tell you this every other match I have noticed someone talking about this one situation, sure the details get muddied up during the matches but one thing is clear there is a lot of talk among the players in matches stating the next Call of Duty might suck ass.
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Posted: Apr 28th 2010 12:55PM itskrislol said
Unless the next Call of Duty is labeled as the second coming of Christ, chances are I won't buy it.
Wasn't really a fan of COD3 and while WaW had a good multiplayer, I was far too bored/tired of the WW2 genre and maybe I took it out on Treyarch, but it could also be that since I had Modern Warefare the year before, going back to WW2 seemed like such a halfassed effort. IW clearly can make a decent new story, why does Treyarch have to rehash WW2 stories? I'll go further and say that if the next COD takes place in any past war (real or fictional), I definitely WON'T be buying it.
I don't want to shoot at people with historical weapons, I WANT TO FIRE SHOULDER MOUNTED MISSLES.
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Wasn't really a fan of COD3 and while WaW had a good multiplayer, I was far too bored/tired of the WW2 genre and maybe I took it out on Treyarch, but it could also be that since I had Modern Warefare the year before, going back to WW2 seemed like such a halfassed effort. IW clearly can make a decent new story, why does Treyarch have to rehash WW2 stories? I'll go further and say that if the next COD takes place in any past war (real or fictional), I definitely WON'T be buying it.
I don't want to shoot at people with historical weapons, I WANT TO FIRE SHOULDER MOUNTED MISSLES.
Posted: Apr 28th 2010 3:57PM (Unverified) said
True, I have heard people talking about it on xbox live.
Everyone on Joystiq should try to get the word about this, and Activision's mistreatment of IW.
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Everyone on Joystiq should try to get the word about this, and Activision's mistreatment of IW.
Posted: Apr 28th 2010 1:15PM iceveiled said
3 lawsuits simultaneously. These guys are gonna be spending more time in court rooms and board rooms meeting with an army of lawyers than they will be working on a new game. The lawyers fees will probably be more than the bonuses they missed out on.
But hey. Do what you like.
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But hey. Do what you like.
Posted: Apr 28th 2010 9:30PM (Unverified) said
Activision is FULL OF POO!
(oh we'll pay employees who stay with us larger bonuses, that comment is FULL OF POO!)
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(oh we'll pay employees who stay with us larger bonuses, that comment is FULL OF POO!)
Posted: Apr 28th 2010 10:20PM (Unverified) said
Now that should really be one of the reason's they are suing. "We want 500 million dollars on the grounds that Activision if FULL OF POO!"
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