On Tuesday, Activision filed an amendment to its case against former Infinity Ward bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella, adding a number of additional defendants, including rival publisher Electronic Arts. The new cross-complaint alleges that West and Zampella conspired with EA to have the two break their contract with Activision, which still had two years left. The cross-complaint also adds the Creative Artists Agency and the law firm Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown to the list of defendants.
Activision claims that the negotiations between the defendants began as early as July of 2009, almost eight months before the two gentlemen were fired from the company. It says that EA and the Creative Artists Agency encouraged both employees to break their contract with Activision "with full knowledge that the executives were under contract and legally committed to Activision for more than two additional years."
Activision also claims that EA “conspired to set up an independent company staffed by key Activision employees, including designers, programmers, artists, and others from Activision’s Infinity Ward development studio, thus draining the studio of talent and potentially delaying future Call of Duty games."
"The unlawful conduct came from the highest levels at Electronic Arts, including EA Chief Executive Officer, John Riccitiello, and Chief Operating Officer, John Schappert, with direct support from the high profile talent agency, Creative Artists Agency, and even a former member of Activision’s Board of Directors and former Activision lawyer," the amendment continues.
The publishers says it has new documented evidence of the dealings including a secret meeting between West, Zampella, and EA CEO John Riccitiello on August 28, 2009. West and Zampella's new startup, Respawn Entertainment, is currently signed with EA's Partners label.
The lawsuit also details West and Zampella's dealings with Call of Duty development partner Treyarch. The suit alleges that the pair, knowing that they would be heading to a new company under EA's wing, purposefully set out to sabotage Activision and Treyarch's efforts with Call of Duty: World at War. An excerpt from the suit reads:
"On the same day that Treyarch released a video trailer promoting a follow-on product – a 'map' pack or 'downloadable content' – designed for players of Treyarch’s game Call of Duty: World at War, West and Zampella released a marketing video for Modern Warfare 2 with the purpose of hurting Treyarch’s and Activision’s marketing efforts."
Far from being remorseful, West attempted to justify his actions on the grounds that Treyarch had insufficiently coordinated with Infinity Ward by stating: “We released on the same day as you because we had no clue you were releasing anything. We are not happy about it.”
Activision details a following series of text messages between West and another Infinity Ward employee, allegedly showing the two conspiring to release a marketing video for Modern Warfare 2 on the same day as a trailer for a map pack add-on for World at War.
The publisher is looking for $400 million in damages from EA, West and Zampella. Activision cites a loss of profits, disruptions in its publishing schedule, and cost incurred from rebuilding Infinity Ward. Further information on the cross-complaint can be found at Gamasutra.
Update: Electronic Arts has now responded to the lawsuit, calling it a petty PR play. "This is a PR play filled with pettiness and deliberate misdirection. Activision wants to hide the fact that they have no credible response to the claim of two artists who were fired and now just want to get paid for their work," said EA corporate spokesman Jeff Brown to the L.A. Times.
