The long running law-suit between Activision and Infinity Ward is over as both parties decided to settle matters without involving the court and EA takes the opportunity to comment on how absurd Activision was in the first place.
For those who do not know about the lawsuit that has been going on since 2010, it basically related to two parties, namely Activision and Infinity Ward. The former is the publisher of the Call of Duty series and owns the rights to the IP, while the latter
is the developer of the Modern Warfare series, which is one of the brands that falls under the overall Call of Duty banner.
The dispute was between Jason West and Vince Zampella, two of Infinity Ward’s former employees and the publisher over their untimely sacking. The two men, along with over 40 other employees were made redundant by Activision just before massive royalty payments
were about to be made following the immense success of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
The former employees decided to sue Activision, however, the publisher refused to do so on the grounds that developers had been working to broker a deal with EA, which was a breach of their contract.
The case never made it to court and the attorney for both West and Zampella confirmed that “all parties have reached a settlement in the dispute, the terms of which are strictly confidential.”
EA, who was dragged into the controversy after accusations by Activision, took the moment to criticize their accusers.
"Activision's refusal to pay their talent and attempt to blame EA were absurd.” Before congratulating the developers on earning a settlement claiming it was a "vindication of Vince and Jason, and the right of creative artists to collect the rewards due for
their hard work."
Activision however seemed more worried about their investors following the settlement as they released a statement assuring everyone that it would not have any material effect on their financials.
"The company does not believe that the incremental one-time charges related to the settlement will result in a material impact on its GAAP or non-GAAP earnings per share outlook for the current quarter or the calendar year."
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