Zampella/West claim Modern Warfare

By Fred Dutton Published 4 April, 2011

Former IW heads accuse Acti of fraud.

Sacked Infinity Ward bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella could be entitled to hold onto the Modern Warfare brand should their lawsuit against Activision be successful.

The duo have added two claims of fraud to their list of grievances against their former employers, insisting that Activision never intended to honour a contract they signed in 2008.

According to a Gamespot report, this Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was drawn up to "address issues of significant concern to West and Zampella, particularly in the area of creative authority over the Modern Warfare games and the creation of a look, feel, and brand for the Modern Warfare games."

West and Zampella claim the deal gave them final say over any future Modern Warfare titles, as well as a healthy bonus package.

However, there was allegedly a stipulation in the memorandum that stated the deal was subject to the pair's continued employment by the publisher. When questioned about this bit of small-print, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick allegedly told them, "Don't worry about it. It's impossible for you guys to get fired."

Because of Kotick's promise, Zampella and West didn't seek more stringent wording and signed the contract, believing they were safe. However, the pair are now claiming Activision never intended to honour the agreement.

"While paying lip-service to West's and Zampella's creative authority, in 2008 and thereafter, Activision began secret development of Modern Warfare and Call of Duty games and related products, and undertook other conduct in relation to these two video game franchises that, under the MOU, required prior approval from West and Zampella," read the complaint.

"Activision did not inform West or Zampella of such plans or seek their input or approval for them. Indeed, while breaching the creative authority provisions of the MOU, Activision continued to pay lip-service to them, in an attempt to mask its secret development efforts."

According to a legal representative for West and Zampella, if the court sides with them it will mean they co-own the Modern Warfare brand with Activision, giving them free rein to release franchise titles under their own steam.

Recent reports suggest that Sledgehammer Games is currently working on a new Modern Warfare title for Activision.

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About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (26) Latest comment 10 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Jonny5Alive7 #1 1 year ago

    Doesn't sound like they have much chance of nicking it then if Activision have it in a contract. If they just take somebody's word for it then its there own fault really.

  • Cataferal #2 1 year ago

    Entitlement to the "Modern Warfare" brand would be a massive coup d'état for West and Zampella. It'd also likely put a warm glow in the cheeks of EA's marketing team, who would now have more leverage in their bid to be No 1 in the FPS market. These are pretty high stakes.

  • HisDudness #3 1 year ago

    How about

    Cry of Obligation: Contemporary Kombat

  • TheTingler #4 1 year ago

    Unless they have some actual proof that Kotick said this or Activision did that, then they don't have much of a chance really. I also doubt Activision will let them get the Modern Warfare brand - even if it means just paying them off.

  • metalangel #5 1 year ago

    They took Kuntick's word for something? Ohohoho! I wonder if a worried Bungie are now furiously re-reading their own contract...

  • RoaringPanda #6 1 year ago

    That would be a tasty little outcome for them if they snag that!

  • shave_my_donkey #7 1 year ago

    why wont kotic just die

  • zubnut #8 1 year ago

    Harsh donkey!
    I do love this ongoing little soap story though.

  • O11Y #9 1 year ago

    Does this mean that there will no be two versions of Modern Warfare from different publishers? I can hardly wait for the day when Battlefield: Modern Warfare faces off against COD: Modern Warfare. Stick-my-head-in-an-oven time.

  • man.the.king #10 1 year ago

    From the point of view of my wallet, both parties are fighting over a dead horse anyway.

  • DRUNK3N-_-DRAGON #11 1 year ago

    actavision give them bck there modernwarfare because you know its better in there hands... geniuses they are!
    neggd for supporting the people who created moderwarfare? IDIOTS!
    Edited by DRUNK3N-_-DRAGON at 06/04/11 @ 02:11

  • Rack #12 1 year ago

    I reckon Activision will have run the title into the ground long before this ever concludes anyway.

  • icematt12 #13 1 year ago

    In all honesty, EA releasing a MW3 would be quite a blow. It doesn't even need CoD in the title to get fans interested by the name alone, besides on my XMB there is no mention of Call of Duty for Modern Warfare 2 anyway. Those 3 little words certainly look like a last minute addition to me, maybe Acti did have plans to screw these guys back then.

  • coolbritannia #14 1 year ago

    I shudder everytime someone mentions Bungie in these articles. Activision have a deal to publish one Bungie IP, that's it. They could no more fuck over Bungie as i could reach into your screen right now and rip your spine out through your stomach.

  • ubergine #15 1 year ago

    OH MY GOD! MY SPINE!

  • Zaiz #16 1 year ago

    Oh gosh, I don't want them to get it back. Do something new and different, and if its good they'll be able to prove that CoD is all them.

  • Inmediasress #17 1 year ago

    The gaming industry is starting to get really laughable. There is no week where we dont hear that a developer sues another or a publisher for some idiotic claim that xy stole or changed something. Why don't they just simply ask for money then be denied and go home crying. I find it really ridiculous. Then people wonder why is the gaming industry so mainstream. I guess it gets mainstream if all the dev/publishers have $signs in their pupils.
    Edited by Inmediasress at 05/04/11 @ 07:33

  • Subdominator #18 1 year ago

    Would not be cool if Bungie realized now that they do indeed have full ownership and creative control over their next IP - for as long as they are employed by Activision. But never go to bed with the devil.

    As for West/Zampella: I think they have a pretty weak case here. It will all come down to whether or not Activision's accusations are legit. If they are (and evidence of emails from West to EA suggest they are) then they will have nothing in the end. And somehow with Kotick being the sliy bastard that he is I seriously doubt he would fire West and Zampella without having proof. That man is everything people say about him but he isn't stupid.

    #14 Of course they can. They can slowly dry them out, forcing them to sell company shares to Activision in exchange for more development money. Bungie is a pretty big company nowadays and bills have to be paid. If Bungie misses milestones (and they aren't exactly known for being a fast developer) they could be in serious financial trouble. If their next IP should fail ... TBH I think it's stupid to abandon a popular franchise that pays the bills. History is full of shaddered careers due to this. Imagine McDonalds abandoning burgers because the employees want to make pizza instead. It's ridiculous, you stick with what is popular and earn money with it for as long as possible. Bungie leaving Halo will hunt them badly in the coming years.
    Edited by Subdominator at 05/04/11 @ 08:37

  • DwarfyP #19 1 year ago

    I'm sure when Kotick said they couldn't get fired it was before he ever thought of those two going off talking about new things to EA while working for ActiBlizzard.

    Those two broke their contract in spectacular way, I hope the courts dismiss their claims. Smug bastards.

  • Golgo #20 1 year ago

    That would save them the bother of having to come up with 'an exciting new IP in military themed FPS'.

  • geeza2020 #21 1 year ago

    Does anyone care about this anymore?

  • richthebrief #22 1 year ago

    The full cross complaint is linked to by IGN and refers to a breach of creative control that Zampella/West had been promised. The Memorandum of Understanding that Z/W relied on when extending their contracts refers to full creative control over any MW title or spin off, and any COD title set in post-vietnam era including near or distant future.

    Z/W were fired in Jan/Feb 2010, so approx 9-10 months prior to Black Ops coming out, so effectively I think part of the complaint refers to the fact that development on this had been started prior to their sacking and developed in secret.Thus, they claim the sacking was always going to happen following the release of MW2 for 2 reasons, to allow Acti to get out of paying bonuses for MW2 which were only due to be paid whilst Z/W were still employed, and in an attempt to stop Z/W claiming breach of contract against Acti when Black Ops was released.

  • kinth #23 1 year ago

    if it means it goes back into the hands of the original IW team( now respawn) and not the shell activision has, then i hope they get it off acti.

    another MW without activison's involvement im certainly all for that. as long as iwnet is gone!

  • Kaminari #24 1 year ago

    Take note, Bungie.

  • alegl5141 #25 1 year ago

    @Zaiz

    Black Ops (360 and PC versions) says hi.

    In other words, CoD will NEVER be all them as they had absolutely no developmental input into the game which has just been revealed as the biggest entertainment based product of 2010.

    I'm sure even IF activision had to share the Modern Warfare brand then they would hardly lose sleep over it. Messers West and Zampella are fools for taking someone like Kotick at their word as opposed to drawing up a contract stipulation. How on earth is it impossible for someone to be fired from a job, unless contracted, regardless of how good they might be.

  • james-mw3-mw3 #26 10 months ago

    MW3, like its predecessors, is a first-person shooter. To give it a competitive edge over other games, Modern Warfare 3 runs at 60FPS! A new Special Ops mode includes one and two player cooperative play with a survival mode and new weapons and perks, so with this Modern Warfare 3 is 100x better than this game.