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Activision holding back MW2 royalties?

The rabbit hole goes deeper.

The emerging spat between Activision and the heads of Infinity Ward may have been caused by unpaid royalties.

Website BingeGamer (via VG247) was told by a collection of unnamed sources that not a single penny of the $1bn generated by MW2 has been seen by Infinity Ward.

The report also states that the "insubordination" IW bosses Jason West and Frank Zampella appear to have been sacked for was caused by secret discussions with rival publishers.

Infinity Ward partially owns the rights to the Call of Duty IP, and the studio's contractual obligations to Activision end October 2010, the report pointed out.

News broke early this morning that security had arrived at Infinity Ward to give West and Zampella their marching orders, following an internal human resources inquiry.

There's still been no official response by Activision or Infinity Ward.