Call of Duty creators’ claim against Activision grows to $1bn

Earlier this week, as reported by Bloomberg, EA settled with Activision over accusations that EA attempted to poach Call of Duty creators, West and Zampella before Activision fired the pair for breach of contract and insubordination in 2010. The West/Zampella vs. Activision case is still alive and kicking, however. Now Develop note that their damages claim for unfair dismissal has grown to ONE BILLION dollars.

West and Zampella initially sued their former employers for $36 million in 2010 for unfair dismissal and unpaid royalties. It was revealed earlier this week that Activision have paid royalties of $42 million to the Infinity Ward employee group, but on Wednesday Giant Bomb dropped a payload in the form of a leaked court document which seemed to suggest that Activision were looking to get rid of the Call of Duty creators way back in 2009.
The document even implied that senior figures in Activision asked members of staff to monitor Infinity Ward’s email exchanges as part of an ominously named “project Icebreaker” plan, a scheme outwardly set up to improve the fractious relationship between the publisher and Infinity Ward.
The West/Zampella vs. Activision trial is set to start on May 29. It’s going to be a massive case. Their dismissal in 2010 prompted a big exodus of developers and programmers from Infinity Ward. Since then, West and Zampella have set up another studio called Respawn Entertainment. In between lawyer meetings and court appearances they’re busy building a team and making a new game.