38 Infinity Ward Employees File Lawsuit Against Activision

27 Apr 2010 at 23:27:11 by Peter Parrish

G4TV has obtained a copy of a lawsuit filed against Activision by 38 current and former Infinity Ward employees, which the site states makes multiple allegations against the publisher.

The plaintiffs have filed under the name "Infinity Ward Employee Group" (IWEG) and are reportedly seeking unpaid royalties and compensatory damages in the region of $75 million USD to $125 million USD.

We must stress that the lawsuit is not yet freely available to read online*, but according to G4TV the document further alleges that "Activision withheld the property of the IWEG in an attempt to keep the employees hostage so that Activision could reap the benefit of the completion of Modern Warfare 3."

This strong statement essentially suggests that Activision withheld bonus payments from staff in order to force them to work on Modern Warfare 3 against their will.

The IWEG contends that they are still owed substantial royalties by Activision, as the only condition for receipt of those bonuses was the on-time delivery of Modern Warfare 2.

The title met its intended 10 November, 2009 release date.

This new legal twist follows a lawsuit against Activision by former Infinity Ward studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella, and Activision's own countersuit against the pair.

A steady stream of Infinity Ward employees has been leaving the company since March of this year. It now seems inevitable that all of the 38 listed plaintiffs in the IWEG will ultimately depart the studio, if they have not already done so.

In the professional opinion of George Broussard, "Activision is fucked."

An Activision company spokesperson has released a statement in response to the lawsuit which reads: "Activision believes the action is without merit."

*UPDATE: The document is now available for all to read.

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