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LOS ANGELES, March 3 /PRNewswire/ — O’Melveny & Myers LLP today filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court a lawsuit against Activision Publishing, Inc., on behalf of video game developers Jason West and Vince Zampella. West and Zampella developed two of the most successful videogames in history – Call of Duty and Modern Warfare – at the Infinity Ward studio, a company they co-founded in 2001. After its acquisition by Activision in November 2003, West and Zampella served as president/game director and CEO, respectively. Activision terminated their employment weeks before they were to be paid substantial royalty payments as part of their existing contracts for Modern Warfare 2.

“Activision has refused to honor the terms of its agreements and is intentionally flouting the fundamental public policy of this State (California) that employers must pay their employees what they have rightfully earned,” said their attorney Robert Schwartz. “Instead of thanking, lauding, or just plain paying Jason and Vince for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public, last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual ‘investigation’ into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of ‘insubordination’ and ‘breach of fiduciary duty,’ which then became the grounds for their termination on Monday, March 1st.”

“We were shocked by Activision’s decision to terminate our contract,” said West. “We poured our heart and soul into that company, building not only a world class development studio, but assembling a team we’ve been proud to work with for nearly a decade. We think the work we’ve done speaks for itself.”

Zampella added, “After all we have given to Activision, we shouldn’t have to sue to get paid.”

Modern Warfare 2 is arguably one of the most successful games in history and together with Call of Duty, has generated more than $3 billion in sales for Activision. In addition, Activision seized control of the Infinity Ward studio, to which Activision had previously granted creative control over all Modern Warfare-branded games. The suit was filed to vindicate the rights of West and Zampella to be paid the compensation they have earned, as well as the contractual rights Activision granted to West and Zampella to control Modern Warfare-branded games.

The suit includes claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, wrong termination in violation of public policy, and declaratory relief.

About O’Melveny & Myers LLP

With approximately 1,000 legal professionals in 14 offices worldwide, O’Melveny & Myers LLP helps industry leaders across a broad array of sectors manage the complex challenges of succeeding in the global economy. We are a values-driven law firm, guided by the principles of excellence, leadership, and citizenship. Our commitment to these values is reflected in our dedication to improving access to justice through pro bono work and championing initiatives that increase the diversity of the legal profession. For more information, please visit www.omm.com or www.omm.cn.

SOURCE O’Melveny & Myers LLP

Link: http://www.codboards.com/showthread.php?t=32492

UPDATE-Security-Appears-At-Infinity-Ward-Studio-Heads-Missing-Activision-Investigating-Insubordination

UPDATE 12:02 AM: Double Fine’s Tim Schafer, who had  his own troubles with Activision over the release of Brutal  Legend  recently commented on twitter about what’s  happening between Infinity Ward and Activision.
“Getting mad at Activision for this kind of thing is like getting mad  at an ape for throwing feces,” said Schafer. “It’s just how the beast  communicates.”

UPDATE 11:20 PM: It turns out Activision may have  showed their hand in this matter earlier today.

In a SEC  filing made this morning, Activision cited a human resources  investigation into “breaches of contract and insubordination by two  senior employees at Infinity Ward.”

Based on the information we currently have, at least one of those  employees may have included Infinity Ward CTO Jason West. It’s possible  Vince Zampella is the other unmentioned employee.

“This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel  and litigation,” read the filing. “At present, the Company does not  expect this matter to have a material impact on the Company.”

[B]UPDATE 11:11 PM:[/B] Infinity Ward community manager  Robert Bowling has vaguely addressed the situation. “I should also say, while I appreciate all the calls, tweets,  messages and hearing my ringtone a lot,” said Bowling on his Twitter  account, “they’re in vain – as I have no info.”
More developments on the situation  at Infinity Ward have come to light.

A screen shot surfaced from Infinity Ward CTO Jason West’s Facebook  page report-strange-things-are-afoot-at-infinity-ward-president-ousted”  with the status update “Jason West is drinking. Also, unemployed.” I  can confirm from a source that’s friends with West that update did  actually come from West’s account.

West also updated his linkedin.com and it appears to reflect a change in employment.  “President/Game Director/CCO/CTO Infinity  Ward
January 2001 – March 2010 (9 years 3 months)”
While this doesn’t yet provide much insight into what actually happened  at Infinity Ward, it confirms there are changes afoot at the Call  of Duty developer. As soon as I know more, you’ll know more.

ORIGINAL STORY: Something’s happening at Infinity  Ward right now.

A source close to the g4tv.com, developer just informed me that a “bunch of bouncer-types”  just showed up outside of the Infinity Ward offices unannounced. When  approached by employees, the non-uniformed “bouncers” were unwilling to  disclose why they were there.
“Everyone is on edge,” said my source.

Infinity Ward studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West reportedly  met with Activision this morning and have not been seen by Infinity Ward  staff members since. My source did not delve into specifics, but  described the relationship between Infinity Ward and Activision lately  as “tense.”
The mood around the Infinity Ward offices is currently described as  “freaked out” and “confused.”

“We just wanna make our games,” said my source.

I’ve contacted Activision for comment on the ongoing situation at  Infinity Ward. Stay tuned.

Earlier NEWS release:

kotaku.com  report-strange-things-are-afoot-at-infinity-ward-president-ousted

Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity  Ward is now home to a very strange, currently very unclear story, as g4tv.com  reports that security guards have stormed the developer, with studio  heads currently missing in action.

While that all sounds like scary stuff, there’s very little in the  way of actual detail here. Infinity Ward leads Vince Zampella and Jason  West are reported to have met with Activision earlier today, but have  not been seen since by G4’s sources. The original report describes a  rumored level of tension between Infinity Ward and its owner/publisher,  but does not explain the source of that friction.

Look, we don’t know what’s up yet, but we’ve reached out to  Activision PR and Infinity Ward’s main communicator Robert Bowling for  comment on G4’s report. The latter has been uncharacteristically quiet  on his Twitter account  today, if that means anything.

We’re well aware by now that Activision isn’t shy about bringing  the hammer down on its owned development studios, with Infinity  Ward’s Call of Duty games still bringing in the 1-billion-worth-of-modern-warfare-2″,  we can’t imagine why Bobby Kotick and company would be so displeased  with its star studio.

Put your rumor protective gear on until we hear  more.

Link: http://www.codboards.com/showthread.php?t=32482

A problem with the PS3 has left many owners unable to access the PlayStation Network or, worse, play many games – including this week’s number one title, Heavy Rain.

PlayStation 3 owners worldwide are reporting that they’re effectively locked out of their online accounts and are unable to use any of the PlayStation 3’s online features. An undisclosed number of games have fallen prey to the problem too, presenting perplexed PlayStation punters with a mystifying error code whenever they try to log on.

It’s all because of some kind of ‘calendar bug’, which was triggered as March 1st came around. If that wasn’t already puzzling enough, it seems that this issue only applies to older PS3 models – owners of the sleek new PS3 Slim should be unaffected. Whatever the case, we’re assured that Sony boffins are working hard to ensure that normal service is resumed as soon as possible:

“Know that we have narrowed down the issue and have engineers working to restore service even as you read this. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you, and genuinely appreciate your patience while we work to resolve this,” said a Sony representative earlier.

Alas, there’s no sign of any progress at present and we imagine that patience may become increasingly scarce before too long. Sony is reporting all developments via its Twitter feed, though – see SonyPlayStation for more info.

Link: http://www.codboards.com/showthread.php?p=244112#post244112

In the wake of what many would describe as “The MW2 Fiasco,” it appears some gamers are intent on using everything within their power to prevent such an even occurring again with the upcoming release of Treyarch’s “Call Of Duty 7.”

Such are the feelings for this that an online petition has been created, however this is not what you may remember from the days of petitions damning Infinity Ward left right and center. This petition does quite the opposite, asking for commitments from both parties; the developers and the gamers.

Created by the Call of Duty community’s ibleedv20, the petition asks Treyarch for the following:

Open server files with full server admin for the community to provide responsible and self regulated anti-cheat.

Continued support for “/record” or the CoDTV hook as an enticement for competitive play.

The provision of SDK (map and mod) tools to enable community enrichment.

However, upon signing the petition, the gamers themselves must also make a pledge, as summarised below below:

We the gamer are willing to buy DLC (downloadable content) for Treyarch’s next release.

We the gamer will continue to vigilantly refute and refuse to illegally download copies of the game while willingly accepting secure distribution of the game itself.

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Check out all the requirements and pledges of the petition here: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/cod7pledge/

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However, as we all saw with the previously mentioned Modern Warfare 2, over 200,000 signatures failed to alter Infinity Ward’s view on the subject, and the matchmaking system remained to this day, with not even a hint of changing it. If a number of the magnitude did not have any impact, then I’m sorry but I fail to see how this petition will be any different …

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Please click the link below to comment.

Link: http://www.codboards.com/showthread.php?p=243380