Activision settles Call of Duty suit
A settlement has been reached in the case involving Activision, Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Vincent Zampella, and 40 ex-Call of Duty developers from Infinity Ward, ending the two-year-old legal dispute.
After a recessed hearing yesterday that allowed the parties to try to resolve their differences, a settlement has been reached in the case involving Activision, Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Vincent Zampella, and 40 ex-Call of Duty developers from Infinity Ward.
The settlement details are confidential, an attorney for West and Zampella told The Verge today. While West and Zampella wouldn't offer comment, The Verge's Michael McWhertor told Twitter that there was a "beaming smile" on West's face.
A statement released by Activision tried to allay any financial analysts' concerns, saying the one-time charges related to the settlement shouldn't impact the company's earnings outlook for the current quarter or the calendar year, citing "stronger-than-expected operating performance in the current quarter."
The deal brings a close to the contentious case, which started almost two years ago. The trial was scheduled to begin tomorrow, with billions of dollars at stake. Shacknews will stay on top of the story and add more details as they become available.
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replyJohn Keefer posted a new article, Activision settles Call of Duty suit.
A settlement has been reached in the case involving Activision, Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Vincent Zampella, and 40 ex-Call of Duty developers from Infinity Ward, ending the two-year-old legal dispute.-
Did anybody really think that Activision/Blizzard was going to let this go to trial? What a PR nightmare that would have been for them.
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I guess they thought they had a chance, or that West and Zampella would get scared. Perhaps Bobby himself was so pissed that he kept the case going out of spite.
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In the past month, some of the details that were disclosed as a part of the trial preparations (Bungie's contract, the alleged "Project Icebreaker" operation to dig up dirt on West and Zampella) were things that Activision probably would've wanted to keep under wraps. This change of position from "hellbent on extracting as much damages from the other party as possible" to "suddenly wanting to delay the trial by a month", followed by "willingly throwing money at the IWEG38 and reportedly in talks to settle with West and Zampella" was a bizarre surprise.
Both sides seem to have gotten what they wanted: West and Zampella received an undisclosed sum of money, the IWEG 38 got at least $42 million, and Activision doesn't risk having any more details about the situation disclosed. This situation just went from "the most thrilling drama about the video games industry" to "another settled case, another bullet point in the news", and gamers wondering if any of the parties involved will actually learn anything from this situation, or have any desire for better standards in game development, game publishing, and studio administration.
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So, what does the rumor mill say about the amounts involved?
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Pretty sure I read/heard somewhere recently that in their financial disclosures for this year Activision had $2B set aside for the purposes of this trial in case things went south.
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They settled out of court. If by "they" you mean Activision, It probably means they did not get away with it and had to pay a lot of money.
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I just looked at your post history - angry much bro?
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Lol what?
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