Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
West & Zampella Add Charges To Lawsuit Against Activision
The legal dust-up between former Infinity Ward minds Jason West and Vince Zampella gets deeper as the pair have tacked on fraud charges to their ongoing lawsuit against publisher Activision.
The pair were already suing Activision over wrongful termination (click here for a round up of the saga), and now West and Zampella are saying (through their lawyer) that unfulfilled and disingenuous promises were made by the company and CEO Bobby Kotick that affected their contract with Activision and their eventual firing.
GameSpot says that the amended complaint states that West and Zampella signed the 2008 Memorandum of Understanding (MOA) continuing their employment with Activision in exchange for promises that they'd get more creative control and royalty payments. When they asked Kotick whether Activision would simply fire them as a way to not have to make good on its end of the deal, Kotick allegedly said, "Don't worry about it. It's impossible for you guys to get fired." The new complaint states that because of these kinds of verbal assurances they didn't push for any amendments to the 2008 MOA, which they signed.
Of course, West and Zampella's fears were realized in March of last year, when they were indeed fired and West and Zampella quickly filing their initial lawsuit days after being terminated. Since then Activision have responded with its own lawsuit, which even includes Electronic Arts, and, of course, the pair have joined with EA and formed Respawn Entertainment.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
