Activision Slapped With Another Infinity Ward Lawsuit

[ddq5]

EA needs to make a fucking game in which a disgruntled IW employee, tired of being molested by Activision, quits and begins investigating the secrets behind the company, only to discover that the entire thing is a cover operation and that Bobby Kotick is actually an evil demon that feeds on money and the suffering of others and plans to devour the world.

I'd buy that.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

I think the real kicker in this article is the size of the figure they're claiming from Activision. 75 MILLION? (at least!) Between 38 people that comes to about 2 million each. And this is just a bonus on their regular salary! Assuming their figures are legit (the grain of salt being that lawsuits are almost always inflated), then these guys are stupidly overpaid.

Regardless of who you believe, this is a clear sign that gaming is in a really decadent age. An utterly generic game breaks a few sales records due to aggressive marketing and a captive audience, and a feud reminiscent of the battles between the record industry and rockstars breaks out over who gets the biggest slice of the pie.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Ouch, someone get Activision a medic! Or a ton of REALLY good lawyers...

An oxymoron surely? Good Lawyers?

Perhaps it won't be Ubisoft that's the first to go under.

 

[ItsAPaul]

Good to see Activision getting their ass handed to them. God they're a terrible company.

 

[Sonicron]

... Ooof. A lawsuit for about half a billion bucks, filed by 38 disgruntled employees. That's gotta be enough of a poke to make even a thick-skinned monster like Activision wince in pain.

 

[DividedUnity]

Please let the employees win this suit. Id love it to see Bobby kotick lose a few dollars off his paycheck

 

[DrScoobs]

Whoa whoa whoa.

Does this technically count as an announcement for MW3? I mean, we all knew it was coming but it hadn't been confirmed...

OT: this has to be the most dramatic downfall of one of the most popular game developers in history... Going from the creator of one of the biggest franchise's ever to the verge of collapse within mere months is... wow.

dont you mean weeks?

 

[Gaming King]

...

I don't even think Phoenix Wright could handle all these court cases...

Calumon: Objection!

COUNTER OBJECTION!! [http://objection.mrdictionary.net/go.php?n=3875993]



So, the people who made Modern Motherfrakking Warfare 2 want EVEN MORE MONEY? Geeze, get a life, Infinity Ward.

 

[Deofuta]

Wow. I wonder if they saw this happening when they sent those security into IW. Personally I'd very much enjoy seeing Blizzard use this wonderfully presented opportunity to sever ties to activision, although I am not knowledgeable if this can be actually done or not, of course.

Oh, and rebuilding Blizzard north would be cool too.

And maybe a couple flying pigs for good measure.

 

[Raithnor]

$75 million?

I'd laugh in there faces if anyone tried to take $75 million from me. I'd tank a company on purpose before I coughed up $75 million... unless I was making a good billion or so. Then I'd settle for it out of court and pony it up, in cash. Which I would arrange to have burned.

Activision is *THAT* big though, the company is worth about 10 Billion right now. A publicly traded company wouldn't allow a CEO to intentionally tank the company, that's a really good way to get sued by shareholders.

 

[Blimey]

Whoa whoa whoa.

Does this technically count as an announcement for MW3? I mean, we all knew it was coming but it hadn't been confirmed...

OT: this has to be the most dramatic downfall of one of the most popular game developers in history... Going from the creator of one of the biggest franchise's ever to the verge of collapse within mere months is... wow.

Come on, you really think they wouldn't milk the Modern Warfare franchise until its lost every last bit of its original shine? This is Bobby Kotick we're talking about.

And I pray, oh how I pray that Activision gets what they deserve. Bobby Kotick's a bastard, and he's sending that company into the shit-house.

 

[philzibit]

$75 million?

I'd laugh in there faces if anyone tried to take $75 million from me. I'd tank a company on purpose before I coughed up $75 million... unless I was making a good billion or so. Then I'd settle for it out of court and pony it up, in cash. Which I would arrange to have burned.

Considering Modern Warfare 3 would be another blockbuster hit, 75 million now is chump change.

 

[CoverYourHead]

Just what the hell happened over there? I really wish I knew the truth.

... This would make for a really good T.V. show, though. *Munches popcorn*

P.S. Woo! Beginning of a new page!

 

[TerribleAssassin]

Who hit the nuclear button? What a shit storm.

Win or lose, on both cases, this is causing some serious damage to Activision. People are complaining that MW2 didn't meet their expectations, wait until MW3 is made by Popcap...

Do you mean IW? Cause chavs dominate my servers on MW2.




I think, that Activision will easily win. Right or wrong.

 

[Asehujiko]

Well activision are screwed anyone up for placing bets on how long it is before the company goes bankrupt?

At this rate they aren't paying anything at all beyond the costs of filing their countersuits.

 

[Alar]

Good to see Activision getting their ass handed to them. God they're a terrible company.

As long as they don't take Blizzard with them. I pray to whatever benevolent beings, spirits, or deities out there that if Activision starts to tank and wants to sink their teeth even further into Blizzard to pull out the profits that some other company will buy them out and let Blizzard do things the way they always have (even if they have seemed a bit more into the money than usual, which sounds silly because they are a business and businesses exist primarily to make money).

 

[squid5580]

Ouch, someone get Activision a medic! Or a ton of REALLY good lawyers...

I'm sure they have the latter part quite covered already. It's WAY too early to talk about which way this battle's gonna turn, especially since I'm positive Activision's got a ton of loopholes and technicalities lined up for exploitation already, but with such a RESOUNDING backlash from Infinity Ward I have a hard time seeing how a judge is going to side with Activision. When it was just West and Zampella it seemed like there was some ambiguity, like MAYBE they could've been sneaking around behind Activision's backs like they were trying to claim, but they'd need some of the employees at Infinity Ward to testify against them to really run those claims home, and... it doesn't look like the other guys at Infinity Ward feel that way. 38 employees isn't exactly unanimous, but that seems pretty indicative that the dissatisfaction with Activision is pretty widespread within the company and that West and Zampella have nothing but support from their colleagues, and although I don't know a ton about legal practices I KNOW punitive damages is a big, BIG claim and that you don't try and file those without feeling like you've got one hell of a serious case...

Am I the only one who watches Judge Judy? You don't get punitive damages from a breach of contract case.