Activision Slapped With Another Infinity Ward Lawsuit

[VanBasten]

The biggest disappointment in this is that even if this is a massive PR disaster, it seems to have no effect on the MW2 map pack sales.

Gamers just don't care that the money they're forking over doesn't go to the people who made the game they enjoy so much.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Money, money, money. These people think of nothing else, don't they? Bah, I'm fine with the original Call of Duty's. If they sent me a free demo that blew my mind I would consider getting the next COD game but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[oppp7]

And that is what happens when you're an asshole to everyone.

Couldn't Activision get criminal charges for blackmail.

 

[Jack and Calumon]

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

They actually received NO royalties for that game, so, they aren't THAT rich.

Calumon: I want some money... I get no Royalties either... and I'm King Calumon!

 

[Pendragon9]

From my looking at it, still seems to me its alot of bitchy employees not understanding that the laws in the united states are this. Employee lose, Employer win. They live in an at will state, meaning unless contract states a reason must be given, tehy can be fired for no reason what so ever, and the punitive damadge amoutn is stupid high. I personally think they are alot of greedy people and hope tehy all have their carriers ruined because no one wants to higher soemone who will sue the moment they dont get their toy.

Go Activision, fuck off infanty ward and respawn.

You know what, I think you're nothing but a troll trying to get people to flame you. Because your comment was so biased and uninformed that it lacks any logic whatsoever. If the Employer was always right and nothing could be done about it, women and people of other races would still not be allowed to work in the workplace. So as you can see, there is something wrong here when Activision made a binding contractual deal with IW and then broke it.

It's gonna be a hard legal battle for both sides.

...then again, I hate Modern Warfare 2 and all of the people who bought it. So this doesn't affect me at all.

 

[LockeDown]

I can only hope that this PR nightmare is enough to cause Blizzard to split from Activision, so that Kotick can ride this sinking failboat to hell where he belongs.

 

[chenry]

They deserve this and I praise Respawn entertaiment® and the former workforce for their efforts to reveal the ugly and corperate greedy culture of Activision. I sincerly hope they will suck Activision dry, they deserve it and their schemes are being revealed one by one.

Yeah, good luck with that. IW deserves what their owed, but sucking Activision dry is a not a feat anyone could ever hope to accomplish.

 

[AkJay]

Good for them. Activisions treats its employees like shit and it blows up in their face. Again I say, good for them.

 

[Voodoomancer]

* Boo's at Activision and laughs at the whole thing *

 

[Enigmers]

I think they should just strap Bobby Kotick to a wall in whatever large room the Infinity Ward developers work in. Then, they should take his paycheck, convert it to pennies, and have it delivered to him at high velocity by Infinity Ward employees.

 

[chenry]

They deserve this and I praise Respawn entertaiment® and the former workforce for their efforts to reveal the ugly and corperate greedy culture of Activision. I sincerly hope they will suck Activision dry, they deserve it and their schemes are being revealed one by one.

Yeah, good luck with that. IW deserves what their owed, but sucking Activision dry is a not a feat anyone could ever hope to accomplish.

Remain optimistic, I think for once, they are capable of denting Activision's bankaccount and image far harder than anyone could imagine. Here goes the prayer.

Optimistic is one thing. Realistic is another. Denting them is like throwing a pebble at a mountain. And of course Activision is going to fight this too. $125M is pocket change, and they're still going to fight instead of paying what they owe.

Activision has like 1.4B in cash assets according to the 2008 Annual Report. The had 0.9B in 2007. Extrapolate based on the 2009 revenue.

Might as well try to bail out the ocean with a Dixie cup.

 

[Lucas Auraelius]

I'm seriously considering not buying MW3 if Infinity Ward isn't making it. I only liked the CoD games they made.

 

[Unhappy Crow]

Activision is getting more and more in trouble with Infinity Ward.

 

[Callate]

I think making this out to be about the lawyers and the court case isn't looking at the big picture. Whether they win, lose, or settle this case- or either of the cases with the heads of IW- this is hell for Activision's image. What competent and experienced game industry person would willingly sign on with Infinity Ward right now? What is this going to do to Activision's future attempts to bring promising design groups into the fold? If Modern Warfare 3 comes off as sub-par work, who's going to be surprised, and who's going to line up for MW4?

All the lawyers in the world aren't going to help Activision in the long run. What they need are some competent PR people. And maybe for Bobby Kotick to learn how to shut up.

 

[Starke]

"Activision has withheld most of the money to force many of my people to stay, some against their will, so that they would finish the delivery of Modern Warfare 3," claimed Bruce Isaacs, one of the lawyers representing the IWEG.

let my people go!

ahem, it doesn't seem to be the first time there are scandals about videogame companies treating their employees badly. I think $500 million might just be a bit too much, even for a big company like activision

$500 million is less than half the sales from MW2. And seeing as Activision is in breach of contract already...

and MW2 made itself, absolutely for free. there's a reason studios seeks publishers, and not just to sue them.

In a sense, yes, it was made for free. Rather than explain, I'll give an example:

You pay someone 10 bucks to build something you can sell for 20. When you're done, and you've sold it, you've profited 10 bucks, but you have 20. You already paid the guy.

It is a little more complex than that, but that's the general idea.

So, whatever expenses Activision paid in, that money's gone. This is new money, which they can use as capital any way they want, including, as damages by losing a major court case.