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Lawsuit outs West and Zampella's salaries, bonuses at Infinity Ward: Projected $13M bonus in 2010
Former Infinity Ward studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella had projected salaries of $420,000 in 2009, with projected bonuses of more than $3 million each, emails between Activision bosses in 2009 show.The spreadsheet lists the expected salaries of the top 20 Infinity Ward employees in 2009 and 2010. The 18 remaining employees -- the bulk including software engineers and game designers -- had projected salaries between $71,500 and $173,000. The seven employees under West and Zampella each expected a bonus of $603,000, while staffers seeing the lowest percentage of the bonus pool (1.5 percent) had a projected $278,000.In 2010, the year Activision fired West and Zampella, they were each expected to earn $437,000, with projected bonuses of $13 million each. The rest of the top 20's projected salaries and bonuses rose accordingly, with salaries between $74,000 and $180,000, and bonuses ranging from $1.4 million to $2.5 million."If you recently worked on a hit FPS, read this and see how incredibly underpaid you are," ngmoco general manager Benjamin Cousins tweeted about the documents.The emails were released into public record in the lawsuit between the Infinity Ward Employee Group and Activision; West and Zampella sued Activision in 2010 claiming they were owed $36 million in royalties associated with Modern Warfare 2, after Activision fired them earlier that year. West and Zampella now claim $1 billion in damages and the case is set for trial May 29.
Activision pays $42 million to Infinity Ward Employee Group
Activision has paid out $42 million to the "Infinity Ward Employee Group," which sued Activision in 2010 seeking profits from Modern Warfare 2. A source speaking to Polygon said that the payment was not a settlement; rather, Activision's discovery phase (for its own lawsuit against former Infinity Ward leads Jason West and Vince Zampella) found no evidence that the Employee Group members were complicit in the breach-of-contract issues for which Activision is suing, and so Bobby Kotick and Activision agreed to pay them.That group sought $75 million to $125 million, plus punitive damages. IWEG attorney Bruce Isaacs told Polygon that "although it is a meaningful payment it is only a small portion of what we are seeking in litigation." And it is still going forward with said litigation. Isaacs said the payment was a "cynical attempt to look good before the jury trial."
Respawn picks up four more Infinity Ward vets
Out of the four ex-Infinity Ward employees discovered today to be taking up positions at Respawn Entertainment, the new home of former IW heads Jason West and Vince Zampella, two held senior positions and all four are currently members of the "Infinity Ward Employee Group" suing Activision for millions of dollars. Preston Glenn ("designer"), Chad Grenier ("senior designer"), Sean Slayback ("game designer"), and Zied Rieke ("lead designer) have all confirmed on LinkedIn to have made the quick switch from their former bosses' studio to their new, EA-backed startup. According to G4's report, the tally of Infinity Ward employees that have joined West and Zampella's still nascent studio is up to 16 as of today. The studio has seen a flood of employee vacancies in the wake the co-founders' firings early last month, and a not-so-surprising recent rush of ex-IW developers jumping on to Respawn's staff. West and Zampella's new dev house has yet to announce any projects but, well, all those employees have gotta be up to something.
'Infinity Ward Employee Group' lawsuit documents: see them here
Yesterday's news that a third lawsuit had originated from the ongoing Infinity Ward / Activision breakup wasn't exactly a shocker, and a handful of revealing tidbits have surfaced from the depths of the legalese. We retrieved a copy of the latest lawsuit's full complaint document (found below in the gallery) and spent the evening scouring it for details on yesterday's allegations. For instance, approximately 21 of the 38 members of the "Infinity Ward Employee Group" have already left IW, with the remaining 17 still employed at the studio (or being "held hostage," as their complaint document puts it). All 38 group members are seeking anywhere from 10.8% ($98 million) to 13.6% ($123 million) of the $900 million in profit the suit claims Activision has earned on Modern Warfare 2 sales since it debuted last November -- a percentage claimed to have been worked out previously between said IW employees and Activision, under the "Bonus Pool Agreement" (the "BPA" is said to be "based on incomes earned from MW2," though nothing more specific is spelled out). Furthermore, the group is seeking "bonus/royalty/profit participation" from MW2's "sister games," which includes not just Call of Duty: Modern Warfare - Reflex, but also Modern Warfare 3, "if MW3 is ultimately delivered and marketed." Additionally, the suit alleges that, on March 26 of this year, Activision "made a partial payment of Infinity Ward's Fourth Quarter of 2009 Bonus Payment" (an undisclosed amount). When asked by employees "how much payments would have been had Activision not fired West and Zampella," representatives said they "would have received approximately 2.5 times the amount they were paid." This stands in stark contrast to claims made recently that IW employees who stay with the studio would receive larger bonuses. %Gallery-91967%
'Infinity Ward Employee Group' sues Activision for $150 to $625 million
Rather than the usual news of Infinity Ward staffers leaving the company, occasionally jumping on board ex-IW founders Vince Zampella and Jason West's new development team at Respawn Entertainment, today we have word that a group of current and former IW employees are suing Activision for breach of contract. G4 got its hands on a lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court by 38 plaintiffs -- a band of folks named the "Infinity Ward Employee Group" -- seeking "to recover between $75 million and $125 million, if not more, in compensatory damages." The group is also asking for another $75 to $500 million in "punitive damages." Allegedly, the employees of IW have received $28 million in bonuses, and are claiming to be owed another $54 million from just 2009. The rest of the treasure chest is sought for a gaggle of other reasons, ranging from "lost value on restricted stock units that Activision promised would vest" to MW2's "sister games," which seems to include the still-unannounced Modern Warfare 3. In fact, the group's lawyer Bruce Isaacs contends that, in holding the remaining employees based on claims of larger royalties, Activision has breached those employees' contracts. "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. That is not what they wanted to do, many of them. My clients are entitled to their money. Activision has no right to withhold their money -- our money." The suit's legalese also claims as much, even going as far as to accuse the publisher of holding "[IW] employees hostage so that Activision could reap the benefit of the completion of Modern Warfare 3." Yikes! Update: Activision has responded to the lawsuit with this statement: "Activision believes the action is without merit. Activision retains the discretion to determine the amount and the schedule of bonus payments for MW2 and has acted consistent with its rights and the law at all times. We look forward to getting judicial confirmation that our position is right."
