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Activision blasts West and Zampella in countersuit [Update: Activision responds!]
Update: Activision offered this statement regarding the lawsuit: "Activision's cross-complaint filed today against Jason West and Vince Zampella makes clear that the company did not arrive at its decision to fire them lightly or without good reason. It further shows Activision was forced to sever the relationship when it became apparent that long-standing attempts failed to convince West and Zampella to conform their conduct to what was required of them by their contracts, company policies and as fiduciaries." Original: You probably already know all about the firing and subsequent lawsuit filed against publisher Activision by ex-Infinity Ward co-heads Jason West and Vince Zampella, but did you know about the countersuit filed by Activision against the duo in the Los Angeles Superior Court this morning? LA Times' Company Town blog got its eyes on the suit, which contends West and Zampella "morphed from valued, responsible executives into insubordinate and self-serving schemers who attempted to hijack Activision's assets for their own personal gain." The suit further details that specific allegation, claiming the two took, "a secret trip by private jet to Northern California, arranged by their Hollywood agent, to meet with the most senior executives of Activision's closest competitor," who we're understanding to be the Redwood Shores-based Electronic Arts. When asked for comment about the allegations, EA spokesperson Jeff Brown responded (with this totally sick burn), "We don't have the time to comment on the many lawsuits Activision files against its employees and creative partners." If all of that wasn't enough, the 23-page document also claims that West and Zampella "delayed pre-production" of a third Modern Warfare game, and tried to "prevent Activision from awarding additional compensation to [IW] team members" so that the two could easily poach former co-workers from Infinity Ward. Whoa whoa whoa, another Modern Warfare game you say? Madness!
Activision responds to Scratch lawsuit, court denies restraining order
Moving into day three of Breakin' (the law) 2: Electric Boogaloo, Activision has fired back at Scratch: The Ultimate DJ LLC (Numark and Genius Products' joint business venture). It says allegations made in the lawsuit "are disingenuous and lack any merit," and backs up that statement with the Los Angeles Superior Court's decision not to grant a restraining order against the mega-publisher. Furthermore, Activision claims that Genius Products is scapegoating the publisher, explicitly stating, "These allegations are nothing more than an attempt by Genius [Products] to place blame for the game's delays, as well as to divert attention from the cash flow, liquidity and revenue challenges Genius detailed in its Mar. 30 SEC filing." The press release makes no mention of the "nine custom-manufactured turntable and beat-button game controllers" allegedly belonging to Numark nor the current state of development of Scratch: The Ultimate DJ, presumably still being held by Activision-owned 7 Studios. It does, however, tell us that the lawsuit will have "no effect" on the development of Activision's own DJ-based rhythm game, DJ Hero. We've asked Activision for its official side of the story and will update this post accordingly as news develops.Update: Activision has responded to our request for comment with, "Unfortunately, we do not have anything more to comment outside of the statement we put out."
