Activision and EA kiss and make up

Mega-publisher duo Activision and EA have settled their differences out of court according to a very brief public statement.

After Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella were fired for insubordination in March 2010, the pair launched a lawsuit against their former employers for wrongful termination and unpaid royalties and bonuses to Infinity Ward staff for their work on Modern Warfare 2.

Activision claimed that West and Zampella were sacked for holding secret talks with EA and began legal action against their rival publisher for trying to lure the developers away from their contract.

Now it seems that this particular part of the Modern Warfare legal war has been resolved. LA Times journalist Ben Fritz reports that the publishers have issued the following brief statement.

“Activision and EA have agreed to put this matter behind them.”

It’s pretty clear then that the matter has been settled out of court but whether there have been any legal or financial terms to this truce is unknown.

Sadly this is just one of the legal scraps surrounding the Modern Warfare series.

The case between Activision and West/Zampella is still ongoing. Activision recently paid out $42 million to former Infinity Ward staff for their work on Modern Warfare 2 but the group’s attorney insists they are still seeking total compensation of between $75 million and $125 million.

And things could still get worse. It appears that Activision’s decision to set Black Ops II in the near-future breaks the terms of an MOU with Infinity Ward, which states that the latter has sole authority of Call of Duty games set post-Vietnam. Infinity Ward have sought legal council over the matter but it’s not clear yet whether they will take any action. If they do, the repercussions could be huge.