The two recently-ousted studio heads of Infinity Ward, Jason West and Vince Zampella, have filed a lawsuit against Activision for breach of contract. The pair, who were fired earlier this week after claims of insubordination, are stating that Activision was scheduled to pay them significant royalty payments and terminated them before those payments would go into effect.
In a statement, the attorney for West and Zampella, Robert Schwartz, said the following:
"Instead of thanking, lauding, or just plain paying Jason and Vince for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public, last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual 'investigation' into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of 'insubordination' and 'breach of fiduciary duty,' which then became the grounds for their termination on Monday, March 1st."
Apart from financial restitution, West and Zampella are also suing for control over the "Modern Warfare" brand.
It's highly doubtful that this case will ever get to trial, and Activision isn't giving up one of their most lucrative franchises anytime soon. Likely that the case will settle out of court and Activision will help fund West and Zampella's next development house and project.