Denying request for summary judgment, the Los Angeles Superior Court gave Activision the green light to go to trial with its $US400 million contract interference lawsuit against Electronic Arts over Call of Duty creators Jason West and Vince Zampella.
The gist of the lawsuit is this: Activision Publishing alleges that West and Zampella of development studio Infinity Ward breached their contracts and commitment to loyalty via insubordinate behaviour and other forms of improper conduct. They also put forth that Electronic Arts’ unlawful tampering in the situation aided this conduct. Check out our full coverage of the conflict for the whole sordid story.
Amidst the flurry of suits and countersuits were motions from lawyers representing both EA and the duo of West and Zampella requesting a summary judgment by the court. Basically they wanted a judge to decide the case before it went to jury trial, denying us what could be months of juicy legal entertainment.
Luckily for us the Los Angeles Superior Court found that there was enough evidence present for a jury to potentially decide that EA had tampered in the relationship between the developers and Activision, and the trial remains on track for its May 7, 2012 release date.
It bears noting that the press release announcing the ruling was issued by Activision Publishing, so any information gleaned from it is bound to have a slight slant in its favour.
Kotaku reached out to West / Zampella attorney Robert Schwartz for comment on the release, and he didn’t seem particularly phased.
“We can’t wait to get to trial on May 7 to prove Jason and Vince’s case against Activision for firing them without cause and denying them the money they earned. Activision’s claims against EA are a smoke screen, seeking to distract attention from Activision’s atrocious behaviour to Jason, Vince, and the rest of the Infinity Ward team.”
Come May there might not be enough popcorn to go around.
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