Activision: IW Received $493 Million In Bonuses Since 2003

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Activision is facing a $1 billion lawsuit brought against them by former Infinity Ward bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella, who claim they're owed a ton of money in currently unpaid bonuses and royalties.

But in a Los Angeles Superior Court hearing, Activision lawyers claimed the company has paid out over $493 million in bonuses to the Infinity Ward studio since 2003.

It even goes beyond bonuses for the games IW produced; Activision says the team received "hefty bonus payouts" for games developed by Treyarch, too. In fact, they say Infinity Ward received over $100 million in "bonus pool payments" thanks to Call of Duty: Black Ops. Here's how the IW payouts breakdown according to Activision:

• Call of Duty - $3.8 million (studio)
• Call of Duty 2 - $69 million (studio)
• Call of Duty 3 - $2.6 million (tech)
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - $74.5 million (studio)
• Call of Duty: World at War - $13.96 million (tech), $18.68 million (IP)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - $147.46 million (studio)
• Call of Duty: Black Ops - $46 million (tech), $56.96 million (IP)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - $59.9 million (studio)

Lastly, Activision has claimed that the $147.46 million bonus pool paid to Infinity Ward for Modern Warfare 2 (the title most in question concerning West and Zampella) includes the $42 million "recently paid to a group of former Infinity Ward employees who quit in the wake of the firing of the studio's co-founders."

West and Zampella were fired for allegedly conspiring with the enemy; i.e., secretly siding with rival publisher EA to form their own studio, with the intention of making games EA could publish. Unsurprisingly, the duo tell a very different story.

Tags: activision, infinity ward, call of duty, jason west, vince zampella

5/27/2012 9:06:45 PM John Shepard

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