Call of Duty creators, Activision settle legal fight

Video game giant Activision has reached a settlement with the creators of the hit Call of Duty game series following a bitter legal battle over the dismissal of the two men who created the original game and the millions of dollars in royalties they claimed were owed to them.

Jason West and Vincent Zampella, former heads of game studio Infinity Ward, and game publisher Activision announced Thursday that the case has been settled out of court. Financial terms and details of the deal were not disclosed.

West and Zampella founded Encino, Calif.-based Infinity Ward, the developer behind the original Call of Duty and other instalments of the massively popular war games franchise.

Activision, which acquired the game studio in 2003, fired the duo in March 2010.

Claiming they were terminated just weeks before they were set to receive royalties for the smash hit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the duolaunched a wrongful dismissal lawsuit against Activision, initially seeking $36 million US in damages and royalty payments. They later raised the claim to more than $1 billion US.

Dozens of game developers chose to follow West and Zampella when they left Activision. The two men then formed a new studioRespawn Entertainmentand signed a deal to develop games for rival publishing and distribution firmElectronic Arts (EA).

Activision responded by launching a countersuit against EA, alleging that the competitor had unfairly recruited executives under contract. That lawsuit was settled in May.

Neither Activisionnor a lawyer representing Ward and Zampella would comment Thursday. However, EA described the latest settlement as a victory for industry creators.

"Activision's refusal to pay their talent and attempt to blame EA were absurd," the company said in a statement. "This settlement is a vindication of Vince and Jason and the right of creative artists to collect the rewards due for their hard work."