EA and Activision Settle ‘CALL OF DUTY’ Lawsuit; Aw Corporations Can F**K Nice.

The great litigation arm wrestling match between two video game Douchebag Titans is finally over. A day after settling with everyone who left Infinity Ward save  its founders, EA and Activision have finally decided to play nice.

Joystiq:

Former Infinity Ward developers Jason West and Vince Zampella  sued Activision in 2010after being fired, claiming damages of $36 million from unpaid royalties associated withModern Warfare 2,  which launched in 2009.  After leaving Activision, the pair began their own studio, Respawn Entertainment, and inked a publishing deal with EA. Since then, West and Zampella’s claim rose to $1 billion and  Activision countersued  with EA as a defendant.

Activision  recently paid out $42 million  to the Infinity Ward Employee Group, though not as a settlement; at the time, IWEG said it would pursue litigation.

The settlement news comes the same day as a report on Activision’s “dirt”-digging tactics has surfaced, stating that Activision launched an information-gathering IT spree on West and Zampella just before the launch of  Modern Warefare 2,  intended to see them both fired. Activision called it “Project Icebreaker.”

No joke.

In Project Icebreaker, Activision’s George Rose asked the IT department to access West and Zampella’s email, voicemail and computer without anyone’s knowledge, a court filing given to  Giantbomb  by West and Zampella’s attorneys shows. The orders reportedly came from Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. Activision attempted to use third-party security specialists and threw around the idea of staging a fake fumagation to get into West and Zampella’s offices, the report says.

Some straight-up nonsense  subterfuge, right there.