Activision and EA reach settlement in Call of Duty lawsuit

Rival video game publishers Activision and Electronic Arts say they have reached a settlement in the suit filed by the Call of Duty publisher. Activision added EA, publisher of competing Battlefield and Medal of Honor games, to a countersuit against Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vince Zampella, accusing the company of trying to "hijack" its top talent.

Rival video game publishers Activision and Electronic Arts say they have reached a settlement in the suit filed by the Call of Duty publisher. Activision added EA, publisher of competing Battlefield and Medal of Honor games, to a countersuit against Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vince Zampella, accusing the company of trying to "hijack" its top talent.

In December 2010, Activision said in a filing that "Electronic Arts set out to destabilize, disrupt and to attempt to destroy Infinity Ward," alleging that EA executives attempted to poach employees responsible for creating the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare games. The accusation was part of an amendment to a countersuit against West and Zampella, who were fired from Infinity Ward in March 2010.

Today, the two companies announced they have settled their differences, at least legally, leaving the Call of Duty publisher to focus its efforts solely on ex-Infinity Ward heads West and Zampella. The duo now work at Respawn Entertainment, an independent studio partnered with EA.

"Activision and EA have agreed to put this matter behind them," reads a joint statement from the publishers.

Details of the settlement were not disclosed by EA or Activision, but the original suit brought against Electronic Arts was for $400 million.

Activision's suit against West and Zampella, which started as a $36 million claim and ballooned to $1 billion, is still ongoing and will head to court on May 29.