Uh-oh, it would appear that Activision may have done an oopsie.

According to court documents relating to the upcoming ‘Acti vs. fired IW heads’ battle obtained by GameInformer, no post-Vietnam Call of Duty game can be developed by anyone other than Infinity Ward, which of course would be a problem for the near-future Call of Duty: Black Ops II.

Infinity Ward’s Memorandum of Understanding clearly states that Activision will retain authority and responsibility over all titles within the Call of Duty franchise while “specifically excluding any Call of Duty title set in modern day (post Vietnam), the near future or distant furuer, which shall be under the authority of IW”.

Whether Activision still considers the agreement valid after it fired IW heads Jason West and Vince Zampella is the question here, then. The upcoming court drama will hopefully clarify on that.

Should the former IW execs come out winners though — according to an intellectual property lawyer GI spoke to — they may have the right to ask Black Ops II to be pulled from shelves (the less likely option) or get forced royalty payments (the more profitable option).

The court date has been set for May 29.

Posted: May 09, 2012 12:01 pm

Source: http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2012/05/09/black-ops-ii-2025-setting-violates-iw-contract-report/