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EA's John Schappert spoke on the sticky situation regarding Activision and Infinity Ward at GDC today, and rather than put a spin on what he said, we'll let the man speak for himself:

"I'm sure there's two sides to that story, I'm certainly not passing judgement," Schappert said. "On the human side, they're two great guys. I'm disappointed on a couple of fronts. I'm disappointed because I think Jason and Vince, on the human side, are two great guys. I know them personally, and they've done great things. And I think they're two of the best creative leaders in our space, and to think that they're going to be spending their future dealing with litigation and lawyers rather than crafting the next great experience."

"I don't think that's good for them," Schappert continued. "I don't think that's good for our industry. I think that's disappointing. I hope that they find a way to make games and focus on that during this period."

"I think the other disappointing thing is that, rivalries aside, Modern Warfare 2 is a great game," Schappert concluded. "It's the biggest launch our industry has seen, it's a great franchise. I'm putting my consumer industry fan-hat on to think that there could be some challenges -- what's the future of that franchise? I don't know what's going to pan out. I feel bad for Jason and Vince and the franchise itself because they're great leaders and it's a great franchise for our industry."

Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling has pointed us toward a new self-help website filled with good news: new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 mutliplayer maps are coming to Xbox Live on March 30. While the powers that be at Activision might have ousted the creators of the game, they haven't affected the delivery of eagerly awaited new maps.

People afflicted with "mapathy," your cure is on the way. PS3 players ... well, you'll have to suffer a bit longer. Have you spoken to your FAMAS-ist about a prescription?

[Thanks Legion!]

It's not so surprising, really, that Modern Warfare 2, arguably the world's most popular video game, would recruit such a staggering amount of bodies for its perpetual online war. But, there it is: 25 million unique players, as revealed in a tweet from Infinity Ward's community guy-at-large, Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling. We've contacted Infinity Ward for specific platform numbers, but in the meantime, Bowling offers a bit more to chew on:

He confirms the majority of players are taking the fight to Xbox Live, but he says the PS3 comes in at "a close" second. That puts the PC space in third, though it's still enlisted "millions," according to Bowling. But, what about that boycott? Oh, right.

Now, it should be noted that Modern Warfare 2's reported 25 million players aren't necessarily all on active duty. Surely, more than a few steadfast soldiers have taken up positions in DICE's Battlefield: Bad Company 2. No rest for the weary, eh?

When various legal fracases arise from time to time, we turn to Law of the Game's Mark Methenitis, an actual, real lawyer, for thorough analysis. So, Methenitis kindly looked over the full complaint filed against Activision by ex-Infinity Ward heads Jason West and VInce Zampella, and then described to us the importance of the little things: the wording of the contract between the two ex-heads and Activision, the financial implications of the possible loss of the Modern Warfare name (for either side), and the ... shall we say, flamboyant ... language used in the document itself. According to Methenitis, the complaint's colorful phrasing is "for dramatic effect and little more."

Methenitis pointed out in an email exchange with Joystiq that "readers shouldn't place too much emphasis on the language in the facts" and that the story told by the claims "sounds like a relatively common 'business deal gone bad' kind of suit." As for this particular case, though, he allowed, "Granted, based on the value of Call of Duty and Modern Warfare, the stakes are high both for the royalties and future creative control of the brand." (Methenitis here is referring to the ex-studio heads' allegation that Activision had handed over creative control of all Modern Warfare-branded games, part of the "Memorandum of Understanding" that was agreed upon between the two parties before the creation of Modern Warfare 2.)

The stumbling block for West and Zampella, Methenitis said, could be in the wording of the memorandum. "That [receiving their royalties and retaining control of the Modern Warfare name] may be more problematic if the wording of the Memorandum of Understanding isn't such that it can be enforced as a contract," he said, adding, "Given the context and description in the suit, it seems like the term 'Memorandum of Understanding' in this case is just a fancy title for a contract rather than a less-than-enforceable agreement similar to a Letter of Intent." (Head past the break for Methenitis' full analysis.)

While Methenitis wouldn't weigh in on the possible end result of this suit, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter mentioned in his latest report that, "We think that West's and Zampella's claim for creative control over the Call of Duty and Modern Warfare brands has little merit, and we expect Activision to retain control over the brands." One thing's for sure, if a messy lawsuit does get underway (and isn't settled out of court like so many are), we'll assuredly catch wind of more dirty laundry.

If you're still knee-deep in the Pacific Theater in Call of Duty: World at War, odds are you've at least heard about the various map packs out there by now. Major Nelson reports that Microsoft has cut the price on the CoD: WaW Map Pack -- a bundle of the three DLC map packs previously released for the game, available for 1600 this week.

Each map pack is available on its own for 800, though the bundle usually offers a discount by lumping all three DLC packs together for 2000. So, with this weekly deal, getting all three map packs together will save you $10 total over the cost of buying them all individually -- or $5 over the usual cost of the bundle. However, there's a good chance that everyone who owns an Xbox 360 already has these maps, so check your hard drive before enlisting for duty!

Shortcut: Add the CoD: WaW Map Pack to your Xbox 360 download queue [Xbox.com]

Beyond a statement released by ex-Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella's lawyer yesterday detailing the lawsuit the two are filing against Activision, we've seen little in the way of back history on the various events that lead us to the debacle we're seeing this week. This morning, though, Joystiq obtained the entire 16-page court document (gallery-ized below for you) that details, among many other things, the ex-employees' complaints about Activision in the wake of their untimely departure.

The initial claim of unpaid royalties is represented in the documents, even going as far as to claim that the publisher fired West and Zampella just weeks before having to pay out said royalties. "Activision fired them in hope that by doing so, it could avoid paying them what they had rightfully earned, and to seize control of the Infinity Ward studio, to which Activision had previously granted creative control over all Modern Warfare branded games," the document reads. In the history lesson portion of the complaint, it's revealed that Activision allegedly purchased the studio for just $5 million originally (in two different chunks), and the Call of Duty franchise (including Treyarch-developed titles) has earned over $3 billion since 2003.

Finally, the complaint claims that, before Infinity Ward agreed to develop Modern Warfare 2, the then-studio heads "were not eager to extend their employment" as Activision had apparently begun demanding a more constant development pace at the studio. "Despite assurances by Activision that West and Zampella would have complete freedom to run Infinity Ward as an independent studio, Activision had begun to intrude upon Infinity Ward's ability to create quality games. For example, Activision forced Infinity Ward's employees to continue producing the games at a breakneck pace under aggressive schedules, and West and Zampella were concerned that Activision was emphasizing quantity over quality."

Regardless of the veracity of these allegations, it would certainly appear that the gloves have come all the way off. We'll have a more thorough breakdown of the entire document later today, but for now you can see it in its entirety below.

Activision has issued a response to the lawsuit filed by former Infinity Ward bosses Vince Zampella and Jason West, dismissing the claims in the lawsuit as "meritless" and expressing the company's "disappointment" in the decision to file suit.

Activision notes in the statement that it provided the capital required to start Infinity Ward, and the continued financial and creative support given over the development of the Call of Duty franchise, and that the two execs failed to "honor their obligations to Activision," justifying their dismissal. With the mentions of the company's "enormous patience" and its eventual "disappointment," the full statement (which you can read after the break) sounds oddly parental.

The release concludes with a note that Activision owns the Call of Duty franchise -- though the title Modern Warfare isn't mentioned.

Former Infinity Ward heads Vince Zampella and Jason West are bringing a lawsuit against Activision for breach of contract and other claims, after Activision terminated their employment on March 1. The press release announcing the suit claims that Activision was scheduled to pay "substantial royalty payments," but fired them before the date of the payment.

"Instead of thanking, lauding, or just plain paying Jason and Vince for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public," attorney Robert Schwartz said, "last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual 'investigation' into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of 'insubordination' and 'breach of fiduciary duty,' which then became the grounds for their termination on Monday, March 1st."

In addition to compensation, the suit seeks to return the contractual rights Zampella and West previously had to the Modern Warfare brand.

[Thanks Amnon!]

We've never been great counters, but we'd say there are three studios working on major Call of Duty games now. A recent internal memo (as reported by G4) apparently confirms that Infinity Ward -- despite all of the recent stuff going down there -- will remain "central" to the franchise. So, counting that studio and Treyarch, along with Sledgehammer Games and its own Call of Duty title, that's ... four three! The Count would be so proud of us!

This internal memo reportedly comes from CEO of Activision Publishing Mike Griffith, who said, "Infinity Ward remains central to Call of Duty's future" and that Activision would continue to "rely on the combined talent, expertise and leadership of the team there for [Call of Duty's] success."

Amid the roar of Call of Duty news today, Activision has confirmed that Treyarch's next entry in the series will be released this fall. Assuming Activision adheres to its thus far rock-solid Call of Duty schedule, a November release seems likely. Whether or not the series will make the rumored move to Vietnam remains unconfirmed.

In other unsurprising Call of Duty news, Activision has confirmed that the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 DLC will consist of multiplayer map packs. The map packs were more or less outed last year, thanks to some loose-lipped energy drink packaging, but Activision hasn't actually confirmed the exact nature of the DLC until now. The first two map packs -- slated to appear first on Xbox Live -- are in development at Infinity Ward. Assuming initial plans haven't been altered by the executive shuffling, the first pack is scheduled to release this spring, while the second is slated for a (presumably later) 2010 release.

According to the official statement we've all been waiting for, Activision has announced that Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella are no longer with the studio. Activision Publishing chief technology officer Steve Pearce and head of production Steve Ackrich will head up the development house on "an interim basis." Furthermore, Call of Duty-related business will now be overseen by Philip Earl (now ex-head of Activision's Asia-Pacific region).

We first heard rumor of the Infinity Ward shakeup in the wee hours this morning and saw a few clues throughout the day regarding the two, now ex-Infinity Ward heads. While Activision's formal announcement is certainly confirmation of the sudden changes, it lacks any real explanation. We've put in word to both Infinity Ward and Activision to learn more about the future of the studio and what caused the apparent schism.

When Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey left Visceral Games to form Sledgehammer Games with Activision, you may have jokingly speculated that the Dead Space creators set to work immediately on Call of Duty. After all, it was either that or Guitar Hero.

You would have been correct.

Activision today revealed that Sledgehammer is working on a Call of Duty game with a targeted 2011 release date, which will "extend the franchise into the action-adventure genre." No other details were released about the game, but it sounds more like a spinoff than a sequel. Third person, perhaps?

G4's The Feed, which has been in communication with a source at Infinity Ward, reports that organizational changes may be in effect at the FPS developer's offices. The source claims that a "bunch of 'bouncer-types' just showed up outside of the Infinity Ward offices unannounced. When approached by employees, the non-uniformed 'bouncers' were unwilling to disclose why they were there." In addition, The Feed notes that Infinity Ward's studio heads, Vince Zampella and Jason West, were not seen by fellow staff members after a meeting with Activision on Monday morning. A desk guard at Infinity Ward's offices was unable to confirm any of the events to Joystiq, and calls to community manager Robert Bowling went unanswered at the time of writing.

Apparently, on Monday Activision filed a Form 10-K with the SEC, which is basically an overview of the company's financial condition, and includes any information that could possibly affect that condition. This filing states, "In November 2009, the Company released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, a game developed by one of the Company's wholly-owned studios, Infinity Ward. As noted above, Modern Warfare 2 was the best selling console title in the U.S. and Europe in 2009. Consistent with past practice, the Company intends to release a Call of Duty game in 2010 developed by another wholly-owned studio. The Company is concluding an internal human resources inquiry into breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward. This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation. At present, the Company does not expect this matter to have a material impact on the Company."

Co-studio head Jason West has reportedly changed both his Facebook status and LinkedIn page to indicate that he is no longer employed. As soon as we get more news, we'll pass it along.

Update: Activision has confirmed the departures of Vince Zampella and Jason West. Read here for more details.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Time Magazine once described Modern Warfare 2 as having "something intelligent to say about contemporary military conflicts." Which is why we haven't seen the addition of the popular Call of Duty staple, zombies -- it would ruin the incredible realism established by Infinity Ward's latest! Of course. Thankfully, Robert Bowling confirmed to IGN that there are no plans for Nazis, zombies, or Nazi zombies, in "any piece of Modern Warfare 2 downloadable content."

Thank goodness! We certainly wouldn't want to misrepresent the realities of modern warfare with something as ludicrous as that, right?

Now, this is just adorable. The pint-sized, touch-screened adaptation of Call of Duty: World at War's Zombie Mode is getting a pint-sized, touch-screened adaptation of the console game's first piece of DLC: The undead-infested asylum known as Verrückt. The map is available to purchase through the game's main menu for $4.99.

Much like the console version of the DLC, Verrückt comes with a mess of new guns, electro-shock defenses and Perks-a-Cola machines. Because, hey, staving off floods of Nazombies sure works up a powerful thirst.