Pachter: West, Zampella "unlikely" to win Modern Warfare IP rights

Michael Pachter's chimed in on the Infinity Ward/Activision war that's going on right now, saying the outed heads of the studio Jason West and Vince Zampella are "unlikely" to win the rights to the Modern Warfare IP.

Speaking with Critical Gamer, the Wedbush Morgan analyst said:

"It would be terrible for Activision if Zampella/West won the rights to the [Modern Warfare] brand, only mildly negative if they win the monetary portion.

"With that said, I think it is highly unlikely that Zampella/West will win the rights to the brand. I have not seen their contracts (I am a lawyer), but my understanding from the news commentary about the suit is that they had the rights to supervise and control modern warfare versions of the game under their old contract.

"What was not reported is whether these rights were granted to them as employees (likely). If so, when they are no longer employees, they presumably lose those rights."

He further added: "I don’t think that they will win any rights over the brand, but they may win some money. With 1.3 billion shares, the amount sought is only around $0.02/share, so it won’t cripple Activision."

The pair are suing the publisher for $36 million and full "contractual rights" to "Modern Warfare-branded games". Activision's called the suit "meritless".

It comes after they were both sacked from Infinity Ward for possible "insubordination".

An internal memo also emerged last night, showing that the two may have been talking to EA about a move to the publisher.

Everything from what happened when it kicked off on Tuesday is here.