http://kotaku.com/5485295/infinity-ward-founders-suing-activision-over-unpaid-royalties
Yeah. So apparently, the SOBs didn't pay Vince Zampella and Jason West the royalties they owed under contractual obligations, and it sounds like after they had a meeting with them, Activision pulled the plug to try and get out of it. This could cost them big time, because the two are also going after "contractual rights to control Modern Warfare-branded games".

Oh this is going to be good.
*grabs the popcorn*

I also read a story recently that Activision relies too heavily on World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero, and Call of Duty to make all their money, and should one of them fail, it could hurt big-time.

Also, not news. I don't think someone at ActiBlizzivision understands diversity.

Only the best is good enough for this one.
* Grabs a bag of Popcorn, Indianas kettle corn with aged cheddar cheese flavouring *

Hell yeah! If they pull this off I'll actually buy the next MW just out of support for them.

You do realize none of the next COD games will be made by IW, right?

Not IW. But if they plan on taking the MW brand with them then they must be planning on doing something with it.

No, Activision owns the company, so the next Call of Duty games could very well come out of Infinity Ward. Just not the Infinity Ward we know.

Actually, the next CoD will be made by Treyarch - the people behind World at War. Scheduled for a before christmas 2010 release.

HHmmm think this will be interesting to see what happens. Hopefully the big company will lose as i am fed up of huge companies stepping over the wee guys.
Think ill get some beers to go with the popcorn

Infinity Ward really aren't "the wee guys"
And I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a lot more to this than meets the eye. Activision may not be everyone's favorite company, but they are a company. They know that IW are their money-makers. So I have a sneaking suspicion that "insubordination" of some form had been occurring, and I question just how many of these royalties the heads of IW legally deserved.
Remember everyone: Just because we are mostly learning this from tweets and statements from an unemployed guy doesn't mean that is the only side. It just means that he isn't anywhere near as restricted in what he says.

We will see ...
I hope the suit is not just an attempt by the former heads to squeeze money out of activision. I also hope it makes it to court so we find out what actually happened. There are so many rumors going on; its hard to say who is on the right here (either morally or legally, which are not necessarily the same thing).

If it does make it to court you can bet your [insert vital body part here] that some agreement will be made behind locked doors, with one of the sides "buying out" the other. I'm not sure about the exact legal terms. It's not going public.

What would be utterly hilarious would be if these guys were picked up by EA DICE. Imagine Modern Warfare 3 published by EA...