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The wheels of justice continue to turn (sort of) this week, with the conclusion of two big wrangles that games industry watchers have been, ah, watching.

The biggest news is the settlement between goliath publisher Activision/Blizzard and former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella, both of whom were abruptly fired in March of 2010. West and Zampella sued, claiming A/B owed them monstrous royalties for Modern Warfare 2. Activision/Blizzard countersued, claiming that West and Zampella were stupid-heads, and the whole sordid affair dragged on for a while.

Oh for God’s sake.

Mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway last July, apparently played Modern Warfare to learn (according to his testimony) “how to use rifle sights.”

I’m reminded of a roundtable I once attended on violence in games. California Cassandra Leland Yee had just argued that military games teach kids how to kill. Professor James Paul Gee replied, in a perfect sarcastic deadpan, “the only thing any war game has ever taught me is that I don’t want to be a soldier.”

Following on from Steerpike’s excellent news grabs relating to Infinity Ward’s internal staffing squabbles and to continue the sorry saga, you may not be surprised to hear that Jason West and Vincent Zampella have wasted no time in establishing a new studio under the dreary yet appropriate name of Respawn Entertainment.  To pile further media misery onto Activision/Blizzard, two more of Infinity Ward’s staff are heading for the exits today, bringing the grand total to …

EA Digital Illusions CE (DICE) have been around for a while.  Since the days of Benefactor on the Amiga, and the first of the Battlefield series, they have carved out a name for themselves in an industry flooded with militaristic games.  With ten Battlefield games (including expansion packs) across three platforms under their belt, many critics were wondering how far DICE could continue to develop the sub-genre of team based warfare…

Info is slowly trickling out about the recent bang-up between Activision/Blizzard and Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward. Terminated studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella have filed suit against their former corporate masters, alleging wrongful termination, meanness, and stealing of royalties, and asserting that they own the rights to the Modern Warfare IP. My buddy Bill Harris over at Dubious Quality has his usual insightful analysis of key portions of the lawsuit, so rather than …