Finest Hour Studio Sues Activision

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August 31, 2005 - Spark Unlimited, the developer behind Call of Duty: Finest Hour, is suing Activision over a number of alleged mistreatments and breaches of contract. Spark is seeking $10 million in damages related to its development of Finest Hour for Activision.

The suit, filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claims that Activision reneged on an agreement to have Spark develop sequels to Finest Hour. Instead, Activision handed sequel development to internal studios Treyarch (Spider-Man 2) and Gray Matter.

Further, Spark claims that it had proposed sequel ideas to Activision -- suggesting a story based on Operation Husky and the landing by the Big Red One -- which the publisher rejected, before going on to develop Call of Duty: Big Red One.

The suit also alleges that Activision committed fraud and breach of contract by not paying Spark proper royalties for Finest Hour and not providing bridge funding between games (Spark was in contract to provide two more titles for Activision). Additionally, Spark claims that Activision actually charged the developer for its efforts in adding multiplayer to Finest Hour -- a feature not originally planned for the game.

Both Spark Unlimited and Activision declined comment when contacted, stating they do not comment on legal matters. Regardless, we expect to hear much more on the suit going forward. Stay tuned.

Source: IGN