Jason West and Vince Zampella, the former heads of Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward, have sued Activision Blizzard. They are seeking $36 million in damages and control of the Modern Warfare segment of the COD series.

West and Zampella's suit (via BusinessWeek) alleges that Activision fired them this week in order to avoid paying them royalties for Modern Warfare 2 later in the month. Activision stated in an SEC filing on Tuesday that the two were fired for "breaches of contract and insubordination." The lawsuit states that the insubordination charges were false.

Activision has since appointed two of its executives to oversee Infinity Ward on an interim basis. They've also formed a new business unit centered on the Call of Duty franchise.