Activision Blizzard Inc. came out with guns blazing in its battle with two former lead developers of Call of Duty, the game publisher's multibillion-dollar military franchise.

In a lawsuit that read more like a dramatic Hollywood script, Santa Monica-based Activision claimed it fired Jason West and Vincent Zampella in March because the two "morphed from valued, responsible executives into insubordinate and self-serving schemers who attempted to hijack Activision's assets for their own personal gain."

Activision's suit, filed Friday morning in Los Angeles County Superior Court, counters a complaint that West and Zampella filed against their former employer on March 3, two days after being fired as the heads of Infinity Ward, the Encino-based studio purchased by Activision in 2002. Infinity Ward has developed several Call of Duty games since the inception of the franchise in 2003, including the original.

In their lawsuit, West and Zampella allege that Activision fired them as a way to deprive the developers of royalties earned from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which has generated more than $1.5 billion in worldwide revenue since the game launched in November. The lawsuit claims Activision owes the duo $36 million in royalties and damages.

Activision responded in its 23-page complaint that "West and Zampella's misdeeds formed an unlawful pattern and practice of conduct that was designed to steal the [Infinity West] studio, which is one of Activision's most valuable assets -- at the expense of Activision and its shareholders and for their own personal financial gain."

The suit did not specify a dollar amount that Activision would seek, but claimed the publisher was entitled to withhold all future payments to West and Zampella to recover past payments "during the period of their disloyalty" and compensatory damages.

The lawsuit says Zampella and West went "on a secret trip by private jet to Northern California, arranged by their Hollywood agent, to meet with the most senior executives of Activision's closest competitor." Creative Artists Agency says it recently took Zampella and West as clients.

The lawsuit did not name the rival company, but Electronic Arts Inc. is based in Northern California's Redwood City and is thought to be who Activision is referring to in its filing. Asked whether this was the case, EA spokesman Jeff Brown said, "We don't have the time to comment on the many lawsuits Activision files against its employees and creative partners."