Anyone who has followed the acrimonious breakup between former members of Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward and publisher Activision knows there has been no love lost between the two companies. Now, internal Activision e-mails revealed through court documents published by the L.A. Times present a clearer picture of exactly how the relationship between developer and publisher broke down.

Though they weren't fired until March of 2010, Activision was apparently discussing the possibility of excising Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Vince Zampella as early as January 2009. An e-mail from that time shows Activision executive Dave Stohl discussing with Activision Publishing President Mike Griffith whether Treyarch could be counted on to quickly take over the development of Modern Warfare 2 as a "Plan B" if West and Zampella reacted badly to an unspecified "proposal."

"Is everyone ready for the big, negative PR story this is going to turn into if we kick them out?" Stohl asks in the e-mail. "Just want to make sure we know what we're getting into. Freaking me out a little."

Tensions grew as E3 approached that June, and Infinity Ward was reportedly not ready to deliver a live gameplay demo of Modern Warfare 2, as required by a deal between Activision and Microsoft. In an e-mail chain, Griffith reports to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick that West and Zampella hung up on him when he called to insist the demo be finished in time.

"If they really did, I would change their locks and lock them out of their building," Kotick responded.

"As soon as I get that gold master..." answered Griffith, referring to the final build of Modern Warfare 2.

The E3 demo situation could factor into Activision's legal argument that West and Zampella were fired for "insubordination," but other e-mails suggest the publisher might also have been motivated by the rising cost of contractual bonuses being offered to the developers. "We need to find a way to put a cap on our bonus payouts," Griffith writes in an e-mail to Kotick, adding in a separate note that a new equity structure could compel some top Infinity Ward staff to stay "if things blow up at the top."

A spreadsheet attached to one e-mail shows West and Zampella receiving nearly $6 million each in salary, bonuses, and equity in 2009, with over $16 million more in individual compensation projected for 2010. Other top designers and engineers at Infinity Ward were also set to receive millions under the bonus structure.

Whether West, Zampella and forty other Infinity Ward employees deserved those bonuses or forfeited them by failing to meet their contractual obligations, is set to be decided in a jury trial set to start later this month, even though Activision recently offered $42 million in delayed bonus payments to the employee group. Activision also recently settled a separate dispute with EA, which entered a publishing relationship with the former Infinity Ward staffers that make up Respawn Entertainment.

The newly revealed e-mails come on top of testimony from former Activision Senior IT Director Thomas Fenady, unsealed last week, which alleges the publisher tried to "dig up dirt" on West and Zampella to build a case for their firing.