Bloomberg has details on progress on West v. Activision, the legal action between Activision and Electronic Arts/Jason West/Vince Zampella over EA's hiring of West and Zampella (thanks Computer and Video Games). Word is the $400 million lawsuit is headed to California Superior Court (Los Angeles County):

Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS), the second- biggest U.S. video-game publisher, lost a court bid to dismiss the $400-million contract-interference claims by its larger rival Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI)

California Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle, at a hearing yesterday in Los Angeles, denied Electronic Arts’ request to throw out the claims, saying Activision had provided sufficient evidence that a jury should decide whether Electronic Arts broke the law by talking to two creators of Activision’s “Call of Duty” franchise while they were still under contract.

Berle rejected Electronic Arts’ argument that it was perfectly lawful for the two top executives of Activision’s Infinity Ward studio, Jason West and Vince Zampella, to explore future employment opportunities. It was ’’a whole different scenario’’ if Electronic Arts approached the two executives while there was still more than two years left on their contract, the judge said.