That only actually works if the devs are indie or don't have any exclusive deals with any publisher (Which almost never happens). So, it doesn't really matter where you buy it from.

A general overview (Fairly unbiased)

The gist of it is that instead of arguing over royalties and whatnot, Activision are actively trying to wrest the MW brand for themselves from IW... and IW was expecting it.

Now, I highly doubt this is a definitive study of the whole situation and thus can't really be considered conclusive, but it does offer maybe extra insight into the whole issue.

Firing them with cause actually exempts them from most of the benefits conferred plus it also makes them less attractive to future employers (People would often think twice about hiring someone who was fired for "insubordination")... Its akin to Activision performing character assassination on them. Make them seem like a bunch of trouble makers in the hopes that they won't work in the industry again.

In other news:
jas2davir & MYNAMEISJASON, stop with the (under)handed attacks against each other unless you two like looking at a warning log screen instead of the forum.

Regardless, you did respond in a vicious manner.

After the success of MW2 (Yes, it was), these two will have significantly increased their worth in the industry and considering how Activision knew that they wanted to leave, they had to ensure that they don't leave so easily or at the very least with their reputation severely tarnished.

Its a gambit really. Activision needs to discredit them so hard that no other publisher will pick them up (Or at the very least with really bad deals) and the 2 IW guys need to ensure that they are not the bad guys. Its a power game between the two... and it doesn't look very promising for Activision.