The complaint filed against Activision states that the Call of Duty publisher copied the Cade Janus photographs, without Haugen’s knowledge or consent, and used them to create Mara in Modern Warfare. A photograph entitled “Cade Janus 16” was found in a development document called “Project Odyssey” dated Sept. 8, 2017. The same photo was found on the casting page of Project Odyssey under the heading “The Face of the Near Future.”

Haugen and his representatives believe this establishes Activision had access to the images of Cade Janus and were actively aware of those images as they developed the character of Mara. Infinity Ward, the developer behind Modern Warfare, also hired the same model Haugen employed in his original shoot to pose for photographs and three-dimensional scanning to develop the Mara character in the game. Infinity Ward also hired the same makeup professional to prepare the talent as she had done for the Cade Janus shoot. According to the complaint, the company also tried to use Haugen’s wardrobe and props for the Call of Duty shoot.

A similar suit was filed last week by indie game NOWWA, which claimed EA plagiarized its Hunter character to create Apex Legends’ new playable hero Fuse, though that accusation has not yet resulted in legal action.

Activision did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Photo credit: Haugen vs Activision