Three years after licensing the Fallout intellectual property in 2004, Bethesda Softworks bought it outright for $5.75 million from Interplay, which created the franchise. Under the terms of the deal, Bethesda licensed the rights to make a Fallout massively multiplayer online role-playing game back to Interplay, with the caveat the fallen publisher had to start full-time development within two years. That deal imploded in April, when Bethesda, dissatisfied with Interplay's efforts, revoked the Fallout MMORPG rights.
Bethesda contends that Interplay's unsanctioned sales of games like Fallout 2...
This week, the Bethesda-Interplay disagreement was elevated to a legal level, when Bethesda filed suit in federal court in Maryland. The suit accuses Interplay of 10 counts of breach of contract and trademark infringement by not abiding by a trademark license agreement (TLA) it had with Bethesda. The first was in relation to the Fallout MMORPG, which stipulated that Interplay had to have raised at least $30 million in funding for the project by the end of March 2009. As evidence such fund-raising did not occur, Bethesda points to a June 30 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission which said Interplay had $2.54 million in debt and only $16,000 in cash assets.
Bethesda's complaint also claims that, 11 days after being informed the Fallout MMORPG license had been revoked and it could not enter into a deal with any third parties, Interplay formalized a deal with Bulgarian studio Masthead to develop the MMORPG Project V13.
The second part of the suit accuses Interplay of riding the coattails of Fallout 3 by re-releasing and repackaging older Fallout games without permission. Specifically, it says that the company was selling a compilation of Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics as boxed products called "Fallout Trilogy" and "Saga Fallout." The packaging of any such new boxed product needed to be approved by Bethesda, which claims it never did so. Bethesda also feels the name "Fallout Trilogy" was deliberately misleading consumers into thinking the compilation contained Fallout 3.
...diminished the Fallout 3 brand.
Finally, Bethesda accuses Interplay of entering into deals with several online game distributors without its consent, violating the licensing agreement yet again. GameTap, Good Old Games (aka GOG.com), and Valve Software's Steam service are all named as outlets which sold Fallout products without any permission from Bethesda, in violation of the licensing agreement.
Bethesda is demanding the court formally declare Interplay no longer has any rights to the Fallout name or trademark. It also wants the court to place a preliminary and permanent injunction on Interplay to stop it from selling any Fallout-branded products. It also wants Interplay to submit in writing a declaration that it no longer has any rights to the Fallout brand. No monetary damages are being sought.
Does this mean the FS license is going to be up for grabs?You really should learn not to ask about stuff like that. It's good to hope, but I doubt that Interplay will let go of it so easily. Unless it's dissolved as a result of this.
Just asking.
As of this moment, Interplay is dead. Really. Even if they're still around right now, they won't be for long. If they lose the suit, they're toast...
No monetary damages are being sought.
I can't see Interplay putting the games up for sale/play on GameTap, GOG, etc. unless they were certain they had the rights to do so.
I guess this confirms that Interplay is kinda desperate for money
I guess this confirms that Interplay is kinda desperate for money ... I mean, selling a cut-down FS2 under a different name? That's just wrong. Especially if they charged the same price as the full FS2.
I guess this confirms that Interplay is kinda desperate for money ... I mean, selling a cut-down FS2 under a different name? That's just wrong. Especially if they charged the same price as the full FS2.
Actually, that was pretty common practice back then. Many games had these OEM versions that were something between demos and full games, which were bundled with computers and various hardware. They weren't sold by themselves.
But yes, I have heard of Interplay doing this kind of thing more than once in the past.
A very annoying practice. I actually thought that I had the full version of Descent for ten years before I bothered to read the fine print at the end. :ick:
I think that's insulting, comparing Interplay to Atari. Atari is one of the grand old dames of the computer gaming world, while Interplay is nowhere near as spectecular.
I think that's insulting, comparing Interplay to Atari. Atari is one of the grand old dames of the computer gaming world, while Interplay is nowhere near as spectecular.
The modern Atari has nothing in common with the old company aside from the name.Yeah, I just realised a while later that most of the original Atari staff went off to form Activision, I think.
Game companies die all the time?Studios yes, publishers not so often.
Well, maybe if Interplay finally kicks it THQ can buy the rights to Freespace from them.
Well, maybe if Interplay finally kicks it THQ can buy the rights to Freespace from them.
Interplay is a beast that refuses to be buried. Remember when the entire Black Isle staff got fired? Didn't kill Interplay. Remember when Interplay got bought out, and the parent company dissolved? Didn't kill Interplay. Remember when California chained the Interplay office doors closed, because the employees weren't being paid? Didn't kill Interplay. A lawsuit that doesn't seek monetary damages? That's pretty small fry, compared to the other hurdles that have stood before the publisher.
How many other franchise rights do they have other than FS?
A very annoying practice. I actually thought that I had the full version of Descent for ten years before I bothered to read the fine print at the end.
Interplay may be good at receiving mortal wounds, but they're doing a pretty piss-poor job of dishing any out.
It's not quite so neat when it doesn't have any functioning beam cannons. At that point, it's a massive space brick that can suck up all the damage in the world, yet can't hurt a fly itself. Which kind of fits what we're talking about.
It's not quite so neat when it doesn't have any functioning beam cannons. At that point, it's a massive space brick that can suck up all the damage in the world, yet can't hurt a fly itself. Which kind of fits what we're talking about.
Interplay argued in their court documents that Bethesda breached the contract...(such as sending letters to everyone that Interplay tried to sell the original Fallout games to) to such an extent that the contract is now null and void
I can't see Interplay putting the games up for sale/play on GameTap, GOG, etc. unless they were certain they had the rights to do so.
Interplay have a history of this. I remember when Interplay got into a hell of a lot of trouble for releasing Star Fleet Command: Neutral Zone, a cut down version of the original Star Fleet Command that was created by Interplay by removing the models and certain other game assets from the files without the permission of the IP holder (viacom I think at the time) and then keeping the profits without giving the IP holder their cut. Also, as I recall Freespace 2: Colossus, a similarly cut down version of FS2 that ended when the Colossus defeated the Repulse was created without the permission or knowledge of Volition and resulted in a law-suit as once again Interplay didn't pass on the profits or seek the permission from V who owned parts of the IP. As If I remember correctly this was a contributing factor to the V/Interplay split.
Screw your FS2: Colossus, I had the original OEM, Descent: FreeSpace - Darkness Rising. :P