As judge refuses to lift injunction.
I figure it’s about time we go back and look at the lawsuit between Snail Games and Angela Game (and Imperium and Tencent). A quick catchup for those not in the know: Angela Game is the developer of Myth of Empires, a survival game that launched at the tail end of 2021. Shortly after its release, Myth of Empires was pulled from Steam due to a DMCA takedown request by Snail Games. Snail Games alleges that Angela, made up primarily of ex-Snail Games employees, uses stolen source code from Ark: Survival Evolved. Angela filed a lawsuit for declaratory judgment, and Snail Games countersued for copyright infringement. Got it? Good.
Now the primary goal for Angela Game is to get their game back up on Steam, because no game on Steam means virtually no income. You can buy Myth of Empires direct from their website, but the deleterious effect of not being available on Steam is obvious. Yes, you can still make money not selling a game on Steam. But not being on a major platform is basically a death sentence. The court has not been so kind to Angela Game’s request.
Well the effort to shut down the injunction is now going to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal has been assigned docket #2:21-cv-09552-CAS-SK (for those who want to keep track at home). On the other side of the lawsuit, neither party has been able to agree on how to handle source code comparisons. Judge Snyder appears to be getting slightly impatient, as both parties have been ordered by the court to find an agreeable independent expert before February 19. If they are unable to do so, they must submit two proposed experts and the court will choose for them.
Otherwise not a whole lot going on this month.
MMO Fallout 