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Tag: Interplay
[Less Massive] Interplay’s Latest Legal Trouble
Fallout developer Interplay has gotten itself into more legal trouble. Those of you who have been keeping score will remember that our saga began in 2009 when Bethesda sued Interplay over the company’s not-so-honest claims that Fallout Online was in full production, meaning 30 million in funding minimum. Interplay, in its multiple attempts to fight off bankruptcy, sold most of the rights to Bethesda in 2009 with the rest following for an additional $2 million in 2012. Prior to this, Interplay had already been sued for using the Dark Alliance Engine in their games without paying for the license.
Just a few days ago, Good Old Games pulled down the Descent titles without notice from their online store, however they are still available and running a sale on Steam (although they shouldn’t be). In a post on the GOG forums, Matt Toschlog & Mike Kulas revealed that Parallax Software is behind the takedown, and that Interplay hasn’t been paying royalties since 2007. Even after being served with legal notice, Interplay did not pay royalties, resulting in further action.
Parallax Software still exists and still owns the copyrights to the Descent games. Under our 21-year-old agreement, Interplay has the exclusive rights to sell Descent and Descent II, and they have been doing so on Good Old Games and Steam. The problem is that Interplay has not paid to Parallax any royalties since 2007. We’ve talked to them about this numerous times over the years, and finally took action this fall. We served Interplay official notice that they were in breach of the contract, and when they still failed to pay we terminated the agreement.
While Parallax owns the rights to the first two games, Interplay currently owns the trademark and rights to both develop and license new games in the franchise including the early access title Descent: Underground.
(Source: GOG.com)
Bethesda Wins Lawsuit, Interplay Fallout MMO Terminated
War. War never changes. And neither does litigation. Bethesda’s parent company Zenimax Studios announced today the results of the recent settlement between Bethesda and Interplay, over the rights of the Fallout MMO. In the settlement, Zenimax has come out on top, retaining all rights to the Fallout name and ensuring anything Interplay was working on is now worth zilch.
Under the terms of the settlement, the license granted to Interplay to develop the Fallout MMO is null and void, and all rights granted to Interplay to develop a Fallout MMO revert back to Bethesda, effective immediately. Interplay has no ongoing right to use the Fallout brand or any Fallout intellectual property for any game development. ZeniMax will pay Interplay $2 million as consideration in the settlement, each party will bear its own costs of the litigation, and Bethesda will continue to own all Fallout intellectual property rights.
In addition, Interplay will also lose the rights to publish Fallout 1 and 2 in 2013. You may remember that Interplay had sublicensed the Fallout brand to Masthead Studios (the Earthrise developers). In a separate filing, Bethesda sued Masthead (and settled on December 29th) for copyright infringement and assorted intellectual property violations, as it turns out Interplay was not allowed to sublicense without the approval of Bethesda, which they never received. In that case, no money has changed hands.
Is it early enough to declare Project V13 dead?
Bethesda/Interplay Lawsuit Settled, Nothing Specific Released
It’s funny how some banners look better in your mind before you put them on paper. Good news everyone! According to Duck and Cover, a premiere Fallout fan site, a settlement has been reached between Bethesda and Interplay over the ongoing lawsuit pertaining to Fallout Online (or Project V13). For those in need of a jump to the brain, back in 2007 Interplay sold the Fallout franchise to Bethesda under the agreement that Interplay would develop the Fallout MMO, with the understanding that such a title would be in full development by April 2009. When that date came and went, allegedly with no real progress, Bethesda launched a lawsuit against Interplay for failing to meet their side of the bargain.
This recess was extended, and then they recessed for lunch. After the lunch recess, the court room was locked to everyone except attorneys and clients. When our source asked why this was the case, our source was told it was because they were working out a settlement. The following day, another source called the court reporter to ask what the next hearing schedule for the case was — this source was told there was no schedule as a settlement had been reached.
More information, according to Duck and Cover, is set to be released this month. Until then, let the speculation continue on the future of the vaporware MMO known as Project V13.
(Source: Duck and Cover)
Interplay Circling The Drain: Project V13 In Jeopardy
Fallout Online, or Project V13, or the Fallout MMO, or “that MMO that is never being released” as it is known in my parts of the neighborhood. Whatever you call it, players have already taken sides in the Bethesda Interplay lawsuit, based on who they would rather see win and develop the Fallout MMO. To bring you up to speed, Interplay sold the rights to Fallout to Bethesda, on the terms that Interplay would retain the rights to an MMO and begin development with something to show by 2009.
In September 2009, Bethesda launched a lawsuit against Interplay to retrieve the rights to the MMO. After multiple back and forth bickering, the judge granted Interplay the right to continue working on the MMO, and last we heard (January 11th), Bethesda was trying to make the claim that they only licensed the name for Fallout, not any of the concepts (apocalypse) or characters or themes. You see, Bethesda did the licensing under the impression Interplay wouldn’t make a Fallout style shooter MMO, but instead some completely other genre of MMO, an argument that wouldn’t fool the standing judge of the county of Gullibility.
Well, much like Stargate Worlds, this MMO may come to an end simply through the art of bankruptcy. I’m guessing the sales from Fallout and Baldur’s Gate on Good Old Games aren’t doing enough to keep the cash flowing, because Interplay posted a cash balance below $3000 USD, and a capital deficit of over $3 million. They went on to note that if the financial situation doesn’t change soon, the company will either go into bankruptcy or be forced to sell off (I’m guessing to Bethesda again).
I’m not one to call doom and gloom, but if you didn’t see this coming you weren’t paying enough attention. Project V13 never had much of a chance in Interplay’s hands, being a company that can barely keep out of debt trying to pull off one of the most expensive genres of video games is a recipe for bankruptcy from day one. At this point, Cartoon Network’s Fusion Fall has a better looking financial future.
Interplay To Bethesda: No, You're Absurd!
Back in April I happily announced that the Interplay Vs Bethesda lawsuit was over, after an investor reported to Joystiq that Bethesda had dropped their suit. Of course, as we discovered in our long and incredibly painful interrogation of investor Frymuchan, Bethesda confirmed that they were not dropping the suit, and planned to continue full steam ahead.
Last month, Bethesda made a claim so ridiculously absurd that I did not report on it out of strong suspicious that the report was fake. As we know so far, Interplay has the rights to create a Fallout MMO, which is what spawned the whole lawsuit in the first place (Bethesda wants those rights back). In their latest claim, Bethesda made the statement that they only gave the rights to the name Fallout for the MMO, and that Interplay had no rights to use anything else from the franchise in said MMO. So…Interplay agreed to making a Fallout MMO that has nothing whatsoever to do with Fallout aside from the name? Bethesda may have had a stronger case just having their lawyer shout out “if the glove don’t fit, you must acquit,” during trial.
Interplay, of course, fired back yesterday calling the claim “absurd” and “without merit,” surely far more conscious words than many of us would use to describe such statements (I’ll start with juvenile, desperate, pathetic, and you can fill in the rest). For a company that is worried about the Fallout MMO never making it to light, Bethesda sure is spending a lot of time and effort to cripple Interplay through legal fees and wasted time.
Then again, when the genre is continuing to take more serious turns, we can always use two clowns in the corner honking their horns and throwing pies in each other’s faces. For comedic purposes. It’s a good thing Interplay talked about the Fallout MMO being light hearted and humorous, because the game itself is already a running joke, not unlike Duke Nukem Forever. Not the happy funny either, but the depressing funny, like laughing at the crazy homeless guy with the tinfoil hat and the “The end is nigh” cardboard poster.
(Source: Gamasutra, linked above)
Interplay To Bethesda: No, You’re Absurd!
Back in April I happily announced that the Interplay Vs Bethesda lawsuit was over, after an investor reported to Joystiq that Bethesda had dropped their suit. Of course, as we discovered in our long and incredibly painful interrogation of investor Frymuchan, Bethesda confirmed that they were not dropping the suit, and planned to continue full steam ahead.
Last month, Bethesda made a claim so ridiculously absurd that I did not report on it out of strong suspicious that the report was fake. As we know so far, Interplay has the rights to create a Fallout MMO, which is what spawned the whole lawsuit in the first place (Bethesda wants those rights back). In their latest claim, Bethesda made the statement that they only gave the rights to the name Fallout for the MMO, and that Interplay had no rights to use anything else from the franchise in said MMO. So…Interplay agreed to making a Fallout MMO that has nothing whatsoever to do with Fallout aside from the name? Bethesda may have had a stronger case just having their lawyer shout out “if the glove don’t fit, you must acquit,” during trial.
Interplay, of course, fired back yesterday calling the claim “absurd” and “without merit,” surely far more conscious words than many of us would use to describe such statements (I’ll start with juvenile, desperate, pathetic, and you can fill in the rest). For a company that is worried about the Fallout MMO never making it to light, Bethesda sure is spending a lot of time and effort to cripple Interplay through legal fees and wasted time.
Then again, when the genre is continuing to take more serious turns, we can always use two clowns in the corner honking their horns and throwing pies in each other’s faces. For comedic purposes. It’s a good thing Interplay talked about the Fallout MMO being light hearted and humorous, because the game itself is already a running joke, not unlike Duke Nukem Forever. Not the happy funny either, but the depressing funny, like laughing at the crazy homeless guy with the tinfoil hat and the “The end is nigh” cardboard poster.
(Source: Gamasutra, linked above)
News On Fallout Online? Hurray!
Fun Fact: The last Project V13 article was almost five months ago (June 27th).
When I read the latest description of Fallout Online, it reminded me of Xsyon in nature. Being an MMO, the game can’t give you a simple task like finding a chip to fix the water recycling, or escaping the vault to find your father because the overseer wants to kill you. In Fallout Online, the only conceivable goals would be surviving the post-apocalyptic world and helping to rebuild it. Interplay is going for both.
I think [Bethesda] miss a lot of the humour. Our Fallout MMOG will be extremely funny. At the same time, an MMOG must be a lot deeper than a standalone game… you can shoot, but it’s a very small portion of the game. The game itself is about reconstructing the world.
Interplay is looking to follow their own brand of Fallout, rather than the latest iteration set forth by Fallout 3 and New Vegas (the latter of which attempts to reach back to Fallout 1 and 2). Eric Caen was kind about Bethesda’s shaping of Fallout 3’s world, but had his criticism:
“We appreciate some portions of [Bethesda’s work], and we’re not necessarily fans of everything. I think they miss a lot of the humour, and the fans seem to agree with that. Fallout 3 was a little bit too serious – that’s definitely not where we’re going. OurFallout MMOG will be extremely funny.”
According to Caen, president of Interplay, the Fallout Online team is 90 men strong, and the game is still on track for a 2012 beta and release (hopefully giving players enough time to gain survival tips for the real end of the world later that year).
You can check out the partial interview on Edge’s website, with the full interview appearing in the magazine.
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Hey Look: A Fallout Online Website!
It’s been a while since any real news on Project V13, other than Bethesda reminding us that the lawsuit is not over, and January’s announcement that the beta would be running sometime in 2012.
Like any good E3, the event brought with it plenty of news outside of the convention itself. Foremost: Interplay has seen fit to launch a Fallout Online website, that appears to be legit (Interplay is linking to it from their main website), and allows people to register for the beta, whenever that comes out.
Good time to move Project V13 to the Upcoming section! Don’t forget when you sign up, that the beta is not expected until 2012.
Bethesda Vs Interplay: The Lawsuit Is NOT Down
Update: According to a report from Bethesda to Joystiq, the lawsuit has not been dropped. Please accept our apologies as our bounty hunter tracks down Interplay investor “Frymuchan” for his disservice.
“It’s an ongoing legal matter. I don’t know where whoever reported that got their information, but it is ongoing and we are going to see how it plays out in court.”
It feels like a long time since I’ve been able to update on the Bethesda/Interplay lawsuit, and in fact it’s been over four months since the latest lawsuit news! And what news it is:
Bethesda has dropped the lawsuit against Interplay, over the Fallout MMO “Project V13,” allowing the struggling developer to move full steam ahead in their development. The terms of the dropped lawsuit are in the secret vaults for now, but hopefully someone from Bethesda or Interplay can shed some light in the coming days, on the status of Project V13 and the two company’s involvement, and perhaps what led to the lawsuit being dropped.
For the sake of not getting up hopes, I’m still leaving Project V13 in the “rumor mill” file, as no longer being sued puts the title exactly where it was before the lawsuit began: On a long road to nowhere. We are also awaiting news of Bethesda’s upcoming MMO, speculated to be based on the Elder Scrolls universe (Well if it was a Fallout MMO, it is scrapped now)
The Fallout MMO is expected to go into beta sometime in mid-to-late 2012, and no that isn’t one of my jokes.
MMO Fallout 