Former Fallout license holder Interplay is in hot water with new owners Bethesda, as they allege the release of Fallout Trilogy, which includes three original games, is confusing.
At least for us the consumer it’s confusing, alleges the Fallout 3 developer. Also they’re displeased with Interplay deals with digital channels, flogging classic Fallouts to gamers.
”Bethesda accused Interplay of trademark infringement, claiming that while Interplay was permitted to sell pre-existing Fallout games, it was required to submit to Bethesda all relevant packaging, advertising, and promotional material prior to bringing the catalog titles to market,” reports Gamasutra.
Oh dear. Interplay has fallen foul of the marketing department at Bethesda. They accuse of the publisher of never seeking pre-approval of the packaging, and this has ultimately led to confusion between the original games and Fallout 3 which Bethesda wanted to avoid.
Deals between Interplay and sites like GOG.com, Steam and GameTap to sell older Fallout releases has caused Bethesda ”immediate, substantial, and irreparable harm,” they say.
In ‘07 Bethesda bought the Fallout license for $5.75 million, with a clause attached that let Interplay licensed back the rights to develop a Fallout project. Bethesda is asking the courts to terminate this arrangement with immediate effect.
Interplay was supposed to be in full-scale development of a Fallout MMO by April of this year, which Bethesda accused them of not attaining and thus were in breach of contract with Interplay denying the allegation. They also had to put together $30 million within two years of the 2007 agreement, and have the MMO title released no later than 2011.
12 percent of game sales and subscription fees were to be allocated to Bethesda.
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