Frontier Developments, the studio behind RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 and more recently Planet Coaster, is leveling legal action against Atari in a dispute over back royalties. Frontier alleges that RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 sold more copies than Atari reported to the studio. Frontier asserts that it's owed more money for the core RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 game and the two expansions, Soaked! and Wild!, it created.

Frontier cites a website that showed higher sales figures for RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 than Atari reported. Which website was not explicitly stated, but Frontier claims that their calculations show that accounting for the higher sales figure, the studio should have been paid $3.37 million in royalties instead of the $1.17 million they received.

When Frontier asked for an audit of the RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 sales report, Atari denied access to records. Frontier Chief Operating Office David Walsh gave the following statement about the situation to GameSpot:

"We can confirm Frontier is currently pursuing a complaint against Atari," said Walsh. "We have attempted to resolve this issue without legal action since April 2016. We have so far been denied our contractual right to audit by Atari, and we are unfortunately left with no other way to resolve our concerns. We are unable to offer any further comment while the matter is subject to due legal process."

Atari has had financial problems in the past. In 2013 Atari filed for bankruptcy, but a last minute injection of $2 million in funds saved the company from failure. It recently launched RollerCoaster Tycoon World on Steam Early Access to mostly negative reviews.

Frontier Developments, on the other hand, is a rising star in PC gaming. Its recently released title Planet Coaster is being received with critical acclaim and is touted as the spiritual successor to the RollerCoaster Tycoon series.

Whether Frontier is owed more money by Atari is yet to be seen. We'll bring you more details as they become available.