"[SimBin] is taking legal advice and considering to also take legal actions against Slightly Mad Studios, as a result of certain statements made by Slightly Mad Studios that we find to be incorrect, misleading and has a negative impact on our reputation as well as business negotiations," SimBin VP Magnus Ling told Joystiq.

Slightly Mad's statement was contained in the announcement for Need for Speed Shift, a realistic take on the traditionally arcadey series it's developing with Electronic Arts. The PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PSP racing simulation is expected to hit this fall.

Over on its official site, Slightly Mad states that its staff "formed the core development team" responsible for SimBin's GTR, GTR 2, and GT Legends, and provides a list of those employees and the roles they played in developing those games. For example, GTR, GTR 2 and GT Legends development head Ian Bell is now at Slightly Mad.

In a statement to Joystiq, Bell called the accusations "absurd," noting that "more than 25 of Slightly Mad Studios' current staff worked on and are actually credited in GT Legends and GTR 2 including the majority of the core development team."

"It saddens me when fellow developers make inappropriate statements like this in public but I think the fact that the first I heard of it was from you says everything you need to know about the credibility of the claims," Bell added. "Had there been any merit to them I am sure I would have heard sooner."

A partial list of Slightly Mad's former SimBin staff and their credits follow:

Ian Bell - Head Of Development - GTR, GT Legends, GTR 2
Andy Garton - Technical Director - GTR, GT Legends, GTR 2
Stephen Viljoen - Lead Designer/Producer - GTR, GT Legends, GTR 2
Eric Boosman - Art Director - GTR, GT Legends, GTR 2
Doug Arnao - Physics/AI Director - GTR, GT Legends, GTR 2
Jan Frischkorn - Art Lead - GTR, GT Legends, GTR 2
Perran Truran - Lead Vehicle Modeller - GTR, GT Legends, GTR 2
Viktor Kolomiets - Builds / Asset Manager - GTR, GT Legends, GTR 2
Ged Keaveney - Programmer - GT Legends, GTR 2
Steve Dunn - Programmer - GT Legends, GTR 2
Robert Dibley - Programmer - GT Legends, GTR 2
Anders Johansson - Programmer - GT Legends, GTR 2
Iain Wallington - Programmer - GTR 2
Matt Hobbs - Programmer - GTR 2
Vittorio Rapa - Server Side Coder - GT Legends, GTR 2
Stephen Baysted - Sound Director - GTR, GT Legends, GTR 2
Greg Hill - Sound Designer - GTR, GT Legends, GTR 2
Casey Ringley - Vehicle Modeller - GT Legends, GTR 2
Gustavo Olivera - Vehicle Modeller - GTR, GT Legends, GTR 2
Daniel Karlsson - Vehicle Texture Artist - GTR, GT Legends, GTR 2
Bryn Alban - Vehicle Modeller - GTR, GT Legends, GTR 2
Vincent Dambreville - Vehicle Texture Artist - GT Legends, GTR 2
Sven Moll - Track Production/Organics - GT Legends, GTR 2
Andreas Moll - Track Production/Organics - GT Legends, GTR 2
Sean Vollmer - Track Modeller - GTR, GT Legends, GTR 2