The legal battle between Activision and Infinity Ward is coming to a head, and newly released court documents are giving us a better look at Activision's internal dialogue in the days leading up to firing Jason West and Vince Zampella. The e-mails range from frustrations, to plans of how to keep projects and teams on-track without the known leadership.
Read more: 'Is everyone ready for the big, negative PR story?' »
Silicon Knights sued Epic Games in 2007 for "technical problems" with the now widely-adopted Unreal Engine. The Too Human developer had modified the middleware so much that it called it the "Silicon Knights Engine." The original claim asked for $58 million in damages, however after the judge threw out Silicon Knights' "unreliable and speculative" damage assessment, the developer now faces a significantly reduced judgment.
Update: 10:45 a.m. PST, In a live press conference, Rhode Island Gov. Chafee said that the $1.125 million check from 38 Studios has cleared the bank. A debt service payment of more than $2.5 million is due Nov. 1. The governor also said that the MMO Project Copernicus was set for June of 2013.
Original Story: Troubles continue to mount for 38 Studios. After requesting additional Rhode Island state assistance, the company was unable to pay its employees this week. It also hand-delivered a check for the overdue $1.125 million to the state's Economic Development Corporation, but company CFO Rick Wester told the EDC that there were insufficient funds to cover the check.
Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts have reached a settlement in a lawsuit surrounding the firing of Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella. EA had been accused of conspiring with the pair to leave Activision form an independent studio. Neither party has disclosed the terms of the settlement, but they will reportedly ask the court to dismiss the claims.
"Activision and Electronic Arts have decided to put this matter behind them," said Activision lawyer Beth Wilkinson.
Read more: Activision allegedly tried to 'dig up dirt' on West and Zampella »
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning developer 38 Studios is requesting additional assistance from its home state of Rhode Island, following reports that the company was meeting with officials to discuss its $75 million loan guarantee. The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation didn't take action yet, and is reportedly still deciding whether to help the company.
Read more: 'We had a very generous proposal, now we're in some difficulty' »
NovaLogic, the studio behind Delta Force, has filed an injunction and is seeking damages against Activision over the use of a Delta Force logo in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The complaint alleges that Activision ignored multiple warnings regarding the use of NovaLogic's trademark in the game.
Read more: NovaLogic claims 'millions of dollars, possibly more' »
Activision has reportedly paid former Infinity Ward employees $42 million dollars, but the payment is not considered a settlement. The payment includes 10% interest, and the attorney for the 40-member Infinity Ward Employee Group says it's merely a "small portion" of the suit's monetary stakes.
4mm Games, the studio behind Def Jam Rapstar, is on the verge of closing. Studio head Jamie King says the company is "rather starved for money," and stretching itself thin as it tries to resolve a Rapstar legal dispute while tending to its own staff as well.
38 Studios, the owner of developer Big Huge Games (Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning) may be facing financial difficulties, and has turned to the Rhode Island government to stay solvent. State officials have been meeting with the game studio, though specific measures aren't being discussed yet.
US District Judge Claudia Wilken has refused to dismiss a class action suit that alleges EA conspired to use the likenesses of NCAA student athletes without compensation. The suit claims that the publisher and NCAA colluded in the decision to have players sign away their rights. While some of the other claims in the civil suit have been thrown out, this one is being allowed to go forward.
Read more: Students allege they had to sign away rights to play »
A New York judge has determined that a $100 million lawsuit from a game developer against Beyonce can go forward. According to the suit, the pop singer backed out of $20 million deal with the studio Gate Five, that was to develop a game called "Starpower: Beyonce."
The legal battle between Microsoft and Motorola continues to heat up, and Motorola has scored one symbolic victory that could serve as a bargaining chip in company negotiations. A court in Mannheim, Germany ruled today that various Microsoft products infringe on Motorola patents due to their video compression technology -- including the Xbox 360.
Motorola has won a ruling against Microsoft that may result in blocking imports of the Xbox 360 to the US. An International Trade Commission judge found that Microsoft was violating four of five Motorola Mobility patents. If the finding is approved by a six-member commission, it can ban the import of goods that violate US patents.
Activision Blizzard is being sued by Worlds Inc., for violating a patent on virtual worlds. The firm claims that games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft violate its patent, and are requesting "fair compensation."
Read more: Patent covers 'enabling users to interact in a virtual space' »
Thanks to the ruling of a Texas district court judge, Section 8 developer TimeGate Studios won't be forced to pay millions in allegedly misused development funds to publisher SouthPeak, nor will SouthPeak retain a permanent license for the Section 8 IP and its sequels. The dispute originated way back in 2009, when Timegate sued SouthPeak for allegedly embezzling royalties by altering revenue reports. At the time, SouthPeak counter-sued, claiming that $7.5M in funding had been "misused" by the developer, in addition to $2.5M in development costs TimeGate failed to provide.
"Why? Because it's been a whole week? Are you fucking kidding me? They've lost customers (like ..."
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