Reactions: Double Fine Countersues Activision

For Brutal Legend!!!!

Even more lawsuits in today’s news.

So last month Activision decided to sue Brutal Legend developer Double Fine in an attempt to prevent the game from being released. Something about improperly transferring publishing rights to EA.

Well, today Double Fine decided to fire back by filing a countersuit against Activision. Really, none of that is too interesting on its own, but in their suit Double Fine had plenty of interesting things to say about Activision. The Associated Press is reporting that “Double Fine’s countersuit contends Activision’s lawsuit was filed to hurt the company and the game, and that it was involved in unlawful business practices and a conspiracy to protect “Guitar Hero” sales.” Apparently Double Fine sees Brutal Legend competing with Guitar Hero as the lawsuit also says that Activision’s “purpose is not only to cancel ‘Brutal Legend,’ but to kill it completely so that ‘Guitar Hero’ would not have to face the competition.”

Activision responded by saying that Double Fine’s assertions are “meritless and, in fact, Activision has every intention of exercising its legal right as Brutal Legend’s publisher to release the game.”

Double Fine also seems to insinuate that Activision lacks originality in their lineup. “The suit claims Activision prefers to develop games based on its successful roster, including the “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft” series, and games based on movies, rather than original titles.”

Double Fine doesn’t plan on letting Activision just push them around either. Double Fine COO, Caroline Esmurdoc said in a prepared statement “Now that we’ve found a publisher and the game is getting sensational coverage, they want to stop its release. “Double Fine’s countersuit is a demonstration of our intention to fight for this game , Activision will not kill ‘Brutal Legend.’”

Countersuit filed over ‘Brutal Legend’ video game via Kotaku

Author: Ryan