Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Beyoncé Ruins Christmas For Gate Five, Gets Sued
Software developer Gate Five was working on a dance game titled Starpower: Beyoncé that would allow players to perform along with the diva's greatest hits...at least until the game deal went awry between the two parties.
According to court docs, Gate Five claims the deal fell apart when Beyoncé "made an extortionate demand for entirely new compensation terms she wanted. When her maneuver backfired and drove away the financier (who found Ms. Carter too erratic to do business with), she pulled out of the project in breach of the agreement."
Ms. Knowles/Carter's demand for more money caused Gate Five to lay off employees and abandon development of the game, according to the developer. The lawsuit claims the diva's demands were "a bad faith breach of contract so callous that, on what appeared to be a whim, she destroyed Gate Five's business and drove 70 people into unemployment, the week before Christmas." The suit adds that her actions were "so unscrupulous that her then manager (who is also her father) renounced them."
"In early December everything was still a go. And then the week of Christmas, she said that's it, I don't want to hear from you guys, go away, resulting in 70 people losing their jobs," said Gate Five founder Greg Easley in an interview with New York magazine. "We'd much rather make a game than litigate. But we want to recover damages that Gate Five suffered." Gate Five is after a cool $100 million.
[Via New York Magazine]
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
