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Bethesda Acquires Fallout MMO Rights
Bethesda Softworks parent company ZeniMax Media said today it has
settled the ongoing legal battle between it and Interplay over the
Fallout MMO game license.
Under the terms of the
settlement, the license granted to Interplay to develop the Fallout MMO
title is now null and void, and all rights to develop the MMO have been
turned over to Bethesda effective immediately. Additionally, Interplay
can no longer use the Fallout brand for game development.
ZeniMax
will pay Interplay $2 million as part of the settlement and each party
will pay their own legal costs. However, Interplay can continue to sell
the original Fallout Tactics, Fallout, and Fallout 2 PC games and
merchandise through December 2013. After that time, the rights to those
titles become property of Bethesda.
Bethesda also said it also
reached a settlement with the purported developer of the Fallout MMO,
Masthead Studios. No payments were made by either party in this
settlement, and the developer acknowledges it has no legal right to use
any Fallout intellectual property and agrees it will not use any such
intellectual property of Bethesda in the future.
"While we
strongly believe in the merits of our suits, we are pleased to avoid the
distraction and expense of litigation while completely resolving all
claims to the Fallout IP," said Robert Altman, chairman and CEO of
ZeniMax Media.
"Fallout is an important property of ZeniMax and we are
now able to develop future Fallout titles for our fans without third
party involvement or the overhang of others' legal claims."
This
lawsuit began after Bethesda acquired the Fallout license from Interplay
in 2007. Bethesda conditionally licensed back to Interplay trademark
rights to make a Fallout MMO provided the company could secure $30
million for the project and began development by April 2009. Bethesda
alleged Interplay did not meet those conditions, but Interplay would not
give up the license for the Fallout MMO; insisting it would
eventually develop the game.
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