At the end of July we reported that a hearing on a motion by Activision to block Brutal Legend's release had been pushed back to August 6th. Now it appears, however, that the hearing for today has been cancelled and that the legal dispute between Activision and developer Double Fine has been settled.
Los Angeles Superior Court spokeswoman Vania Stuelp, according to the Associated Press, said that attorneys for Activision notified a court about the settlement on Wednesday. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but we have a feeling that the judge's recent comments about "not being inclined" to delay Brutal Legend probably affected Activision's thinking.
Activision had originally said it believes it should still have the rights to publish the title starring Jack Black, but Double Fine countersued the company and said that it was deliberately attempting to kill Brutal Legend in an effort to preserve its Guitar Hero franchise. Now that it's all over, we're just happy that we'll be able to play the game this October, and we hope it fares a lot better than Tim Schafer's Psychonauts.
2 Comments
August 6, 2009
Im looking forward to the game, and glad that Activision has settled.
I'm interested in seeing the agreement though. Who paid?
August 7, 2009
If the report today was accurate, it seems as thought Activision got little to nothing. http://www.industrygamers.com/news/report-activision-received-little-to-no-compensation-in-brutal-legend-settlement/