In a new court filing obtained by Gamasutra, Interplay alleges that Bethesda knew the planned Fallout MMO hinged on more elements of the established universe than just the brand name. The filing comes in response to Bethesda’s preliminary injunction against continued development of the Fallout MMO using classic Fallout characters. Bethesda states it only licensed the name for Fallout for the title. Interplay counters that discussions involving both parties made it clear that the entire Fallout universe was on the table.
"For at least four years, Bethesda has known that Interplay interpreted its right to create the Fallout-branded MMOG to include copyrighted content from the Fallout universe in order to make the MMOG a recognizable Fallout game," reads the court document. "Bethesda never objected and did not seek an injunction because it knew Interplay was doing exactly what the parties intended under their agreements.”
Interplay also fires back at Bethesda’s claim that the Fallout MMO would confuse players of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, stating: “This is ironic because Bethesda contends Interplay should have created an entire game of incompatible story, characters, and art and labeled it Fallout only in name.”
This is the second injunction Bethesda has tried to file against Interplay, with the first being thrown out by the judge.
