Time hasn't cooled the lawsuit over Fallout between Interplay and Bethsoft. Duck and Cover today received a legal filing from Interplay CEO Herve Caen detailing his various complaints with Bethesda's legal conduct.
Caen begins by repudiating Bethsoft's claims over Interplay's sale of Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout: Tactics and rejecting their definition of what “full scale development” of the Fallout MMO means. The executive asserts that the Fallout MMO had reached a playable state, disagrees with Bethsoft's conduct in not allowing them to use the Fallout trademark at all even though the believe the terms of license agreement allows them to do so. Caen thinks that these tactics by Bethsoft are motivated by a desire to create a Fallout MMO of their own.
“It is interesting that in or about August 2007, just four months after Interplay had entered into the TLA with Bethesda, Bethesda's parent company, ZeniMax Media LLC, announced the creation of its own MMOG development house, ZeniMax Online Studios. Based on Bethesda's subsequent conduct it thus appears that Bethesda never intended to permit Interplay to develop an MMOG under the terms of the TLA and planned from the outset to terminate Interplay's rights and grant them instead to affiliated ZeniMax Online Studios for a Fallout MMOG,” wrote Caen. “Bethesda's attempt to terminate the MMOG rights under the TLA is consistent with its overall conduct designed to interfere with Interplay's exploitation of rights granted under the parties' agreements, including Interplay's Merchandising Rights to the Interplay-developed Pre-existing Fallout Games.”
Development of a Fallout MMO is something that Bethsoft has denied, with indicators pointing instead to a Elder Scrolls MMO at ZeniMax Online Studios. Interplay also announced that it is seeking compensation for legal fees and other costs from Bethsoft to the tune of $197,929.88.
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July 19, 2010
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