As reported by the Courthouse News [thanks Joystiq], Turbine, the Massachusetts-based studio behind the Dungeons and Dragons Online MMO (which recently entered the free-to-play market with Eberron Unlimited) has sued Atari for allegedly breaching its license agreement; Atari is looking to terminate Turbine's license, while Turbine is seeking damages "in excess of $30 million in losses."
Talking about the subscription-based MMO Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach, Turbine said it employed "dozens upon dozens of people working hundreds of thousands of hours" during development and spent millions of dollars on the franchise (and continues to invest money in operating and maintaining the game), while Atari purportedly failed to devote the necessary resources to the title's distribution and promotion.
Furthermore, Turbine claims Atari breached the license agreement "by accepting payments - including future royalty payments - in return for extending their relationship and paving the way for the launch of Turbine's free-to-play DDO: Unlimited service, though Atari knew it would not perform its obligations under the agreements and knew it would pretextually seek to declare Turbine in breach of the agreements."
And, Turbine claims Atari was planning to either "terminate Turbine as part of a shakedown" or "proceed with termination in bad faith to benefit from its own competing product at Turbine's expense." This "competing product" is likely the upcoming Champions Online from Cryptic Studios. It's also worth noting that Cryptic is rumored to be working on a Neverwinter Nights D&D MMO.
Those of you interested in reading the full legal complaint may do so here (in pdf format).
