Bethesda sues Interplay over Fallout trademark
Bethesda is now suing Interplay, original owner of the Fallout license, over trademark infringement.
To clarify some of the complex backstory first, Interplay were the original publishers of the Fallout games and published Fallout 1, 2, Tactics and Brotherhood of Steel before falling on hard times and selling all the rights to Bethesda Softworks. Bethesda then made Fallout 3 and licensed back to Interplay the option to make a Fallout MMO under certain conditions.
Bethesda's core complaint is over Interplay's attempts to re-release the older Fallout games without seeking approval from Bethesda. The main issue is with Interplay publishing a bundle called The Fallout Trilogy, which contains Fallout 1, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics - apparently ignoring the fact that Fallout is not a trilogy and deliberately titled to suggest otherwise. Bethesda alleges that the Fallout Trilogy title is confusingly similar to Fallout 3 and may affect sales.
Bethesda also complains about Interplay licensing the first Fallout games to systems like Steam and GoodOldGames.com without seeking approval, as well as the release of other bundles of earlier games. As well as the Fallout Trilogy bundle Interplay has created Fallout Collection and Saga Fallout bundles.
Bethesda is also following up on previous threats to terminate the MMO option specifically, saying that Interplay has not met certain conditions of the deal - such as securing proper funding and meeting certain development deadlines.
Is this a case of corporate bullying, or a legitimate complaint on Bethesda's part? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
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Discuss in the forums ReplyDON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THOSE, BETHESDA! I'M WARNING YOU!
it's Interplay's own fault for not seeking permission first...
and to ply another comparison, it's like you being a music artist, selling your music to a record label who then own the full distribution and licensing rights (with royalties paid to the original artist) and then the original artist trying to flog the same album(s) on CDs distributed by themselves and not the record label they signed over to
The point is that Bethesda could, and most likely will end up pulling these packages and that means no more Fallout because THEY sure as hell don't want to re-release any of the old games.
I don't know about you guys but i'm off to get the NoDRM version from GOG while i still can.
I really don't believe that is going to happen. Although I am not Bethesda neither do I work in the business, but this is fallout and I imagine some way or another it will find it's way into the hands of those wanting to play it.
Yeah. However, Interplay were selling "The Fallout Collection" long before Bethesda bought the rights. I can see why Bethsoft would get in such a tizzy about a 'Fallout Trilogy' though.
Calling it a trilogy as well is very misleading. Overall not a very good move on interplays part
Oh man, so true! I can't tell you how confused I was by the titling of Alien Cubed. Why cubed? It seemed to have little or no continuity from Alien either, almost as if there was something missing in between, but I've checked everywhere and there definitely isn't an Alien 2.
Why do all the metaphors and similes used on this forum always involve cars or the car industry
Because most of us are men. There's typically only two options, or at least two that spring immediately to mind.
See?
I loved the original Fallout games, but I also think that Bethesda did a good job with Fallout 3. They did take away a lot of the appeal and charm of the older games (such as the black humour), but they have made a great game. FO3 feels much more bleak and barren, more like a post-apocalyptic wasteland. When you have to wander round the wastes for days to reach locations it's so much more immersive; you can see all the ruined cities & buildings in the distance, watch the landscape roll by... hopping in the car and watching a dot move round a map feels much more disconnected. (Granted it's only made possible with the better technology that we now have).
I think that, if it had been left to Interplay, they would have had another Duke Nukem Forever on their hands. They would have nurtured their baby endlessly, caring more about how to keep the next game true to the originals than actually getting a good game out the door.
Excellent post.
Thank you - I aim to please...
Although I just noticed that I wrote Duke Nukem 3D, when I meant Duke Nukem Forever.... Ooops! :D
Strangely I knew what you meant. Although it has been a long day (only lunch time!) and I have an afternoon of complex FX Swap modeling to work through....... YAY ........
They bought the brand, so they choose its direction. They aren't going to be against Interplay making more money (though I don't think there will be much) out of the older games - providing a) it doesn't complicate Bethesda's FO3 program and b) they get a suitable (small) slice of this (small) pie.
I don't blame interplay for wanting to cash in on the success of Bethesda's FO3, but rules is rules and they seem to have broke them.
This was exactly my point.