Activision sues Double Fine over Brutal Legend

by Christopher Grant on Jun 4th 2009 1:49PM

Yahoo reports that Activision filed a lawsuit against Double Fine, developer of the Jack Black-fueled Brütal Legend, on Wednesday to "stop the release" of the game. The mega-publisher claims to have invested "roughly $15 million" into the game's development and that "it still has a valid contract to release the game," despite Double Fine transferring rights to Electronic Arts late last year.

Last February, Electronic Arts responded to Activision's saber rattling saying, "We doubt that Activision would try to sue. That would be like a husband abandoning his family and then suing after his wife meets a better looking guy." Yeah ...

So, to recap:

Sierra is subsumed into Activision, following the Activision Blizzard merger
Activision drops much of Sierra's lineup, including Brütal Legend
Brütal Legend looks for another publisher, but Activision is "blocking the process"
EA Partners swoops in as the game's new publisher
Activision sues Double Fine (that's this post)

Source

Tags: Activision, Brutal-Legend, Double-Fine, e3-2009, EA, EA-Partners, Electronic-Arts, lawsuit, legal, Microsoft, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (211)

fuck activision

^^^^ Yeah basically. Bunch of tools at best. So wish blizzard had not merged with these losers...=(

Well, Blizzard didn't. The company that owns Blizzard did. But supposedly there's a clause in the contract saying Activision can't interfere with Blizzard.

Activision dropped the game by choice, so they have no right to sue.

I still hate EA more.

Sure, they might not be justified in the action, but look at like I do- it hurts EA. That's ALWAYS a good thing.

I want NFL 2K back damnit.

"I still hate EA more.

Sure, they might not be justified in the action, but look at like I do- it hurts EA. That's ALWAYS a good thing."

John Kerry may have lost in 2004 because of his flip flops, but when walk onto the beach you gotta wear the proper footwear. If you look at the number of quality games that EA has been pumping out lately, you'll realize how dumb your comments sound.

And also, it doesn't just hurt EA... it hurts all the gamers who are interested in this game.

@Wii60

Don't blame EA for exclusivity, blame the NFL. They were practically begging developers to buy the exclusivity, EA couldn't care less.

Oh that's Brutal!

F**K Activision.. They don't need anything but their Music Games apparently. When is Harmonica Hero coming?

I would buy that.

What kind of fucked up world do we live in, where Activision is the aggressive publisher, and EA has become the positive force saving good games and publishing them?

Activision ..... I am really starting to dislike this company. Does anyone recall the EA Nazi logo from a couple years back? I think we need a redux of that for Activision.

I'm worried. What if Activision wins the suit, and then proceeds to publish Brutal Legend? I can't support Doublefine and boycott Activision at the same time!

If Activision won this the only thing they would do is keep it from releasing, because they are evil incarnate, and are out to squash anything cool and original that doesn't have Warcraft or Hero in it's name.

It's just nuts, 4 years ago I would have been rooting against EA on these kinds of lawsuits, and now I'm in there corner. Things DO change so much. I'm happy they decided to start being a great company again, but it still feels so odd.

I do think that the scenario you propose is the most likely to occur should they win the lawsuit, that they will simply prevent the game from being published. Unless they have a financial stake to claim from the lawsuit, it does seem strange that they would even bother just to block the game from coming out because their bitch asses were too penny pinching to bother publishing it themselves.

Achtungvision

Sounds a lot like the Watchmen drama.

And I expect the corporate protest to be equally effective in stopping the launch ...

Make no mistake, Brutal legend will be published either way.
Activision is just looking for money.

If Activision screamed "save us", i would totally whisper "no".

@Snake Robot Podium: *groaning segways into laughter*

Exactly the feeling I was getting.

@charlie b. -- Not trying to be a grammar nazi, because I honestly don't care. When I read your post, however, I was trying to make sense of "groaning segways" thinking, "Are these some sort of frustrated personal vehicle that I can ride down the sidewalk?" Then I realized that you meant segues. I do, however, agree that the original pun was groan-worthy.

Original no, sufficient yes.

I was largely indifferent towards Activision, even despite their wild franchise milking and orphaned Sierra projects, but this is ridiculous.

Activision is really making itself look bad. Between this and the whole DJ Hero fiasco it's obvious they are seriously lacking in people skills and leadership.

Yeah, this isn't exactly the same situation as Scratch, but it certainly seems to highlight Activision's strategy...

What's the DJ Hero fiasco?
but yea they are making themselves look bad.

@Latino

i think he is simply referring to DJ Hero's existence....

WHATS STEP 6 FOR GODSSAKES!?

Wow I really hope they don't block the release of the game. What a bunch of bastards.

No, we don't want to help you make your genius game, Tim Schafer.

Wait, your genius game might actually make some money? Dibs!

isn't it funny how this happens RIGHT after E3 when they see such a positive reaction to the game? dam money grubbering douchebags

Hope they dont pull this shit with prototype when it only has a few days left. These greedy motherfuckers, if they wanted to publish the game, which they probably dont even want to, they shouldnt have fucking dropped it. I wish I could take the controller Bobby Kotick is holding in the photo of him and slam into his fucking face

The thing is, its been a long time since Tim Schafer's games have made any money, so it would have been hard to blame them.

Though Brutal Legend does seem incredibly marketable

What about bunch of lowlife pricks.

If they weren't spending enough time milking the GH franchise this would been a good IP for Actvision.

Fuck you, fuck you, and fuck you.

I bet if it was Guitar Hero: Legends they would of kept it.

They probably let it go in the first place because Double Fine wouldn't let them change the name to Guitar Hero: Heavy Metal Action Game.

"Guitar Hero: Heavy Metal Action Game."

Nice!

PS: fuck Activision.

pricks

They're to short to be considered pricks!

"Don't be fooled. Underneath all the swastikas, they are real pricks."

@F1: Basu Gasu Bakuhatsu

"They're to short to be considered pricks!"

Concave pricks?

@DBuck_eye
We should be cellmates. I don't snore, and I'm a quiet masturbator. Hell, I'll even give you the top bunk.

Stupid Bastards......

ActiBlizzard is just being evil now....

Oh, ActiBlizzard is so much better than what I've been using which sounds like Black Division.

O THE DRAMA

your avatar is quite appropriate.

lol it is

I have been saying this for over a year now to every one of my friends,
BOYCOTT ACTIVISION, fucking most evil company in video games.

-Big mergers
-Cutting good games
-Exploitation of franchises is the way, to paraphrase Bobby Kotick.

You want to SUPPORT INNOVATION, BUY UBISOFT and EA games!

FUCK ACTIVISION WITH ELK SHAPED DILDOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A couple years ago I would have laughed if I heard EA and innovation in the same sentence. My, how things change.

LOL! I remember a few years ago when us gamers were saying "FUCK EA!" all the time and now they're actually listening to gamers. Little did we know that Activision was lurking in its lair waiting to be the new asshole in gaming. As for Ubisoft, I'm not sure yet

It's time to boycott activision. At least until MW2 comes out.

Seriously though, I've been hoping Infinity Ward could find another publisher. They should have enough money off of MW1 to finance their own games, but we know who got most of it. Activision is the new EA.

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Activision sues Double Fine over Brutal Legend

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