NCsoft attempts to block TERA's launch

By Fred Dutton Published 26 January, 2012

Accuses developer of stealing software and artwork.

Guild Wars publisher NCsoft has launched legal action against the developer of forthcoming MMO TERA in an attempt to block its impending US launch.

According to court documents filed on 9th January and since obtained by MMOCulture, its trade secrets and unfair competition lawsuit claims that developer Bluehole Studio stole its software and assets. The Korean studio is comprised of former NCsoft employees who worked on the as yet unreleased Lineage 3.

"These individuals did not leave NCsoft empty-handed or with benign intent," the complaint reads.

"To the contrary, they made off with copious amounts of confidential and proprietary NCsoft information, computer software, hardware and artwork relating to Lineage 3.

"Their business plan was simple and audacious: create a competing product using the very work they had done while at NCsoft, launch it themselves to great fanfare and acclaim, and, in the process, deal a crippling blow to their former employer."

The Bluehole employees have already been convicted in South Korea of stealing trade secrets from NCsoft back in 2009.

Additionally, NCsoft lodged a civil complaint against them in Korea in 2010, winning damages and an injunction banning the Bluehole emploees from using NCsoft's proprietary information. However, the decision was later overturned.

Appeals in both cases are currently underway in Korea.

"It's not our policy to comment on legal matters," wrote a Bluehole community manager on the TERA forums earlier today.

As it stands, TERA is due to launch in Europe on 3rd May and in North America on 1st May. It's already been released in Korea.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (19) Latest comment 4 weeks ago

  • Geminosity #1 4 weeks ago

    I really hope Bluehole pull through on this. Tera seems like too nice a game to be taken down now, especially before I got a chance to play it :p

  • makeamazing #2 4 weeks ago

    Yeah but if they stole the tech, then it deserves to never see the light of day.. as that is just wrong.

  • FatalHybrid #3 4 weeks ago

    If this is true then I hope NCsoft win. What Bluehole Studio have done is abhorrent and shouldn't be allowed, this isn't a case of copying a level or a game play mechanic post Guild Wars 2 or Lineage 3 launch, this is theft of huge chunks of Lineage 3 content which is now being used against NCsoft. If NCsoft can prove this happened then I hope the courts side with them.

  • silver001 #4 4 weeks ago

    Just a note Bluehole studio, was found guilty in Korea a few years back. So it is true. Unlike the U.S, Bluehole for some odd reason was allowed to release the game even during litigation.

    If the suit in the U.S courts are valid, they might put an injunction on Tera which for all intensive purposes might just ruin it.

  • DarkOni #5 4 weeks ago

    SO NCSoft won the first lawsuit, leading to some BH employees having to pay fines, while every other attempt of NCSoft to sue Bluehole resulted in overturned decisions.

    Since BH was already sentenced for the theft of a few resources, the rest seems to be in flux and shouldn't have any impact or consequence in our courts...

    I like GW2 and Tera just as much as the next MMO Player but right now NC Soft is just stalling for time by attempting any possible juristic(?) action. Don't hinder someone just for the sake of it, especially after they were already sentenced.
    Edited by 1 at 26/01/12 @ 21:56

  • Machetazo #6 4 weeks ago

    @DarkOni They were told they couldn't do things by Korean court, which they then continued to do (elsewhere) in order to release that game in the US, in direct competition to NCSoft. They were said to be using misappropriated ideas and benefitting at their former employer's expense. Since they now aim to release in US, it'll now be decided under US laws.
    Edited by 1 at 26/01/12 @ 22:27

  • grenade_master #7 4 weeks ago

    Fail NCFail is fail!

  • Hellion83 #8 4 weeks ago

    Post deleted at 20:12:17 01-02-2012

  • Okamiwolf #9 4 weeks ago

    This is like listening to my parents argue: no matter who wins, it makes me sad. Both of these games look nice.

  • Okamiwolf #10 4 weeks ago

    @Hellion83 And what exactly does NCsoft do besides fantasy mmorpgs? That's all they create as well, and Terra's battle system actually looks more innovative than GW2's.

  • Triggerhappytel #11 4 weeks ago

    A-hole Studios?

  • cowell #12 4 weeks ago

    @Okamiwolf

    Auto Assault
    Tabula Rasa
    Blade and Soul
    Wildstar

    Just some of the non-trad MMOs that NCsoft has produced or is producing.

  • bobfish09 #13 4 weeks ago

    @DarkOni Not entirely true.

    NCSoft tried to stop it from releasing in Korea, but the courts overruled the decision.

    BHS have paid the fines, the case is closed other than appeals. Which is why the game is live in Korea and doing, ok.

    Now NCSoft are hoping the US courts work more in their favor and stop the game from coming out in North America and they get more money out of BHS.

    This however, doesn't affect the European release which is being handled by Frogster, and neither the US or Korean courts hold any power in Europe.

    The matter was settled, this shouldn't be happening.

  • Planeswalker #14 4 weeks ago

    What about the impact on forthcoming Lineage 3 sucess due to players feeling that L3 is kinda like Tera which will be already out and about at the time of L3's launch?

    I'm sure that collateral damage is something to be (very) worried about.

  • FatalHybrid #15 4 weeks ago

    @Planeswalker I worry about that. Some gamers have shown they don't like clones all that much, but some gamers also won't do the research. If they play TERA and then play Lineage 3 they will call Lineage 3 the clone which will destroy sales for NCsoft.

  • bobfish09 #16 4 weeks ago

    @Planeswalker Lineage 3 was cancelled before TERA went into development, it is part of the reason they left NCSoft to form BHS.

    Instead of L3, NCSoft are making Lineage Eternal, which is more of a sequel to L1 rather than L2.

  • Geminosity #17 4 weeks ago

    Heh, after posting that I realised I probably could have written it better. I'm none-too-surprised it got negged XD Ah well :3

    Long story short, 48 members of the 100 strong L3 team left to make bluehole studios and all at the same time. I don't know about you but that seemed less likely shifty dealings and more like a mass exodus as a result of bad management, however as bobfish has pointed out it seems L3 got cancelled... I'll wager it was due to some silly upper management bureaucracy. If NCSoft is worried about Tera being successful then perhaps they should've have kept L3 alive, but they gave up on that ship and now they're trying to sink it with cannon fire.

    I doubt that Lineage Eternal has much to fear either as it's a very different but also awesome-looking game :3

    I appreciate the concerns some have of theft (if there was indeed any) but when the artists who drew your work, the programmers who built it and the designers who charted it all out are working for the accused company is it really hard to imagine there wouldn't be similarities without the necessity for any kind of larceny? :/

    It's kind of like having the guitarist in a band leaving to join another band then accusing the new group of stealing your music because, hey, surprisingly that guitar work sounds similar to how it went in your tunes :p

  • colesmorris #18 4 weeks ago

    @Hellion83 Yeah even I feel the same. There is nothing so impressing in Tera!
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  • colesmorris #19 4 weeks ago

    @Hellion83 Yeah even I feel the same! There is nothing so impressing in Tera!
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