Advertisement
Activision "will not kill Brutal Legend" News
News by Ellie Gibson
Double Fine, the studio behind Psychonauts and the forthcoming Brutal Legend, is slapping Activision with a countersuit.
Activision previously filed a suit to prevent Electronic Arts from releasing the game. Now Double Fine alleges Activision is blocking the release because it wants to fender off competition for the Guitar Hero series. The lawsuit claims Activision's aim "is not only to cancel Brutal Legend, but to kill it completely".
Brutal Legend was originally a Vivendi title before the Activision Blizzard merger changed everything. According to Double Fine, Activizzard had no interest in publishing the game then and canned it. The company is now claiming it would be seriously harmed if EA put the game out.
Double Fine's not going to take it lying down, though. "Now that we've found a publisher and the game is getting sensational coverage, they want to stop its release," said studio bigwig Caroline Esmurdoc.
"Double Fine's countersuit is a demonstration of our intention to fight for this game - Activision will not kill Brutal Legend."
The PS3 and Xbox 360 game is currently scheduled for release on 16th October.
Advertisement
Want to comment on this article? Log in, or register!
Poster
|
the_dudefather
23/07/09 @ 11:13
+29
If Activision published it it would be probably be rebranded into Guitar Hero adventures
and cost more ;) |
|
Brianstorm
23/07/09 @ 11:22
+22
Activision were also the ones blocking cross instrument compatibility on GH/RB, it's amazing how once businesses get huge, they seem to forget all the good things they did to get them there, then wonder why it all goes wrong over time.
If it wasn't for MW2 I would give all their games a miss..... |
|
Watkins381
23/07/09 @ 11:23
+23
Sorry but since that merger the cock levels at Vivendi and Activision have gone through the roof
Why don't you just concentrate on further killing the Crash Bandicoot franchise for now? |
|
Sir_TimAlot
23/07/09 @ 11:27
+12
Loving everything i have seen of this game so far. Activision will not succeed.
|
|
+14
Activisions behavior recently is really pissing me off. Between this, the Scratch-lawsuit, the comment that they would stop releasing games for Sony's platforms if they didn't cut the price of the PS3... It's just ridiculous! I won't boycott any game I think looks good, but the only mildly interesting games they have this year are Modern Warfare 2 and perhaps DJ Hero.
Here's to Double Fine! Best of luck to those guys! |
|
SpaceMonkey77
23/07/09 @ 11:51
+12
I hope Double Fine/EA win, because this is a bowl of sour grapes on Activisions' part. Really immature in fact. Waaaahhh, I didn't want it, until someone else had it. I think its the big reveal of NPCs like Ozzy at E3, that had Activision suits kicking themselves, thinking why didn't we believe in BL enough to do that?
I too will be guilty of buying Modern Warfare 2, but if Activision try to dick me with that £54.99 price, then they've pushed me too far. They really need to change their spots and stop upsetting gamers. I'm sick of their crap. |
|
el_pollo_diablo
23/07/09 @ 11:56
+9
Official verdict:
Activision can shove an overpriced whammy bar right up their corporate anus hole. |
|
BritishBlue1
23/07/09 @ 12:18
+8
I take it Activision is the new pantomime villain of the gaming world.
All we need now is Big Bobby Kotick in a dress and tiara.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 23/07/09 @ 13:22
|
|
PlugMonkey
23/07/09 @ 12:31
+13
I take it Activision is the new pantomime villain of the gaming world.
It certainly looks like it. Althought, to be fair, they do seem to take every opportunity to go out of their way to make themselves as hissable as possible. And in this instance, paint their #1 competitor in the guise of the plucky hero, and great protector of gaming creativity and freedom. This really couldn't have worked out better for EA. Here they are trying to shake off the ghosts of annual updates and cash-in sequels, and Activision want to call as much attention as possible to a quirky new IP that they wouldn't support and EA will. |
|
andywilkie35
23/07/09 @ 12:38
+14
What I respect about EA is that they actually came out and said "Everyone hates us, so we're going to make an effort to create new, original IPs" and as a result of producing some high quality games (for example: Dead Space, the Fight Nights and the vast improvement to FIFA), they have garnered respect from the gamer community. However Activision for some reason have just become huge cunts, pumping out identikit games year in year out.
I want this game, and I hope Double Fine win. I don't understand what claim Activision can have, they canned the game and it got picked up elsewhere. To summarise, fuck off Activision. |
|
actionfitz
23/07/09 @ 13:07
+3
@Domovoi
Activision can't kill the Metal. -- Damn you! beat me to it :D hehe. "The company is now claiming it would be seriously harmed if EA put the game out. " as in people will spend money on this game that they might have spent on yet another re-skinned guitar hero game? ...although Guitar Hero: Spinal Tap... ;) Fuck you very much Mr Kotick. |
|
AphoticCosmos
23/07/09 @ 13:19
+1
General Schafer unleashes his dogs of war . . .
GO TIM! SMASH THE ACTISCUM! |
|
kangarootoo
23/07/09 @ 13:38
+3
I really want to play devil's advocate here... but I'm struggling to find an angle, as I think Activision should just stop being so damn childish.
|
|
+2
@Sniper_Fox:
I remember those days. I remember finding myself very conflicted when EA started to sneak out things I wanted to buy, like Rock Band. After a while I was surprised when I noticed I was saying good things about them. But Activision are doing a great job of filling the unpopular publisher role so far. Wonder if they'll ever turn it around like EA. Probably not. @sneetch: So basically they should have left Starfox Adventures as Dinosaur Planet? That probably would have done as well. |
|
the_dudefather
23/07/09 @ 13:40
+2
Reminds me of Thrill Kill for the Ps1, EA didn't want to release it due to the content, but they wouldn't let anyone else release it either
|
|
AphoticCosmos
23/07/09 @ 13:49
+4
@ andywilkie35
I really couldn't have said it better myself. In the space of 2 years, EA has gone from being utter shite to easily one of the best publishers out there, or at least a vastly improving one with plenty of potential left in both it's dev teams and ability to pick up interesting games like Brutal Legend. It really turned around for me last year when Riccitello wrote an extremely angry and scathing letter to FOX about their bullshit misinterpretation of Mass Effect, and told them to back off. The man's got balls, and he knows how to run a publisher. Activision, on the other hand, have gone from dancing along merrily in the meadows with some quality games to churning out the same bullshit, suing their competitors, canning any kind of creative game after the Vivendi merger, raising the RRP of MW2 to £55, demanding things from Sony and being, in general, complete and utter pricks. If you'd asked me if I thought that this situation was possible 4 years ago, I would've laughed at you. |
|
+2
The last Activision game I bought was Dynamite Dux on the Amstrad CPC 464 back in the early 1980s (they published it for Sega in Europe). I know it's tarnishing an entire company with a very wide brush to say this, but in all that time, they have never been working on anything that has appealed to me (except for Ghostbusters and Brutal Legend, both of which are no longer linked to them).
|
|
beastmaster
23/07/09 @ 14:26
+3
Are Activision at EG Expo?
/goes to garage to look for pitchfork & burning torch |
|
kangarootoo
23/07/09 @ 14:29
+2
Ah how things change. I recall the days (well, I was alive, but I don't really remember much) when Activision were formed on the basis that devs weren't getting credit for their games.
They were the very first 3rd party publisher on console games in fact. /russle, rumble, creak, twang... aha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activision |
|
kangarootoo
23/07/09 @ 14:34
0
P.s. I remember Atari 2600 games having the picture of the coder on the back.
And I could have got an embroidered patch for a highscore in Frostbite (more than double the score needed), but the photo of the TV never came out :( Finally, the scarring truth behind my grumpy side is revealed. |
|
VandelayIndustries
23/07/09 @ 14:34
+5
"The company is now claiming it would be seriously harmed if EA put the game out. "
This, the same company that's on the cusp of releasing what may well be one of the most successful video-games of all time, is going to be harmed by the release of a somewhat niche title? A title they willingly gave up!? They have no shame. Is it not the case that Activision's behavior will cause harm to Double Fine and the people who work there? I hope Double Fine stuff Activision in the courts. |
|
+1
"P.s. I remember Atari 2600 games having the picture of the coder on the back.
And I could have got an embroidered patch for a highscore in Frostbite (more than double the score needed), but the photo of the TV never came out :( Finally, the scarring truth behind my grumpy side is revealed. " Heh those were the days... unfortunately the Activision of that day and the Activision of today have exactly the same relationship as the Atari of that day and the 'Atari' of today do. Ocean and U.S. Gold FTW. |
Want to comment on this article? Log in, or register!
