Activision "will not kill Brutal Legend"

By Ellie Gibson Published 23 July, 2009

Double Fine declares war on publisher.

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.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (55) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • the_dudefather #1 3 years ago

    If Activision published it it would be probably be rebranded into Guitar Hero adventures

    and cost more ;)

  • sharpcool #2 3 years ago

    Good for Double Fine. I want to play Modern Warfare 2 like the next guy but it does bother me I'll be supporting that evil pile of excrement called Activision.

  • udat #3 3 years ago

    Activision seem to be determined to paint themselves as the bad guy nowadays. Hell, they are worse than EA. I am pretty sure they are also the company that owns the name Star Control and refuses to sell it back the original creators of Star Control and Star Control 2. Gits.

  • Brianstorm #4 3 years ago

    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.....

  • Artemus #5 3 years ago

    Activision = new scum of the gaming industry.

  • NOSAVIOUR #6 3 years ago

    WTF happened to Activision. Never thought I would see the day I had respect for EA, actually never thought I would love a microsoft console. Fuck Activision, I cant wait for this game.

  • Sir_TimAlot #7 3 years ago

    Loving everything i have seen of this game so far. Activision will not succeed.

  • McBradders #8 3 years ago

    Wait, Crash Bandicoot lives?!

    How can this be?

  • Xerx3s #9 3 years ago

    Activision has become the new EA and EA the new 'underdog'.

  • sneetch #10 3 years ago

    If it's war they want, it's war they'll have!

    /battle-roar

  • Chaser #11 3 years ago

    Sound the battle cry!

  • ElPedro #12 3 years ago

    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!

  • Domovoi #13 3 years ago

    Activision can't kill the Metal.

  • beastmaster #14 3 years ago

    Activision = EPIC FAIL

  • SpaceMonkey77 #15 3 years ago

    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.

  • Toothball #16 3 years ago

    I'm going to buy two copies of this when they win, and no games by Activision.

  • el_pollo_diablo #17 3 years ago

    Official verdict:
    Activision can shove an overpriced whammy bar right up their corporate anus hole.

  • Kyledanutmeg #18 3 years ago

    They're of there fucking chain lately!

  • Farfarer #19 3 years ago

    Oh, go suck a lemon Activision.

    The little-known 11th commandment was "Thou Shalt Not Shitteth Upon Tim Shafer", you broke it now suffer your punishment like an adult :/

  • speedjack #20 3 years ago

    I was hoping Double Fine would do this.



  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #21 3 years ago

    It seems Activison has never seen an angery crowd of Metalheads :)

  • BritishBlue1 #22 3 years ago

    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 by 1 at 23/07/09 @ 13:22

  • PlugMonkey #23 3 years ago

    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.

  • Xeopuppy #24 3 years ago

    I'm really glad, I wish someone would kill Activision...

  • andywilkie35 #25 3 years ago

    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.

  • mingster #26 3 years ago

    wtf Brutal legend is an adventure game how the hell can it interfere with the Guitar Hero franchise?

  • Domovoi #27 3 years ago

    I like how a lot of people in this thread are going "Not buying Modern Warfare 2 would sure teach them. But I'm going to buy it anyway."

  • actionfitz #28 3 years ago

    @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.

  • sneetch #29 3 years ago

    @the_dudefather
    If Activision published it it would be probably be rebranded into Guitar Hero adventures

    That's probably not far off the mark.

    Completely off-topic here but Star Fox Adventures would have been so much better if they hadn't shoe-horned Fox McCloud into the damn game.

  • AphoticCosmos #30 3 years ago

    General Schafer unleashes his dogs of war . . .

    GO TIM! SMASH THE ACTISCUM!

  • Hilton08 #31 3 years ago

    Wasn't really interested in Brutal Legends but now I'm tempted.

  • kangarootoo #32 3 years ago

    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.

  • Toothball #33 3 years ago

    @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.

  • henza #34 3 years ago

    Acitivision should really go and find a meadow and sit down in it. They're not doing anyone any good by bustin' up other companies release dates....

    And where the hell is Wolfenstien? Anyone actually played it yet?

  • the_dudefather #35 3 years ago

    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

  • doragor #36 3 years ago

    Just in case anyone at Activision is reading this.
    I too think you are a bunch of cocks.

  • AphoticCosmos #37 3 years ago

    @ 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.

  • tobsen #38 3 years ago

    Activision, your games are finally off my purchase list for good. I don't give money to greedy ruthless corporate whores.

  • Feanor #39 3 years ago

    "I like how a lot of people in this thread are going "Not buying Modern Warfare 2 would sure teach them. But I'm going to buy it anyway"

    Wait and buy it used if you want to punish Activision.

  • cheekyjay #40 3 years ago

    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 #41 3 years ago

    Are Activision at EG Expo?

    /goes to garage to look for pitchfork & burning torch

  • kangarootoo #42 3 years ago

    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.wik ipedia.org/wiki/Activision

  • kangarootoo #43 3 years ago

    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 #44 3 years ago

    "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.

  • Ranger101 #45 3 years ago

    "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.

  • GreyBeard #46 3 years ago

    Activision have been doing this kind of thing for years. It's just that since the merger they are doing it more blatantly and to higher profile targets.

  • penhalion #47 3 years ago

    Activision seem determined to go the way of Atari and Midway. Both were huge companies back in the day until their egos got too big for their brains and they priced and cheated their way out of the industry. Eventually neither company could get anyone with an ounce of sense to sign with them.

    If activision are not careful, they could find themselves watching all the new IP from their successful studios being signed to the likes of EA and Ubisoft as companies simply refuse to renew contracts. Owning all the currently good franchises means nothing if the original developers that made them successful are all signed with your rivals due to your poor treatment of them.

  • klausy86 #48 3 years ago

    "Activision can't kill the Metal."

    i swear to god, i read this then about 10 seconds later 'The Metal' came on my Media Player :p

    Gotta love Activision (aka the coporate whores)...not

  • Acornhead! #49 3 years ago

    Makes me feel glad about buying Prototype second-hand. Screw you Activision :)

  • trooperdx3117 #50 3 years ago

    The hilariously ironic thing about all this is that Activision wan't to kill the game but this controversy has just made me wan't to buy Brutal Legend

  • Sunyavadin #51 3 years ago

    I'm willing to bet that even if Activision DID win, within half an hour of any such ruling, the devs would be seeding torrents of it to spite them.
    Edited by 1 at 24/07/09 @ 00:04

  • Oh-Bollox #52 3 years ago

    Surely this lawsuit will go nowhere.

    "We're suing EA and DF because we had a chance to publish this game and passed. We fucked up, it's their fault."

    Laughed out of court.

  • sharpcool #53 3 years ago

    I know a lot of people are on the "EA is a little cooler these days" bandwagon, but I'm jumping on it too. One of the reasons is Mirror's Edge.

    I realize many people didn't like the game and yes it had flaws, but I respect EA for taking a chance on a new IP with innovative first person gameplay and a unique art direction. Even better, ME didn't' sell up to expectations considering the hype but that isn't stopping EA and Dice from working on Mirror's Edge 2 as we speak. They realize many people did like the game a lot (including me), and they're not giving up on it. I respect that, and I hope they get it right and it gets the sales it deserves.

    Yes they're still milking their sports franchises and I'm sure they're not a bunch of angels, but at least they owned up to their previous bad image and are taking steps in the right direction.

  • mazzl #54 3 years ago

    i would like to ask everybody here to not buy new activision products for now, if you realy want a game buy it second hand.
    and please place a pre-order for brutal legend, how great would it be, if BL sold more copys than guitar losers ;)

  • frankfurter209 #55 3 years ago

    You know the common idiot will stroll into BestBuy and pay full price for MW2 no questions asked. There will be tons of used games to buy, I'm getting it used for sure. I buy new when the publisher isn't a complete cunt. Bought Persona 4 new last week because I'll be damned if I won't support Atlus.