Fallout lawsuit continues - Bethesda

By Oli Welsh Published 23 April, 2010

Fate of Interplay's MMO hangs in balance.

A flicker of hope that the legal dispute between Interplay and Bethesda over the rights to Fallout might have been resolved has been quickly stamped out by Bethesda.

The court case casts a shadow over the future of Interplay's planned Fallout MMO; Bethesda is seeking to stop production of the online game.

Fallout fan site Duck and Cover reported that Bethesda had dropped an appeal against a judgement in favour of Interplay, but Bethesda spokesman Pete Hines told Kotaku that this didn't mean the legal battle was over.

"That is still ongoing and has not been resolved. It is a minor procedural thing that took place, not a dropping of the lawsuit... The bottom line is it's an ongoing legal matter, it's in no way, shape or form done," Hines said.

Bethesda began threatening to block the Fallout MMO a year ago, claiming a lack of progress in its development violated its agreement with Interplay. Bethesda bought the rights to Fallout from Interplay in 2004, licensing the online rights back to the struggling older outfit.

Bethesda then took a different tack in September, claiming Interplay was selling older Fallout games without permission, and requesting an injunction against the sales and work on the MMO.

That request was denied by a judge in December, and it's Bethesda's appeal against that decision that has now been dropped.

Interplay was quick to confirm that it would continue to sell the original Fallout games and work on the MMO, according to Gamasutra, as well as pursue counter-claims against Bethesda. Interplay claims that Bethesda is wilfully trying to exploit the weakness of its financial situation, saying the rival publisher was "keenly aware that Interplay could not fund expensive, protracted litigation".

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About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (15) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • schnide #1 2 years ago

    Wow, the fallout from this isn't pretty..

  • tachometer #2 2 years ago

    Come on Pesda!

  • FireMonkey #3 2 years ago

    What are people thoughts on the possible outcome of this. I've never really been into MMO's as I'm not that into the standard Fantasy settings or the grind that seems to be in most of them. A Fallout MMO does actually appeal to me a little though.

    Do people want a Fallout MMO? If so do you want Interplay to make it or for Bethesda to take control and make one? Do you think Bethesda would make an MMO version or just trying to protect there rights to Fallout?

  • modo_komodo #4 2 years ago

    Not entirely sure I agree with Bethesda's behaviour on this one.

  • TeaFiend #5 2 years ago

    My thoughts are that i would be happy for Bethesda to win. they have a habbit of releasing new games, not just the same games in new boxes.

  • geeza2020 #6 2 years ago

    War never changes.....

  • gjgjg #7 2 years ago

    @FireMonkey

    am just playing FO3 at the moment, and was wishing it was an mmo rather than an rpg, simply to expand the enjoyment.

  • Stop-gap #8 2 years ago

    If it was Black Isle developing for Interplay, then frankly Bethesda can go and pleasure themselves with a length of broken glass.
    As it stands I'm not sure who would make the better MMO, but I'm not impressed with Bethesda's apparent behaviour and so far neither is the law.

  • poopmonster #9 2 years ago

    "keenly aware that Interplay could not fund expensive, protracted litigation"

    If they can't afford to defend themselves, how on earth can they afford to make an MMO?

    I don't mind which company makes a Fallout MMO so long as it's good, and lives up to the brand. The chances of a good Fallout MMO being made on a shoestring are pretty slim... so I have to default to Bethesda's side in this case.


  • schnide #10 2 years ago

    @Stop-gap

    Except Black Isle are now reborn in the form of Obsidian, who are developing Fallout: New Vegas for Bethesda.

    I was under the impression that Interplay have languished on the rights and then quickly farmed it out to an East European studio when Bethesda rightly got pissy about the contracts not being fulfilled. I'm for Bethesda on this one - I loved Fallout 3, and giving New Vegas to Obsidian is surely +1 for karma.

  • Kami #11 2 years ago

    Indeed, Bethesda may not be totally peaches and cream but Interplay are the ones who continually piss over their contract. So I am kinda with Bethesda on this one...

    As it stands, we know Bethesda can't do a Fallout MMO because we already know they have The Elder Scrolls Online in the works. I think after a lot of chest-beating, Interplay will probably keep the rights but Bethesda will be breathing down their necks at the end of every week to make sure that this time a schedule is stuck to.

    However, for me - Elder Scrolls Online > Fallout MMO. Oblivion continues to this day to ruin my insomnia-riddled nights... mercy on my soul for when the mmo hits...

  • Spekingur #12 2 years ago

    Isn't more Fallout better for us gamers?

  • Skooch #13 2 years ago

    Sounds like they have had a falling out.

    This disagreement is going nuclear.

    This fallout is ugly.

    Pick one of the above for terrible pun of the day! :D

  • Captain_Jono #14 2 years ago

    Like all gamer legal arguments, this all comes down to what a contract says. Do Interplay have the right to sell the old Fallout games? Do Interplay have the right to make a Fallout MMO? ecetera.

    One interesting development, especially when considering the situation re: Activision Vs West/Zampella, isthat Interplay seem to have won the legal skirmishes so far. It makes you wonder if the the larger publishers have a strategy of filing suits against little developers, irrespective of the legal defensibility of their actions, in the hope that mounting legal costs will result in cheaper out of court settlements.

  • Stop-gap #15 2 years ago

    Except Black Isle are now reborn in the form of Obsidian, who are developing Fallout: New Vegas for Bethesda.

    Now that I did not know.