Immersion to pay Microsoft USD 20m

By Kristan Reed Published 27 August, 2008

Legal rumble finally settled.

Microsoft has won its long-running legal battle against rumble specialists Immersion to the tune of USD 20.75m

The feud kicked off again last year, after Sony backpedaled and included rumble in its DualShock 3 pad. This activated a clause in a contract which stated that Immersion would have to pay Microsoft USD 15m if Sony also used the rumble technology in its pads.

But when Immersion refused to pay up, Microsoft sued. Immersion then issued a counterclaim alleging that Microsoft had breached a confidentiality agreement between the two companies. You guys.

Calm was restored yesterday, however, after a US court ruled in Microsoft's favour. Now Immersion has agreed to cough up USD 20.75m. Happy days. For Microsoft.

In the spirit of peace and love, Microsoft has even allowed Immersion to join its Certified Partner Program. Fancy that.

"We are pleased to resolve our outstanding dispute with Microsoft and to put this litigation behind us," said Immersion president and CEO Clent Richardson. Nice name, Clent.

Likewise, we are pleased to no longer have to write about Immersion's petty legal spats with console manufacturers.

Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (32) Latest comment 4 years ago

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

  • dr_faulk #1 4 years ago

    Hooray!

  • johnnybrn #2 4 years ago

    Good because Immersion were dicks so this is poetic justice. I feel sorry for PS3 owners who had to do without rumble throughout this messy saga.
    Edited by 1 at 27/08/08 @ 10:30

  • Xerx3s #3 4 years ago

    Hold on, isn't ms a big shareholder in immersion? Wouldn't they benefit if sony used it?

  • JonFE #4 4 years ago

    @johnnybrn:
    If Sony had settled the dispute with Immersion earlier (like they should), PS3 owners wouldn't have missed a thing.

  • Collymilad #5 4 years ago

    haha screw you immersion.

    Oh wait, they already did.

  • alimokrane #6 4 years ago

    How much did Sony cough up to settle the their case with Immersion ?

    Edit. Found it - $82 Million is what Sony payed so if $21m goes to Microsoft, Immersion is still the winner in all of this besides MS too.
    Edited by 1 at 27/08/08 @ 10:46

  • Triggerhappytel #7 4 years ago

    Yeah, MS bought shares in Immersion when this whole legal spat kicked off about 2-3 years ago. I'm sure they only paid about $20 million at the time, so they've done alright out of it.

    Bit bored of this whole saga now, though. Can we please move on?

  • spammage #8 4 years ago

    Shock horror, rumble is 360 exclusive! oh no wait......

    Who would be a microsoft fanboy when they want to stifle the industry like this......

    Frankly i don't trust either of them, end of the day all $ony and M$ want is your money and they don't care a jot about the games industry. The mighty dollar > your entertainment.

  • actionfitz #9 4 years ago

    "USD 20.75m. Happy days. For Microsoft."

    aye sure just throw it on the pile. lol

  • Doctor_What #10 4 years ago

    As heretical as it may seem to some, I'm really not that fussed by rumble. Most of the time I either find it distracting because it's used too heavily (Final Fantasy games and Lost Odyssey) or don't really notice it (Uncharted). It was good for Rez, but not much else!

  • Ultimaboi #11 4 years ago

    "This activated a clause in a contract which stated that Immersion would have to pay Microsoft USD 15m if Sony also used the rumble technology in its pads."

    So Microsoft tried to stop Immersion into making a deal with Sony to use rumble? /sigh

  • Xerx3s #12 4 years ago

    "Shock horror, rumble is 360 exclusive! oh no wait......

    Who would be a microsoft fanboy when they want to stifle the industry like this......

    Frankly i don't trust either of them, end of the day all $ony and M$ want is your money and they don't care a jot about the games industry. The mighty dollar > your entertainment."

    Captain obvious here just discovered the motivation behind companies.

    EDITED: For the fucking lack of a quoting system.
    Edited by 1 at 27/08/08 @ 11:39

  • muscleblade #13 4 years ago

    @Xerx3s wrote: Frankly i don't trust either of them, end of the day all $ony and M$ want is your money and they don't care a jot about the games industry

    Yeah. The xbox 360 is still the best console to own though. No matter who made the glorious thing.
    Edited by 1 at 27/08/08 @ 11:36

  • Xerx3s #14 4 years ago

    You seemed to miss that I was quoting someone, the terrible by-product of a comments section that lacks any form of quoting from the forum (a class based element that most likely takes less than a minute to implement).

  • JonFE #15 4 years ago

    @muscleblade, Xerx3s didn't write any of this - he's just quoting spammage, so you may want to edit that :)

    Edit: beaten by the man himself :)
    Edited by 1 at 27/08/08 @ 11:40

  • Collymilad #16 4 years ago

    "Shock horror, rumble is 360 exclusive! oh no wait......

    Who would be a microsoft fanboy when they want to stifle the industry like this......

    Frankly i don't trust either of them, end of the day all $ony and M$ want is your money and they don't care a jot about the games industry. The mighty dollar > your entertainment."


    ----------------------------
    LOL, do you really think Sony wouldn't be doing the same thing given half a chance? Also, they didn't stifle the industry. Did you read the article?

    I'm telling you, these people e.g. you - that think there's some gigantic moral battle between the beloved, benevolent Sony and the evil MS need to GET....A.....GRIP.

    I mean really, does nobody remember the way Sony used to treat Europe before they needed us? (thanks to MS)
    Edited by 2 at 27/08/08 @ 12:10

  • Triggerhappytel #17 4 years ago

    I'm sure this news story didn't say $20.75 million to start with. Did I miss a huge chunk of text or is EG editing on the fly?

  • DrDamn #18 4 years ago

    While MS didn't stop them they certainly seem to have put some discouragement in place at least. Nothing more than buying an exclusive or timed exclusive. MS have a business approach which uses money hats to get where they want to be, it's worked quite well for them I'd say. As to who the evil empire are? I think business wise they are all pretty much on an even standing when you get down to it - they are here to make money. MS seemed to have done a lot more to "earn" your money this time round though. The exclusive characters in Soul Calibur IV are very telling ;)

  • Xerx3s #19 4 years ago

    DrDamn: It's easy to forget that sony used the same tactic. It's what mega cooperation's do.

  • Dizzy #20 4 years ago

    "So Microsoft tried to stop Immersion into making a deal with Sony to use rumble? /sigh "

    Nope.. MS invested a lot of money in Immersion so Immersion could pay all the legal fees of their lawsuits. The "payback" was a clause to make sure MS got a share of the profit if Sony did actually license Immersion products.

  • spammage #21 4 years ago

    My subtle point was thus, Microsoft positioned themselves (investment or otherwise) with Immersion to gain what looks to me like another timed exclusive. Sound familiar?

    "Captain obvious" I might be, but judging by the average level of intelligence from some of the posts in here, I felt it required spelling out. Innovation is not a contract, lawyer nor a timed exclusive.

  • DrDamn #22 4 years ago

    @Xerx3s
    Oh yeah. Sony started off a lot like that (buying into stuff), then got their own way through domination with the PS2 and thought they would do similar with PS3. Not quite worked out that way due to some major cock-ups and really not seeing the threat MS posed.

    @Dizzy
    Quite an "interesting" slant there. "MS invested a lot of money in Immersion so Immersion could pay all the legal fees of their lawsuits." - heh. You make it sound like MS was doing Immersion a great favour there. MS were in the same sort of position as Sony in having a perfectly valid suit against them from Immersion. Their "investment" was their very astute way out. Much better than Sony's head in sand approach.

  • Bluetooth #23 4 years ago

    So after Sony - a Japanese company - handed over wads of cash to Immersion so they could use rumble, a US court orders Immersion to hand over money to Microsoft - a US company - and Sony's competitor. Welcome to patriot wars, economic style.

  • kangarootoo #24 4 years ago

    "Who would be a microsoft fanboy when they want to stifle the industry like this...... "

    Let me just correct that for you.

    "Who would be a microsoft fanboy when being a fanboy of any type for any platform is the pursuit of idiots...... "

    There we go. Much better.

  • ronuds #25 4 years ago

    The article, and every one like it, fails to mention that MS owns a 10% share in Immersion after their lawsuit was settled.

    "Timed exclusive"? LOL

    Sony themselves made it a timed for being too cheap to pay up years ago. But, OMG, corporations spend money to make money?!?!? How'd the world come to this?!?!?

    "Get a grip" is right. For as "evil" as MS is, Sony and just about every other large corporation are just as bad.

  • cyber_nicco #26 4 years ago

    All this talk of all corporations being "bad" for making profit their focus really don´t get it, I think. The entire premise of the system is that a corporation makes something people want, they will be rewarded with profit. It works out for the corporation AND the consumer that way. Companies that continue to create products that are wanted by the public continue to be rewarded and can continue to produce. This is why capitalism works. Furthermore, these are publicly owned companies, anyway, so who is "the evil corporation"? The shareholders? Chairman of the board? CEO? All this attitude here is quite naive. There´s no reason why a corporation couldn´t operate with no concern for profits if their shareholders are so inclined, but this is people´s retirement money, pension funds, etc we´re talking about.

    Of course, there are business practices that can seem shady, or are downright illegal, and there are systems for dealing with that. Within the framework of what´s legal, it is (in almost all cases) the duty of the company´s officers to seek the highest level of profitability that is possible.

  • Bumhug360 #27 4 years ago

    "The article, and every one like it, fails to mention that MS owns a 10% share in Immersion after their lawsuit was settled. "

    Thats because MS dont own 10% of Immersion, they sold it last year for a cool $30 million, not bad considering they only paid $1.3 million for it

  • Sevens #28 4 years ago

    Interesting.

  • David_Snakes #29 4 years ago

    "For the past few years, ever since that E3 and the gaffes and OMFG £425, it's been the opposite. It's been the evil money-grabbing Sony versus the gamer's friend MS. Then came the RROD fiasco and now both companies are being seen for what they are for. Money hungry corporations."

    Corporations like to make money! Who knew?

  • Snooz #30 4 years ago

    Is Immersion all about a little electric motor spining an off-center weight to make it tumble and rumble in our tiny hands? (gotta go google this stuff)

    edit: oh, 600 filed patents...
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/08 @ 09:08

  • Quak #31 4 years ago

    > I feel sorry for PS3 owners who had to do without rumble throughout this messy saga.

    Why? It wasn't possible to have rumble AND motion-sensing remember? Phil said so. Besides, rumble is last-gen so who cares?

  • hiddenranbir #32 4 years ago

    Cheap shot at the guy too huh, classy.