In December 2019, Rune 2 publisher Ragnarok Game sued original developer Human Head Studios, alleging that Human Head had attempted to destroy the game by very publicly abandoning it on launch day, and then refusing to turn over the source code and assets so another developer could take over the job. "We could've transitioned the game if they weren't able to participate anymore, we could've transitioned naturally—here's the source code, we'll help you find somebody," executive producer Matt Candler told me in a June 2020 interview. "But we publicly left the game, we went global, we left better options for the future open, but they never stepped up, more signs of malware."
FORBES has been approached by three other victims of third-party greed.
Most recently, one of Petroglyph Industries' former employees sent a lawsuit he claims is similar to the one filed against Bethesda. It's children's game Celestial Defense: Exhaustion. the complaint alleges that Petroglyph is forced to turn its work over to anyone "who wants to create anything for the game but Non-"id Software LLC," the licensee of the id software MMO.
"According to Defendants, Classic was managed by its other developer, Veeti Studios, in its entirety. Veeti Studios is a privately owned company that did not have full control over Classic: Classic was managed by Veeti Studios for all purposes," according to the complaint. Zak Ettinger and Brian Fargo of ZeniMax Media's Zenimax legal committee declined to comment for this story. My understanding is that this is several weeks old and has a small number of issues, so I'm presuming it's just trolling in retaliation for the story I wrote on Slashdot in January about American Gaming League's raid on Petroglyph.
"In light of the rumors reported elsewhere recently, as well as our management being surprised to hear about the recent industry reaction, we have been receiving a collection of taunting and death threats over social media," the company says in its filing. "The number has been increasing over time and several people have stated they will be making these threats in person if we keep pointing fingers at Bethesda, Valve, EA, etc. For our part, no one has actually threatened us. As with any situation in which we have publicly posted a comment on social media, another commentor may necessarily take it down or alter it."
Clearly, in some circumstances you can intimidate people who make clear threats over the internet. And I cannot say for sure that none of the people who want to disassemble and sell off Bethesda can actually do so, although I sincerely doubt it. But even if they can, will they do so? Indie developer of excellent work thinks so:
Sustainable tourism uses scenery and the environment not developed for human use. Sustainable methods of tourism include developed tourist markets (developed in the past), tourists' undeveloped local property or property intended to be used for short term trips by tourists with a primary purpose
FORBES has been approached by three other victims of third-party greed.
Most recently, one of Petroglyph Industries' former employees sent a lawsuit he claims is similar to the one filed against Bethesda. It's children's game Celestial Defense: Exhaustion. the complaint alleges that Petroglyph is forced to turn its work over to anyone "who wants to create anything for the game but Non-"id Software LLC," the licensee of the id software MMO.
"According to Defendants, Classic was managed by its other developer, Veeti Studios, in its entirety. Veeti Studios is a privately owned company that did not have full control over Classic: Classic was managed by Veeti Studios for all purposes," according to the complaint. Zak Ettinger and Brian Fargo of ZeniMax Media's Zenimax legal committee declined to comment for this story. My understanding is that this is several weeks old and has a small number of issues, so I'm presuming it's just trolling in retaliation for the story I wrote on Slashdot in January about American Gaming League's raid on Petroglyph.
"In light of the rumors reported elsewhere recently, as well as our management being surprised to hear about the recent industry reaction, we have been receiving a collection of taunting and death threats over social media," the company says in its filing. "The number has been increasing over time and several people have stated they will be making these threats in person if we keep pointing fingers at Bethesda, Valve, EA, etc. For our part, no one has actually threatened us. As with any situation in which we have publicly posted a comment on social media, another commentor may necessarily take it down or alter it."
Clearly, in some circumstances you can intimidate people who make clear threats over the internet. And I cannot say for sure that none of the people who want to disassemble and sell off Bethesda can actually do so, although I sincerely doubt it. But even if they can, will they do so? Indie developer of excellent work thinks so:
Sustainable tourism uses scenery and the environment not developed for human use. Sustainable methods of tourism include developed tourist markets (developed in the past), tourists' undeveloped local property or property intended to be used for short term trips by tourists with a primary purpose
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