author: Luc
Interplay vs. Bethesda - Story of Fallout IP
How could Interplay give away rights to Fallout after releasing two highly praised games?
Table of Contents
For a fistful of caps
Bethesda’s response was swift – on the 15th of April a suit was filed accusing the other party with a breach of contract. At first, the court dismissed the claim but it was considered eventually - the third time it was filed. That 2011 claim pointed at the fact that the plot of Fallout MMO may cause discrepancies with the setting of the upcoming Fallout 4 and it turned out to be enough to make the judges reconsider. The legal proceedings were to determine three main issues concerning the case: the legal status of the TLA and the APA, discerning the possible breach of contract and the current ownership of rights to the Fallout franchise. For the duration of proceedings the development of the Fallout MMO was to be suspended since the game was the source of the issue. For that reason, the 23rd of September 2011 may well be officially announced as the day the Fallout MMO ceased to exist. The main controversy was the fact that Interplay outsourced the development of the game to the Bulgarian Masthead Studio – the contract didn’t allow for such a move. The following investigation revealed many other infringements and the lawyers of Interplay knew they could hardly expect a favorable outcome. After months of preparations, the hearing began on the 20th of December 2011 but its results were nothing short of surprising. As it turned out, an adjournment behind closed doors allowed the concerned parties to settle the issue through negotiation. Today we know that on that day the arrangement has been made, which was officially announced on the 9th of January 2012. Interplay was granted 2 million dollar compensation and the right to sell the Fallout games they created earlier until the end of 2013 but it was simultaneously stripped of its rights to the Fallout franchise and banned from developing any games that may infringe Bethesda’s copyright.
And so Bethesda became the sole owner of the brand they bought a few years back for next to nothing. 6 million dollars may seem like much to most of us but, comparing it to the numbers of Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas’ sales (that’s nearly 20 million copies sold and a few hundred millions of dollars earned), it clearly was a sweet deal. A deal that is becoming sweeter by the minute since Fallout Shelter already became a best-seller and the upcoming Fallout 4 looks more than good. Let’s take a moment to recall the current state of the industry. While Bethesda got their hands on one of the most recognizable brands available in the industry for meager 6 millions any company attempting to do so today would have to pay much, much more. Electronic Arts bought Maxis along with the rights to the Sims and SimCity franchises for 125 million dollars while PopCap (Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies) was bought for 750 million. A recent deal between Microsoft and Mojang AB (responsible for Minecraft) costed the former over 2 and a half billion dollars. Not to mention South Park: The Stick of Truth – a single title from the bankrupt THQ - bought by Ubisoft for 3,2 million dollars. Even if the new Fallouts did lose some of their original depth you have to admit one thing – Bethesda won this round and Interplay got exploited, mauled and left begging for pittance. But hey, that’s the way it goes.
