The Battle for Fallout Rights Ensues
In all started in 2004, when Bethesda first acquired the Fallout rights, many fans of the series turned away. Time grew, and Fallout 3 was eventually released to the masses on October 23rd, 2008. However, the series original creator Interplay, and Bethesda are not so friendly. Bethesda recently filed a lawsuit against Interplay, for the rights of both Fallout Online and the original titles.
But Interplay has struck back, with a countersuit in reaction to the lawsuit filed by Bethesda. Interplay says that the company is in breach of contract, and that the contract to sell the rights to the Fallout series is both null and void. Interplay has also stated that they own the franchise once again.
On the Raging Bull Stockholder forum, a stockholder from Interplay posted the following on the counter suit:
“Interplay argued that they purposefully retained the rights to the original Fallout games when selling the Fallout license to Bethesda knowing full well (as did Bethesda) that Interplay was going to exploit the original Fallout games upon release of Fallout 3. Why would Interplay keep the original Fallout rights and sell Fallout for so cheap unless this was built in as part of the package deal? The original Fallout games are only worth something in relation to sales generated from the release of FAllout 3. Therefore, Interplay did not harm Bethesda in any way by selling the original Fallout games. Interplay has a right per this deal to exploit the original Fallout games and to not see this as unfair competition with Bethesda. Also, Bethesda under their initial agreement did not have any rights to determine how Interplay chose to exploit selling their Fallout games. Bethesda had the right to inspect promotional material/marketing that Interplay used with their original games ONLY to make sure that Interplay wasn’t unfairly trying to confuse their game with Interplay’s. However, a key component of that provision was that Bethesda could not UNREASONABLY WITHOLD their approval, which Bethesda seems to be doing in this case. Most importantly, however, Interplay did not produce any promotional material or marketing for their Fallout games, which is the only statement that is made in the original agreement (the original agreement regarding the original Fallout games only covered marketing and promotional material, of which Interplay had none. None of the other complaints that Bethesda made against Interplay were a part of the original contract, and are thus null and void). Interplay sold the original Fallout games with very little in the way of packaging materials (a very basic instruction manual), and Interplay did not spend any money on marketing, which can be verified in their 10-K. I remember saying how odd it was that Interplay suddenly had a statement on their website that they were selling Fallout games at Best Buy and that there was no promotional material or marketing for this. Interplay was simply complying with the contract. It all makes perfect sense now in hindsight.
You can read the full post here. A second post also details the filing.
22 Responses to “The Battle for Fallout Rights Ensues”
Geez. This is going to be a big headache for both companies.
I can understand Beth’s bitching. Interplay doesnt own the rights anymore, they can’t go releasing new packages without consulting first. Thats like me selling your car than driving off without your permission. Interplay sold the rights to Bethesda, therefore Bethesda are the rightful owners to distribute said licenses, not Interplay. Interplay may have made the games and still own the core code etc, but Bethesda own ALL THE RIGHTS to licensing and distribution of the old games. Interplays trying to gain some revenue back and therefore should have made a new deal with Bethesda before playing off their wares to steam etc knowing full well it was jumping on the bandwagon over Bethesda’s own release of Fallout 3.it’s Interplay’s own fault for not seeking permission first. it’s like you being a music artist, selling your music to a record label who then own the full distribution and licensing rights (with royalties paid to the original artist) and then the original artist trying to flog the same album) on CDs distributed by themselves and not the record label they signed over to. Would you sell the rights to something you created? I sure hell wouldnt.
Bethesda can fuck off.
Despite the bugs, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Fallout 3. I’m not an RPG fan in the slightest – the only other one I’ve ever played was FF VII on PS1, and that put me off the genre for life. Until Fallout 3.
So while I do feel that Bethesda could do with a lot more testing on their products, I don’t see why there’s all this hatred towards them. After all, surely Interplay must shoulder at least 50% of the blame for selling the rights in the first place?
Would someone care to explain why there’s so much venom from fans of the older games?
They should worry less about lawsuits and more about fixing their damned games.
So Interplay sold Fallout to Bethesda
Bethesda made Fallout 3 (using all their own code, etc.)
Interplay started selling Fallout 1 & 2 stuff on Steam
Bethesda got pissed
Is that correct so far?
@Paranoimia
From what I understand the major gripe is that Fallout 3 does not “faithfully” follow up on Fallout 2. I mean many more people should be tribal by now but you don’t see that in Fallout 3 other then a reference from the outcasts. This is why I laugh at the people who say “Fallout 1-2 were masterpieces and were far superior to Fallout 3″ Because whenever they say this… I point to interplay constantly bitching and their financial situation, not to mention they made Fallout 3 (Only 70% complete) and never got to releasing it because their game sales didn’t do all that good.
If you loved the first 2 Fallout games for the story and humor, Fallout 3 is a cheap knock-off. Playing Fallout 3 is like listening to a joke told by someone who doesn’t get the punchline. The dialogue and atmosphere of the first two games hint at the ’50s mentality of the end of civilization. Fallout 3 bashes you over the head with it over and over. The elements of the first 2 Fallout games are smeared everywhere on Fallout 3, way too much secret sauce on a steak and i enjoyed the game but heres an example: a GECK, Water Chips, the Nuke Cola Bottling Plant, Vault-Tec Main Offices, the Corvega Plant, all in the DC Metropolitan Area? And Three-Dog? Are you kidding me?
You leave the vault in Fallout 1 for a Water Chip. You leave your village in Fallout 2 for a Geck. Only incidentally do you save the wastelands from imminent doom in your quest. In Fallout 3 you chase your father (???????) and flee the Vault during the insurrection and meet up with him to find that it was your family’s destiny all along to save the wasteland with pure water. Oh, and by the way the Enclave is here and so is the Brotherhood of Steel and neither of them have changed since the end of the second game. You are supposed to be able to be utterly villainous in Fallout 3 but you can’t kill children. Who the hell named mutant bears after a mythical Chinese forest spirits? Regardless, I still trust Bethesda more on being able to deliver a good product and sales show that.
@solidcake_
Interplay sold the rights to an incomplete game due to financial situations.. (70% done)
Bethseda releases Fallout 3
Interplay than started selling its old games to jump on the band wagon of fall out 3 success after being released by Bethseda without consulting them.
Bethseda got pissed because they own the rights and Interplay just keeps doing its own thing like as if they never sold the rights.
l just want fallout games to come out so l can play them, stop all this nonsense
@shadowjin
“but Bethesda own ALL THE RIGHTS to licensing and distribution of the old games.”
I think this is what they are fighting about. The contract doesn’t include distribution of the old games. It only covers marketing.
@ZemarOner
Bethesda claims that while Interplay has the rights to sell those games, it must send over all promotional and packaging artwork to Bethesda for pre-apporval. Bethesda says that Interplay did not fullfill this requirement and also made agreements to sell the games via digital download sites without Bethesda’s approval and caused “confusion”. Interplay has used this last-chance that Zenimax gave them poorly and im suprised that company is still around.
At the end of the day… I don’t know why they couldn’t have just gone with a new IP for Fallout 3 rather than buying Fallout liscence or what ever they did.
What would have been wrong with calling it Neo Oblivion and starting it off as a post apocalyptic Oblivion game? The new game could have been Neo Oblivion: New Vegas rather than Fallout New Vegas.
Even if they didn’t do that they could have come out with a different name anyway. It just never really sat in my stomach real well. Sounds like they were wanting some thrilling form of legal action to just wait and happen.
@ shadowjin
I think the yao guai were named by the Chinese who landed on the mainland after the nuclear exchange. For example, in Fallout 2, San Francisco is a Chinese city because almost everyone was killed during the bombing and the city was repopulated by the crew of a Chinese missile submarine and the local survivors.
@shadowjin
“Bethesda tried to mess with Interplay and tried to stop Interplay from selling their old games on Gametap and other sites by sending unlawful and untrue letters that Interplay did not have the right to sell the back catalog Fallout games. Interplay had every right to sell their old games (that’s the whole point of the original deal. The basic deal breaks down as such: I give you (Bethesda) Fallout to make new games for. You get a proven brand name. We (Interplay) get to keep the old Fallout games, which allows us to exploit this deal some in the future too by rereleasing the old games, and we get to make a Fallout MMORPG of which YOU MAY NOT UNREASONABLY MESS WITH US. THIS WAS WRITTEN INTO THE CONTRACT IN NUMEROUS PLACE) and there was no agreement that Interplay had to check with their daddy (Bethesda) about deals that they entered into that were not covered in the original agreement.”
(quoted from full post)
I think what you might be misunderstanding, is that they didn’t completely sell the rights to the fallout franchise, they kept the rights to release the games they made as long as there was absolutely no marketing or promotion, which is the case here. Interplay are countersuing bethesda for past legal costs, and for telling retailers to not deal with interplay, and they have a very good chance of winning.
@JonnyT5
The issue is that they never reported it instead did there own thing.. thats a rumor that they might win its not fact. Theres alot more than posted on here dating from April 09 the recent and waaaaay back when they bought the rights. im aware of way Beth did except people are overlooking there not passing the info along to Beth which is in the original contract. The source only says the recent findings theres alot more including IP damage to Beth and them wanting to back out of the MMO contract. Ive been watching this since April
@JohnnyTruant5
Turns out that, while Interplay was permitted to sell Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics the contract required all advertising, packaging and other promotional material to be sent to Bethesda for approval first, which, according to the lawsuit, was never done regarding neither the Fallout Trilogy pack, nor any of the releases through Good Old Games, Steam and other digital distribution platforms. Bethesda also claims that the name Trilogy constitutes unfair competition, since it suggests that the pack includes Fallout 3. If someone broke your contract you know youd be on that phone and sending letters to whoever it is to stop anything. Iterplay is a company from the 90’s that cant transission to the new era.. thats why NOTHING makes it out the door.
Let’s look at the facts as they’ve played out:
- Interplay went bankrupt and as a result was forced to sell the Fallout IP to Bethesda Softworks for just under $6 million.
- The only exception noted in the purchase agreement was that Interplay could develop a Fallout MMORPG, but only if they secured $30 million in funding by April 4th, 2009. This didn’t happen.
- Interplay began selling a revised version of the Fallout Trilogy bundle pack when Fallout 3 was released, even though they didn’t own the IP. They also signed lucrative deals to sell Fallout 1, 2, and Tactics on GOG, Steam, and GameTap without owning the IP or receiving permission from Bethesda.
If I spent $6 million on an IP and the company who sold it to me started making money on it (by riding on the hype generated by the success of my own release), I wouldn’t be happy either. I don’t think there’s any company out there that would sit back and let all of this take place after spending such a large chunk of money, so I don’t fault Bethesda in the slightest for protecting their investment.
I definitely understand your points, and if you’re correct bethesda would be in the right, but how do you know those are the facts? I don’t really mean to challenge you or anything, but reading what the guy from this article posted: “Interplay argued that they purposefully retained the rights to the original Fallout games when selling the Fallout license to Bethesda knowing full well (as did Bethesda) that Interplay was going to exploit the original Fallout games upon release of Fallout 3.”
To me that reads: Bethesda wouldn’t sue the shit out of us when we did it.
And as far as I know on the the MMO, not being on time isn’t something to sue over, it just means rights go 100% to bethesda.
@JohnnyTruant5
this has been covered since april and it got big on the 4th of Oct but game sites only recently picked it up due to new drama. This goes way back to 2007 when hell broke loose.. this is a sec/gov archive btw showing IP transfer etc:
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1057232/000117091807000324/0001170918-07-000324.txt
The document states that the radioactive IP was purchased from Interplay for the princely sum of $5.75 million — roughly a mountain’s worth of fallout bottle caps. Bethesda had been developing their Fallout sequel as licensee, not property owner. This change of ownership sees original IP-holder, Interplay, becoming a licensee to Bethesda and paying the Elder Scrolls developer a 12% royalty on net sales derived from an upcoming (and still entirely nebulous) Fallout MMO.
Interplay’s license requires them to begin development within two years of the date of agreement, secure a minimum of 10,000 subscribers and offer a product that complies with “the quality standards of Bethesda.” Not to forget the 30 million rule”..Purchasing the Fallout IP outright certainly reflects Bethesda’s dedication to the franchise (no matter how many of the old gamers bitch of continuity). it’s their property they risk messing up now and highlights plans well beyond “Morrowind with Mutants.” would someone be so kind as to rescue the Freespace IP from Interplay or Earthworm Jim?
Previous court filings by Bethesda claimed that Interplay’s plans to develop a Fallout MMO at that time named — codenamed Project V-13 — were no longer valid because Interplay did not commence development prior to an agreed date of April 4, 2009. which was in a previous official court documents..Interplay claims it did issue a letter to Bethesda prior to the April date outlining details of a Fallout MMO, but Bethesda told them NO “for no apparent reason” that Interplay was no longer allowed to develop the game (when they had a deadline). Interplay believes that Bethesda’s interference with licensing agreements to make the original titles in the series available digitally is unreasonable based on the current contracts.
Interplay than filed a countersuit versus Bethesda over statements it made to third party companies to whom it was attempting to license the original titles. According to them, Bethesda released statements to companies such as GameTap and Good Old Games, claiming Interplay had no rights to license Fallout 1, 2 or Tactics for sale on its services. Interplay’s counterclaim maintains this “unreasonable interference” (lol) puts Bethesda into breach of contract and makes the license sale “null and void,” therefore reverting the agreement back to a sub-licensing deal between Interplay and Bethesda. In short…Interplay claims Bethesda now only holds rights to Fallout 3 with options for a fourth and fifth game in the series.
You do realize that Interplay sold the entire Fallout IP to Bethsoft, right? The only rights that Interplay holds is the Fallout MMO license and thats not even theres anymore after not meeting the deadline.. except Interplay is saying they did send a document but not proof (lol).. we live in a day of lawsuits which its hard to belive that a company would not keep a copy especially when they constantly have friction. Interplay really has no leg to stand on. Unreasonable interference? What the hell? Interplay was selling this bundle (or another one of their previously-held IPs) with some community mod and the author wasn’t even notified? this Article and the source dont back track to the extra information or do a good job of explaining everything. Than again the PSL is a game site.. i dont ever expect fine detail.
JohnnyTruant5 says:
And as far as I know on the the MMO, not being on time isn’t something to sue over, it just means rights go 100% to bethesda.
yep, there just trying to get something extra..
in 2007 this was a BIG deal.. people thought Bethseda was gonna fuck up the series..they didnt, a few things here and there but only the OLD fans bitched.
@shadowjin
I knew there was news of it for a while, but I didn’t realize the filing was on the internet, so I was thinking only interplay and bethesda knew the real details. With that in mind, I had no idea who was right, I just figured they wouldn’t be countersuing if they didn’t have a solid case(OH BOY are they screwed though). I did find that after my last comment though so unfortunately I was learning everything you typed while you were typing it lmao.
On a side note, I hate losing my place when reading legal stuff, so many commas it’s impossible to find the start of a sentence lol.
That filing is from 2007 when hell started to break loose.. but theres been drama an problems since 2004 my main source wasnt that filing since its something thats hard to run into.. its keeping track of things..