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Bethesda Suing Interplay Over Fallout MMO?

gamercenteronline.net — It seems that not everything is fine in the Fallout circle. According to a recent 10-K financial filing, it seems that Interplay, who were supposed to have been developing a Fallout MMO, maybe getting their tales sued off of them by Bethesda.

Who dugg this? Made popular Apr 17, 2009

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  • superterrorizer, on 04/16/2009, -0/+103War never changes.
  • Kanten, on 04/16/2009, -1/+57Interplay deserves more karma backlash for firing the Black Isle staff.
  • Altanar, on 04/16/2009, -2/+34They don't have to sue. When Bethesda bought the Fallout IP from Interplay, the contract stated that if Interplay didn't produce their Fallout MMO within a certain amount of time, the rights to an MMO were transfered to Bethesda. No lawsuit required.
  • dalittle, on 04/17/2009, -10/+39Bethesda should give Fallout back to Brian Fargo. You need to flip a switch in a room filled with radiation and a mutant that just did that refuses to do it again so you have no choice to die or have the blond girl die? Yes, please Bethesda, give Fallout back to Brian Fargo.
  • dygel, on 04/17/2009, -0/+28The important thing to remember here is that Interplay DID NOT make Fallout. Black Isle was the developer of the first two Fallout titles, and they are no more. Interplay was the publisher. Interplay is also one of the worst managed game companies in the business, so it's little wonder that they've only stayed solvent by selling off their valuable IP and had such trouble getting any traction on the project they committed themselves to in that contract.
  • relaxeder, on 04/17/2009, -5/+30STOP RIGHT THERE CRIMINAL SCUM
  • billricardi, on 04/16/2009, -0/+22Well, they DO have to sue if one side says 'we hit our benchmarks and retain the IP' and the other side says 'no you didn't'. Otherwise, how would Bethesda PROVE that Interplay didn't hit the benchmarks? They need a subpoena to get the records they need to seize control.
  • ernasty10050, on 04/17/2009, -0/+18Simple. You die at 200 different points in the game.
  • h4mx0r, on 04/17/2009, -2/+18PAY WITH YOUR BLOOD!
  • molochi, on 04/17/2009, -0/+14It was very good right up to the final part of the game's main quest. At that point the developers just say ***** off and then end the game.
  • dygel, on 04/17/2009, -0/+14Footnote: Black Isle is no more because Interplay closed them. So, clearly, Interplay hasn't been interested in what the Black Isle team had to bring to the table in a long while. All the talent that gave us the first two games wouldn't be working on this MMO anyway.
  • CardHockman, on 04/17/2009, -6/+19no way did fallout 3 "put the series on the map". the first two did that on their own and they were great enough not to need the marketing power of Bethesda, who just re-released Oblivion in a post-apocalyptic world when they got the rights. disgusting.
  • dygel, on 04/17/2009, -0/+12They don't need to be "awarded" the rights. They bought the IP wholesale before they ever started Fallout 3. Interplay had a clause in the sale of the IP that granted them the right to use the IP for a Fallout MMO and that license expired April 4th if they failed to meet the contingency guidelines.
  • Yaklord, on 04/17/2009, -0/+12I don't know what this means.
  • lennybird, on 04/17/2009, -1/+12NOBODY BREAKS THE LAW ON MY WATCH!
  • bieber, on 04/17/2009, -0/+10There was a Slashdot story about the Diggbar today, and this was one of the comments on it. Why it's here, no bloody idea...
  • TurboSquid, on 04/17/2009, -1/+10I think you posted in the wrong window :p
  • CardHockman, on 04/17/2009, -6/+14that "someone" would be the people who made the first two fallout games. you know, the ones that actually had a story.
  • shalb, on 04/17/2009, -3/+11Sad part is that there was supposedly 200+ endings before the game was released.
  • MasterGrief, on 04/17/2009, -0/+7I think they were saying there were over two hundred endings if you counted all the sundry combinations of ending scene splices. It's not honest, but I think they were technically correct.
  • cheez124, on 04/17/2009, -0/+7wrong story.
  • kcp12304, on 04/17/2009, -0/+6I'm all for old school love for fallout 1 & 2 but Interplay probably isn't the same as everyone remembers them
  • GalacticRerun, on 04/17/2009, -1/+6Oh yeah? Well I have 2 small kids, a wife who wants some sugar, a full time job, freelance work on the weekend, a wedding to plan and invitations to design and I still find 4 hours per week to play this game because it's so good. Admittedly it's done in on go on a Saturday night while everyone else is in bed but I make the effort damnit!
  • mikeknick, on 04/17/2009, -0/+5*tails
  • Darkranes, on 04/17/2009, -0/+5Not perfect, mods take care of that though :)
  • TheProfessor87, on 04/17/2009, -0/+5Wars do not decide who is right... only who is left.
  • Gizza, on 04/17/2009, -2/+7"I had never heard of the fallout series before fallout three... so it put it on my map and im sure it put it on many other people's too.'

    The only reason Fallout 3 became so popular was because of the first 2. It wouldn't have been so popular as to put it on everyone's map if this wasn't the case.
  • dronkmunk, on 04/17/2009, -0/+4I have extra sugar.
  • zzz@tkz, on 04/17/2009, -1/+5YOUR STOLEN GOODS ARE NOW FORFEIT
  • oblivionatm, on 04/17/2009, -2/+6Yes, because suing someone who has bought the legal rights from your poor little company is going to hold up in court. :-/ Legal fail....
  • ortucis, on 04/17/2009, -2/+5DAEDRA ARE COMING!


    Wait, wrong one..
  • mrlost117, on 04/17/2009, -3/+6you could have spoiler alerted you know

    Ive beat the game, but still
  • Samohtneas, on 04/17/2009, -1/+4But if they have no tales to save, then how am I supposed to keep playing?
  • cambob76, on 04/17/2009, -1/+4So was Fallout 3 any good?
  • nofalsehero, on 04/17/2009, -0/+3Seriously. It's like reading an amazing, enthralling book about an epic journey at the end of which, the book reads "Then they went home and went to bed. The End."
  • WasabiBomb, on 04/17/2009, -1/+3We're watching you... scum.
  • Yomoska, on 04/17/2009, -3/+5If you think Fallout 3 put the game on the map then you sir do not know much about computer gaming in the 90's
  • WasabiBomb, on 04/17/2009, -0/+2If any single-player franchise would work well as an MMO, Fallout would. Done right, it'd be incredibly fun, too.
  • viper001, on 04/18/2009, -0/+2The one good thing about there being a Fallout MMO is that there's no ending for them to screw up. Seriously, it was like watching Lord of the Rings, and just as Frodo is holding it over Mt. Doom, we all get Bel Aired
  • JigoroKano, on 04/17/2009, -1/+3Is there anyone at Interplay that had anything to do with the first two games?
  • Ceryn1126, on 04/17/2009, -1/+3It would work as well as any other MMO... There are plenty of mutant animals for normal mobs. It would prolly work best as a sandbox style game like Darkfall / UO, but the potential is also there for Raid based areas (uninstanced perhaps similar to the Warhammer online public quest system) with Supermutants and Raiders and such. They could allow people to be affiliated with Raiders, Enclave, Brotherhood, etc They could do most of this without being pidgin-holed into the typical Tank, Healer, DPS archetype so long as they kept most monsters too hard for players to solo and the only benefit dungeon areas is that they had a better drop rate
  • Pinhedd, on 04/21/2009, -0/+2they will have to sue if Interplay disputes the status of the development. If there's a lack of clarity in the contract as to what "development" and "funding" mean in this context then it will be up to a judge to decide.
  • JollyDumple, on 04/19/2009, -0/+2To be fair, one of the DLC expansions is supposed to change the ending somehow.
  • Suricou, on 04/18/2009, -0/+1Not wrong story - wrong stories. He has copied and pasted that all over several different stories, spamming digg. Burrying and reporting for... I'm not sure, but blatent OT rant-spamming must be against some rule or another.
  • Elranzer, on 04/17/2009, -0/+1All of Bethesda's (recent) RPGs are first-person shooters with RPG elements. Morrowind just replaced the gun with a sword, and could be beaten in 8 minutes if you knew what to do.

    The first two Fallouts were real RPGs.
  • OUberLord, on 04/23/2009, -0/+1The only thing Interplay has been on the verge of is ceasing to exist as a company.
  • inactive, on 04/26/2009, -0/+1"that "someone" would be the people who made the first two fallout games. you know, the ones that actually had a story."

    Oh you mean that "someone" that almost went out of Business until it sold the IP over to Bethesda?
  • Elranzer, on 04/17/2009, -1/+2Fallout 3 is Oblivious with guns.

    Oblivion is a first-person shooter with a sword replacing the gun.

    Hmm... what does that make Fallout 3?
  • OUberLord, on 04/23/2009, -0/+1When one party makes a suggestion that a second should go back to school, the initial party should at least make an attempt at giving off the impression that they have done the same.

    I would be surprised if Interplay did *anything* towards making a Fallout MMO, let alone actually make enough progress to release a product in any form. There's no use for a company to hold an IP and do nothing with it, and Interplay would have incredible trouble given the state of its company in getting enough backing to get an MMO off the ground.

    Besides, over 600,000 people purchased Fallout 3 and it has received numerous awards. Pretty good for a game that is "completely horrible".
  • Midnitte, on 04/17/2009, -0/+1Yes, such as Christopher Taylor. Not sure of any others.

    Im really hoping Bethesda just ***** buys Interplay that way the MMO feels authentic and has plenty of money to be developed.
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