Bethesda vs Interplay, MMO license is 'null and void'

[TheMailMan78]

Today Shacknews is reporting Bethesda the publisher of Fallout has settled with Interplay the original publisher of the Fallout series over the frozen development of the much anticipated MMO based off of the Fallout universe. When Interplay sold the intellectual property of Fallout to Bethesda in 2007 it retained the right to develop an MMO. The stipulation was Interplay had to be in full scale development of the MMO by April 4, 2009 with a minimum of a 30 million dollar budget. Bethesda claimed Interplay failed to meet this criteria and wanted full control of the Fallout intellectual property including the developing MMO.

However, today Bethesda and Interplay have apparently called a truce. ZeniMax, Bethesdas parent company announced the following, "ZeniMax will pay Interplay $2 million as consideration in the settlement, each party will bear its own costs of the litigation, and Bethesda will continue to own all Fallout intellectual property rights."

This agreement also allows Interplay the right to continue the sale of original Fallout titles, including Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics through December 2013. Does this mean we will see a MMO based off of the Fallout universe from Bethesda now? Only time will tell. However if Interplay wants to continue to carry the older titles past the agreed submission date we may have another battle on our hands. War. War never changes.



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[scoutingwraith]

Well Interplay has been dead for quite a while. I do hope they sell the "Freespace" license as well. That game was a delight to play.
Also a Fallout MMO would be an interesting concept but i think the market these days is quite saturated.

 

[RejZoR]

Sometimes it's better to leave good old titles alone. Freespace might be good idea to sell so we might get Ffreespace 3 someday but then again they can as well ruin its reputation by making crap game that just feeds off the well known name...

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Bethesda wouldn't have sued if they weren't interested in making an MMO so I have to assume that if they got IP control, they're going to do it.

 

[Frick]

NOOOOOOO!!! I don't want a Bethsoft Fallout MMO!

EDIT: I mean from an RPG perspective Fallout 1/2 is way better than 3, which is kinda sucky at that and dialouge/storytelling. New Vegas improved a lot on it, that felt like a proper Fallout game.

EDIT again: Wait, are we reporting on games now too?

 

[TheMailMan78]

NOOOOOOO!!! I don't want a Bethsoft Fallout MMO!

EDIT: I mean from an RPG perspective Fallout 1/2 is way better than 3, which is kinda sucky at that and dialouge/storytelling. New Vegas improved a lot on it, that felt like a proper Fallout game.

EDIT again: Wait, are we reporting on games now too?

I would LOVE a Fallout MMO if done properly. I might even cave for a monthly sub.

As for gaming news we do some. Very rarely but I am trying to post a little more as long as its a super popular title or industry related.

 

[OneCool]

War. War never changes.



Source: ShackNews

 

[NC37]

It is the natural next step for them. I've yet to hear any Bethesda title be released without tons of bugs. Most MMOs are riddled with bugs from time to time during their lives.

 

[TheMailMan78]

It is the natural next step for them. I've yet to hear any Bethesda title be released without tons of bugs. Most MMOs are riddled with bugs from time to time during their lives.

I really hope so. Im a Fallout junkie. Playing Fallout reminds me when I lived under martial law for a short time. I thrived in that enviroment. Made me think I was born to late honestly. Stranger in a strange time.......

 

[xenocide]

It is the natural next step for them. I've yet to hear any Bethesda title be released without tons of bugs. Most MMOs are riddled with bugs from time to time during their lives.

This is the major problem. People have started to draw comparisons between Blizzard when WoW was launched\announced and Bethesda, but the fact remains; Blizzard made excellent games that had (and still have) an unparalleled level of polish. Bethesda on the other hand, releases games that are reluctant to work properly 3 patches and 2 weeks in. I think a Fallout MMO made by Bethesda would be disasterous, even if the theory\concept is excellent.