Bethesda sues Interplay over Fallout

According to published reports, Bethesda Softworks is not happy with Interplay over Fallout. So unhappy in fact that it has decided to sue them. According to this Gamasutra report, Bethesda filed a complaint in U.S. District Court of Maryland earlier this month in an attempt to restrict Interplay from selling older titles like Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics. Interplay sold the rights to the Fallout brand to Bethesda.

The problem stems from Interplay selling that trio of games under the name “Fallout Trilogy,” which irks Bethesda, who happen to make the third game, Fallout 3. Interplay was previously allowed to sell the older games it created (Fallout 1, 2 and the spin-off Fallout Tactics), but Bethesda alleges in court that it want to put a stop to it because Interplay did not seek prior approval for packaging and marketing the game package.

Bethesda also alleges a breach of contract over an agreement with Interplay to develop a massively multiplayer online game based on the Fallout license. Under the terms of that deal, Interplay was required to find $30 million USD in funding and then begin development of the game by April of this year. This did not happen in the timeframe agreed to, says Bethesda.

We’ll follow this story as it continues to develop.