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.

Gameloft signs deal with Interplay for Earthworm Jim

Gameloft has inked a multi-year licensing agreement with Interplay to develop, distribute and publish Earthworm Jim games for WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade, portable platforms and PlayStation Network. The popular and cult classic run and gun platform video game featuring an earthworm who dresses up in a Super Suit to fight evil. will have an exclusive one month run on Xbox Live Arcade.

More details on GameLoft’s games can be found at gameloft.com. I hope Dave Perry approves.

Good Old Games offers Fallout Blowout

Good Old Games, the DRM-free classics game distribution network, is offering a deal on all things Fallout related on the site for a limited time. This week, and running until Monday, April 27 at 11:59 p.m. GOG members can get 20 percent off every Fallout game availble on the site - along with a number of related extras.

This includes the original Fallout, Fallout 2, and the real-time tactical strategy spin-off Fallout Tactics. You can pick up all three for right around $14.37 USD. So what are the extras? 3 soundtracks in MP3 format, 9 wallpapers, 300 bits of artwork, the Fallout Bible with a special introduction by Chris Avellone (205 pages), a nifty set of avatars and the original manuals and reference cards that shipped with the retails versions of these games.

You can find out more by visiting www.gog.com/en/page/fallout_promo.

Bethesda Reclaiming Fallout MMO Rights

Bethesda has filed with the U.S. Securities And Exchange Commission to reacquire the rights it licensed to Interplay when it bought the Fallout brand from the company. Part of that 2007 deal gave Interplay the right to create a Fallout MMO - provided that it met certain conditions. The SEC filing contends that Interplay has not met those conditions, and is therefore no longer entitled to license anything from them.

The agreement was contingent on Interplay meeting milestones: the company was to enter general production on the game within two years and raise capital to support its continued development. That never happened, despite some progress on a product codenamed Project V13 (which everyone surmised was an online Fallout game), Bethesda apparently feels that Interplay has hit the end of the road with them.

We’ll have more on this story as it develops.

thanks No Mutants Allowed

Fallout MMO gets help

The MMO that has been in the works from Interplay, codenamed Project V13 and almost certain to be in the Fallout universe, finally was announced in a press release on PR Newswire.

Masthead Studios, a Bulgarian company, will be “using its proprietary tools and MMOG technology” it is utilizing for another MMO called Earthrise and working jointly with an Interplay in-house development team composed mainly of former Fallout developers. Former Interplay designer Chris Taylor was brought back to assist with the project in August of last year.

Both Interplay’s and Masthead’s CEOs had some standard PR puffery in the release, and terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Interplay has slowly pulled itself back up after financial troubles between 2002-2004, but the sale of the Fallout intellectual property to Bethesda Softworks in April 2007 seems to have them on the right road. They are using money from that sale to fund the project. As late as November 2007, Interplay said it wanted to revive many of its other intellectual properties, such as Earthworm Jim, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance and Descent, and in April 2008, it confirmed that Earthworm Jim 4 was in development.

While a Fallout MMO would be incredibly popular based on the following the series has had (both good and bad), I’m skeptical that this MMO (whatever it is) will even see the light of day. The last news that Interplay had on its website was back on Aug. 23, 2008, when it announced that it had brought Taylor back and the site is advertising Sacrifice for download, a game originally released in November of 2000. Interplay’s plans seem overly ambitious given its previous financial troubles.

And Masthead, founded in 2005, has not released a game yet, although it’s site says Earthrise will be coming out sometime this year, and a trailer was just released at GDC.

I hope I am wrong and this makes it. I’d play it in a heartbeat. We’ll see.

inXile Grabs Jason Anderson for New RPG

inXile entertainment, the studio behind the tongue-in-cheek fantasy spoof, The Bard’s Tale, announced yesterday that Jason Anderson, one of the designers of the original Fallout and a founder of Troika Games, has joined the inExlie as creative director for a new, unannounced RPG currently in development. Anderson recently left Interplay, he was working on the company’s Fallout MMO project, dubbed V13.

“Jason has an extensive resume of creating amazing RPGs over the past two decades and we feel very lucky to have his talent directed to one of our upcoming projects,” said Brian Fargo, chief executive officer of inXile entertainment. “His leadership and vision will allow us to have a second development team focused on an epic game that will push the boundaries of RPGs.”

Anderson is no stranger to the RPG genre. Aside from his prior works on the Fallout series, Anderson has also worked on the PC RPGs Stonekeep, Arcanum: Of Magick & Steamworks, and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. While inExlie is keeping quiet about its current RPG project, I know of a lot of gamers who’d love to see a new Bard’s Tale for PC and consoles. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see what develops.

Chris Taylor Rejoins Interplay

Who would have thought that the company behind such hits as Fallout, Descent, Earthworm Jim, the Icewind Dale series and Planescape Torment would die, rise from the ashes and live to fight another day? That is just what Interplay has managed to do and the company is putting some old friends back on the team. Interplay announced via its freshly launched web site that it has hired legendary Fallout designer Chris Taylor to work on a secret MMO project codenamed “Project V13.” Now I don’t want to get those sewing circles talking, but Project V13 sure seems very familiar to me - maybe Vault 13?
Could Chris Taylor and his team be working on a Fallout MMO ? Maybe for Zenimax Online, the same company that owns a stake in Bethesda? How many more questions can I ask?

Taylor has been named Lead System Designer for “Project V13,” and joins other original Fallout team members on staff at Interplay’s internal game studio, which recently opened in Irvine, Ca.

Source: www.interplay.com