Category Archives: Legalities
Wed, May 01, 2013 | 09:17 BST
Aliens: Colonial Marines targeted by class action suit
Gearbox and Sega have been accused of false advertising in a class action lawsuit over Aliens: Colonial Marines.
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Posted in: Legalities, PC, PS3, Sega, Xbox 360
Tags: Aliens Colonial Marines, gearbox software
Fri, Apr 26, 2013 | 17:45 BST
THQ owes claimants a reported $200 million in royalties, debt
A list of THQ creditors have been listed as part of its Chapter 11 Section 363 proceedings earlier this week.
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Posted in: Legalities, THQ
Tags: double fine, THQ bankruptcy
Fri, Apr 26, 2013 | 02:14 BST
Madden fraud claim to go to court
A district court has ruled EA Sports must face fraud claims suggesting the publisher failed to give the Madden NFL franchise’s original developer his fair share of profits.
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Posted in: EA Sports, Legalities, Sports
Tags: fraud, John Madden Football, madden NFL, robin antonick
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 | 11:28 BST
Lulzsec: self-proclaimed leader arrested in Australia, facing 10 years in jail
The self-proclaimed leader of hacker group Lulszec has reportedly been arrested in Australia, and now faces up to ten years in prison for a string of hacking charges,
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Posted in: Legalities
Tags: Lulzsec
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 | 10:24 BST
THQ Section 363 auction results noted in SEC filing
THQ has filed Form 8-K with the SEC regarding the recent acquisitions during its Chapter 11 Section 363 auction reported earlier this week.
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Posted in: Development, Legalities, THQ, Trade
Tags: 505 Games, gearbox software, nordic games, THQ auction
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 | 01:23 BST
Luftrausers cloned in second Vlambeer copycat incident
The talented and hardworking team at Vlambeer has once more fallen afoul of quick-and-dirty copycats, this time shamelessly stealing the lovely Luftrausers.
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Posted in: Legalities, Mobile, PC, PS3, Strategy, Vita, indie
Tags: Luftrausers, Rami Ismail, SkyFar, Vlambeer
Mon, Apr 22, 2013 | 15:03 BST
UKIE calls for dev support in face of EU investigation into UK games tax relief
Last week, in was announced that the EU Commission is to investigate the case for UK tax breaks and stated that “It is not clear whether the taxpayer should be subsidising this activity.” Now, the association for UK Interactive Entertainment has asked that UK developers provide evidence to help bolster the case.
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Posted in: Development, Legalities, Trade, UK
Tags: Jo Twist, UK Tax Breaks, ukie
Sat, Apr 20, 2013 | 15:46 BST
PlayStation Network class-action suit over 2011 outage settled in Canada
PlayStation Network users in Canada can participate in a class-action suit against Sony over the firm’s 2011 network outage which was the result of a hack.
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Posted in: Canada, Legalities, PS3, PSN, PlayStation Plus, PlayStation Store, Sony, Sony Online Entertainment
Tags: PlayStation Network Hack, PlayStation Network Outage, psn hack, settlement
Mon, Apr 22, 2013 | 06:28 BST
Bidding session for remaining THQ IP has closed
Bidding for the remainder THQ franchises which weren’t sold in January have closed.
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Posted in: Development, Legalities, THQ, Trade
Tags: darksiders, homeworld, red faction, supreme commander, THQ IP Bids
Fri, Apr 19, 2013 | 17:22 BST
Langdell’s Edge trademark has been canceled by USPTO
The trademark for Edge which belonged to Edge Games founder Tim Langdell has been canceled by a court order.
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Posted in: Development, EA, Legalities
Tags: edge, Edge trademark, Tim Langdell, two tribes
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 | 00:28 BST
TimeGate hit with $7.35 million in damages over SouthPeak suit
SouthPeak Interactive has been successful in an appeal on its long-running lawsuit with TimeGate Studios, leaving the Section 8 developer facing heavy damages.
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Posted in: Legalities, Southpeak
Tags: TimeGate Studios
Wed, Apr 17, 2013 | 13:22 BST
UK Government launches public survey into in-app purchases
The Office of Fair Trading has published a public survey into the use of in-app purchases in a bid to determine whether or not they cross lines into unlawful activity.
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Posted in: App Store, Legalities, UK, iOS, iPad, iPhone, iPod
Tags: Smurf's Village, The Office of Fair Trading
Tue, Apr 16, 2013 | 09:57 BST
EA Sports lawsuit: court extends claim period for consumer rights settlement
The United States Federal District Court for the Northern District of California has extended a law suit levied at EA Sports surrounding its NFL, NCAA, and AFL licenses, amid claims that the company breached antitrust laws, along with California consumer protection laws.
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Posted in: America, EA Sports, Legalities
Tags: EA Sports lawsuit
Fri, Apr 12, 2013 | 01:39 BST
Free-to-play schemes come under Office of Fair Trading scrutiny
The UK’s Office of Fair Trading is looking into whether some free-to-play games may cross the line into unlawful activity, and has contacted developers and publishers to issue warnings.
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Posted in: Free-to-Play, Legalities, Trade, UK
Wed, Apr 10, 2013 | 09:12 BST
LulzSec: fourth member pleads guilty to Sony & Nintendo attacks
LulzSec hacker Ryan Ackroyd has pleaded guilty to contributing to attacks made on Sony and Nintendo websites in 2011. The 26-year-old will be sentenced along with three other guilty parties on May 14.
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Posted in: Legalities, Nintendo, Sony
Tags: Lulzsec, Ryan Ackroyd
Tue, Apr 09, 2013 | 00:17 BST
Gameloft, Gamevil and Disney hit with patent suits
A number of game developers and publishers have incurred the wrath of the notoriously litigious Lodsys. ArsTechnica, which describes the company as a “patent troll”, reports Lodsys has recently filed a fresh wave of lawsuits against mobile developers Gameloft, Backflip Studios, Gamevil, Jirbo, MobileAge, PocketGems, Sunstorm Interactive, TMSoft, TLA Systems and Disney – in the last case taking particular issue with the popular Where’s My Water? – all over a patent for in-app purchases. The EFF and Apple have both tried to stop Lodsys’s constant lawsuits but it continues to targets companies of all shapes and sizes.
Thanks, GamesIndustry.
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Posted in: Disney, Gameloft, Legalities
Tags: Backflip Studios, Gamevil, Jirbo, Lodsys, MobileAge, PocketGems, Sunstorm Interactive, TLA Systems, TMSoft
Mon, Apr 08, 2013 | 03:17 BST
Zynga investor files suit over executive exemption from stock lockup
One Zynga shareholder and former employee has filed suit against the social publisher, claiming lower-level staff and general investors were blocked form selling stock while executives made a packet doing just that.
Fri, Apr 05, 2013 | 06:04 BST
Killer Instinct trademark dispute settled
Fox and Microsoft have signed a coexistence agreement regarding their rival claims to the Killer Instinct trademark. Under the terms of the agreement, as uploaded by NeoGAF users, Fox promises not to raise objections to Microsoft’s trademarking of or use of the phrase. Presumably this means the TV show that started the drama won’t be renewed any time soon – but oh, harro, what’s this jaw-dropping Kinect title in the works at Rare?
Thanks, woe.
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Posted in: Fighter, Kinect, Legalities, Microsoft
Tags: fox, Killer Instinct, rare, trademark
Fri, Apr 05, 2013 | 07:43 BST
38 Studios: Rhode Island claims “crushing evidence” of misdemeanour
The state of Rhode Island claims Kingdoms of Amalur developer 38 Studios deliberately misled its major creditor in securing a $50 million loan.
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Posted in: Legalities, Trade
Tags: 38 studios
Fri, Apr 05, 2013 | 05:21 BST
Australian parliament approves limited automated classification
All Australian states and territories have signed off on seven recommendations for classification reform harvested from the 2012 National Classification Scheme Review.
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Posted in: Australia, Legalities
Tags: Australian classifications
PlayStation 3 firmware update reportedly bricking consoles