Namco Bandai awarded distribution rights to The Witcher 2

A French court has ruled in favour of Namco Bandai in a suit the publisher initiated over the distribution rights to The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.

Parkiet reports a Lyonnese court ruled developer CD Projekt RED must offer Namco Bandai a distribution deal on the Xbox 360 version of the game within 15 days of the decision, or face fines of €15,000 each day thereafter.

Namco Bandai sued CD Projekt RED for violation of the distribution contract for The Witcher 2 on two counts; first for removing the game's DRM, and then for signing with THQ for the distribution of the Xbox 360 version.

CD Projekt had argued that the agreement between the two companies had only applied to the PC version of the game, but failed to convince the authorities.

"We are not satisfied with the end of the verdict. The most important thing for us is, however, ending the dispute," CD Projekt RED's Marcin Iwinski said. He went on to explain that the developer's agreement with THQ was in the early stages, and shouldn't cause much financial difficulty to cancel.

The ruling apparently doesn't apply to the US, where a deal with Warner Bros will go ahead as planned.

A multi-million dollar marketing campaign is planned for the Xbox 360 port, which is now expected in the first quarter of 2012.

Thanks, Kotaku.