Valve sues Activision over 2002 royalty dispute
GamePolitics reports that a 2002 lawsuit between Valve and Sierra regarding royalties is getting ugly. Activision -- which inherited the suit when it absorbed Sierra in 2008 -- was to pay Valve $2,391,932, as determined by an arbitration agreed to by both parties. Activison later challenged the award, saying that Valve was overpaid by $424,136.
Valve claims that the complaint was not officially submitted to the "contractually agreed audit and dispute process" and states that the auditor thus refused to consider it. So, what did Activision do? It paid $1,967,796. Yup, that's exactly $424,136 less than the awarded amount. Furthermore, Activision stated it would sue Valve if the company attempted to have the court confirm the total payment due.
Undaunted, Valve is now asking that the court award it the deficient payment and officially close the arbitration process, thus barring Activision from attempting to re-open it. More legal fireworks, it would seem, are about to ensue.
