Double Fine countersues, says 'Activision will not kill Brutal Legend'
In the midst of all the confusion of E3 this year, ex-Brütal Legend publisher, Activision, decided to sue the game's developer, Double Fine, in order to "stop the release" of the game this October. But before all the exciting litigation can start on July 30, Double Fine has legally responded, filing a countersuit against Activision and claiming Activision's lawsuit is intended to hurt Double Fine and Brütal Legend itself.
"Double Fine's countersuit is a demonstration of our intention to fight for this game - Activision will not kill Brütal Legend," DF's Caroline Esmurdoc said in a statement released to Joystiq this afternoon. With this countersuit, the developer is seeking an official judge's ruling that it was free from its contract with Activision and thus allowed to sell the rights to Brütal Legend to the game's current publisher, EA.
Interestingly, Double Fine claims that Brütal Legend was dropped in the Vivendi/Activision merger after "an effort to convert the game into a Guitar Hero sequel failed." What?! Now that is a piece of information we didn't expect to get out of this.
[Thanks, Stix_Remix!]
