The fight between Bethesda and Interplay over the Fallout license adds yet another chapter to it.
President of Interplay Eric Caen said that Interplay is dedicated to fighting Bethesda over not only the in-development MMO “Fallout Online” but the Fallout license itself.
“We sold the Fallout IP to Bethesda in exchange for a certain amount of cash and the right to do the Fallout MMO,” he said. “If they refuse to let us do the game, then the sale of the IP is terminated, and they will be allowed to do only one more Fallout, 5.
“But in that case, the IP will come back to us, and of course, we will complete our work and release Fallout MMO.”
Caen is referring to Obsidian’s Fallout: New Vegas as Fallout 4. But if they are counting separate games then they are at 8 with the multiple titles released in the early 2000’s.
“The original licensing deal was for three games and their DLC,” Caen continued. “So they already did Fallout 3, then Fallout: New Vegas, and they can only do one more Fallout, 5, if the sale of the IP is cancelled by the court.
“We will love if we have to do Fallout 6 and sequels. But we will see what happens in court. It can be this year or later… We have the back-up of our shareholders to fund this fight.”
The most recent legal spat was over the confusion of the rights Bethesda licensed Interplay when the rights were sold in ’04. Bethesda is claiming that they only licensed Interplay the Fallout name and nothing created in the Fallout Bible.
“We have confidence in justice, and we should win this case,” Caen said. “But the decision isn’t in our hands.”
Caen didn’t comment on the release status of Fallout Online but reassured that the game is still well into development.
“Since early 2009, we have a virtual Fallout world that exists and grows every day. We don’t want to release too many elements because of the litigation. We don’t know yet when we will reveal more. Sorry!
“Our team, led by Chris Taylor and Mark O’Green [two of the creators of the original Fallout], loves Fallout and what we are putting together. We all hope we will be able to show you soon more of our work, and that you will like it.”
