By now you’ve likely heard all about the ongoing litigation between Bethesda and Mojang, developers of the Elder Scrolls series and Minecraft, respectively. While there is clearly some disagreement between the two when it comes to game names, that didn’t dissuade Bethesda from including what appears to be an homage to Minecraft in the newly-released Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
The issues between the two companies don’t actually involve Minecraft. It’s Mojang’s next game, the collectible card/board game hybrid Scrolls, that Bethesda has taken issue with, and it’s largely due to its name. Bethesda feels ‘Scrolls’ is too close to ‘The Elder Scrolls’ and wants the name changed. Persson recommended this be settled with a friendly game of Quake 3 (a game developed by id Software, which is owned by Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media), though the issue instead went to court. An interim injunction was won by Mojang last month, with Bethesda given the option of appealing the decision.
