If you don’t remember the story behind the Fallout IP/MMO battle between Bethesda and Interplay, you can check out our articles covering the legal dispute here (scroll down a bit, as it continues to a second page).
Well, now that you’ve read that I’ll let you know who won this ugly as hell legal battle. Bethesda came out of this 15 round championship, knock ‘em out bout as the winner. Honestly though, it would have been a miracle if Interplay had come out of this legal dispute as the victor. The terms of the sale agreement between the two companies for the Fallout IP rights, were pretty clear about what Interplay had to do to retain their license for the development of the Fallout MMO. Interplay did not meet those terms, and should have forfeited their license per the agreement.
Robert Altman, Chairman and CEO of ZeniMax, expressed satisfaction on behalf of the Company with the resolution of the two lawsuits saying, “While we strongly believe in the merits of our suits, we are pleased to avoid the distraction and expense of litigation while completely resolving all claims to the Fallout IP. Fallout is an important property of ZeniMax and we are now able to develop future Fallout titles for our fans without third party involvement or the overhang of others’ legal claims.”
At the end of the press release announcing this victory, Bethesda announced that they will be releasing an all-in-one ‘Ultimate Edition’ of Fallout: New Vegas. It will include all of the DLC released for the game, and is scheduled for release in early 2012.
