Blizzard And Valve Come To Agreement On DOTA
When most companies have a disagreement with another company, you can bet that the legal system will be involved. That’s what happened when Blizzard Entertainment decided to file an injunction with the US trademark office to block Valve from using the term DOTA. However, what ended up happening is a bit surprising, and I think shows just how level-headed some companies cane be even in trying times.
DOTA, for those of you who don’t know, is Defense of the Ancients. It was a fan-made custom map created for the game Warcraft III back in 2003. It quickly took off as one of the hottest mods on the planet, and has spawned DOTA clones like League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth. Valve decided to get in on the action when they announced that they were going to team up with top DOTA developers and develop DOTA 2 as a standalone game. Blizzard decided to create its own DOTA game for StarCraft II, called Blizzard DOTA, and filed paperwork with the US trademark office to block Valve from using the term DOTA. After all, Blizzard felt that since DOTA was first developed and released for Warcraft III, the term should belong to Blizzard since the term DOTA implies a Blizzard game.
Perhaps not wanting to be involved in a protracted legal battle, Blizzard and Valve met and decided that it was in both parties interest to have the matter settled quickly. Blizzard agreed to drop the DOTA claim, and will be allowed to use the term for non-commercial purposes for Warcraft III and StarCraft II maps. They have since renamed Blizzard DOTA to Blizzard All-Stars, which as Blizzard’s Rob Pardo claimed, “better reflects the design of our game.” Valve will still be allowed to use DOTA 2, and can use the term commercially as well.
At the end of the day, Blizzard and Valve realized they were stuck in a petty squabble, and decided to end it. While Blizzard may or may not have had a claim, the fact is that there wouldn’t be much gained if Blizzard was awarded the DOTA trademark. All it would do is alienate fans as one game or another was delayed because of some trademark infringement, and neither company wanted to see that happen. In other words, both companies grew up, and decided to be adults about the situation and come to a compromise. If only we could see more companies do this, the world would be a better place.
