The Fallout Legal Battle Is Officially Over, No Fallout MMO In Sight
Last week there was a rumor hitting the net that the legal battle over the Fallout MMO was done for. We have now learned that this rumor is true, and Bethesda’s battle with Interplay over the destiny of the Fallout MMO has officially come to an end. As reported, it ended in a settlement and Bethesda has come out on the winnind end of the deal.
After the suit had ended, Bethesda came out with all of the intellectual property rights in hand. In case you don’t know, this legal battle has been going on for quite a while now. You see, Bethesda picked up the license to the Fallout series back in 2007, leaving the original owner Interplay with the rights to create an MMO based on the series. Interplay had two conditions: raise $30 million in financing for the project and all of the development had to be complete by 2009. Both of these goals, Interplay failed to meet. In response, Bethesda sought out to have their parent company Zenimax take the property permissions back, and now they finally have them.
The terms of the settlement are simple. First off, Interplay no longer has the permission to develop a Fallout MMO. They’re still able to sell copies of Fallout Tactics, Fallout, and Fallout 2, but even these permissions will end on December 31, 2013. In return, Zenimax agreed to pay Interplay $2 million in consideration, while both sides are responsible for their legal fees. This means that if a Fallout MMO were to come, Bethesda would have to hit it head-on. We don’t really know if the developer plans on making any moves, as right now they have their hands full with Skyrim. If they decide to get jumpy, however, we’ll let you know.
