In November 2006, Interplay, headed by Herve Caen, filed a Form 8-K filing to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding a potential Fallout massively multiplayer online game. In April 2007, Bethesda Softworks, the developer of Fallout 3, purchased full rights to the Fallout IP for $5.75 million USD. While Bethesda now owned the rights to the Fallout MMO IP as well, clauses in the purchase agreement state allowed Interplay to license the rights to the development of the MMO. Specific requirements were stated in the agreement that if not met, Interplay would immediately lose and forfeit its license rights for Fallout. Development must have begun within 24 months of the date of the agreement (April 4, 2007), and Interplay must have secured $30 million within that time frame or forfeit its rights to license. Interplay would furthermore need to launch the MMOG within 4 years of the beginning of development, and pay Bethesda 12 percent of sales and subscription fees for the use of the IP.

On April 2, 2009 Interplay announced a binding letter of intent with Masthead Studios, a Bulgarian-based developer, to fund the development of a post-apocalyptic MMO codenamed Project V13, which has been all but confirmed to be the aforementioned Fallout MMO. Masthead and Interplay teams will work together under the direction and control of Interplay to complete development of the project.

On April 15, 2009, it was announced that Bethesda Softworks moved to rescind the Fallout MMORPG license.

On September 8, 2009 Bethesda filed its original lawsuit against Interplay in the Maryland District Court in Baltimore. In October 2009, Interplay filed its own counter-lawsuit, arguing Bethesda is in breach of contract and the contract to sell the rights to the series to Bethesda is null and void and Interplay owns the franchise again.

On December 10, 2009, Bethesda’s motion for preliminary injunction was denied.

Since being denied its motion, Bethesda has employed Steptoe & Johnson and filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  DLA Piper, Bethesda’s previous firm, has been withdrawn from further proceedings.

Duck and Cover has a partial transcript of the preliminary injunction hearing and periodically updates information regarding the appeal.  After reading through the partial transcript, I have a feeling I know part of the reason Bethesda opted to change firms: their original attorney appeared to be confused as to what, exactly, a preliminary injunction is intended to do.

Joseph Anzalone, a DC Metro-rider, recently sent a letter to the editor of the Washington Post criticizing the judgment of WMATA officials for allowing advertisements for the post-apocolyptic game Fallout 3 to be posted in Metro Center:

Metrorail riders who have passed through Metro Center over the past several weeks may have noticed signs throughout the station advertising a video game called “Fallout 3.” A heavily armored enemy soldier appears in the foreground of the ads, and the background includes images of seemingly war-ravaged national landmarks.

* * *

The people of our city do not need a daily reminder that Washington is a prime target for an attack. We do not need a daily reminder of what our worst fears look like. Since any First Amendment objection would be irrelevant (the ads do not present a true viewpoint or political message and would therefore not be protected), there is no reason for these ads to be part of our daily panorama.

The ads should be removed, and the appropriate office at Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority should be directed to exercise better judgment regarding what can be displayed in our transportation system.

For those unfamiliar with the ads, BlindsideDork at Destructoid.com has a good collection of images and videos.

I have a few problems with Mr. Anzalone’s letter:

First, his First Amendment argument is fatally flawed. Nowhere in the Article I does it say that only “true viewpoints” and “political messages” are protected. Sure, the government must overcome an exceptionally high burden to ban this type of speech, but it’s not the only speech that is protected.

Second, I think the images are intentionally evocative — that’s just good advertising. Fallout 3 takes place in a post-apocolyptic Washington, DC; the images displayed in Metro Center center simply depict the game’s setting and are meant to be powerful enough to stir up interest in the product. The developer of Fallout 3, Bethesda Softworks, happens to be located just outside of DC in Bethesda, MD — I sincerely doubt they’re trying to cause a panic in the area. Besides, the notion to decorate Metro Center to look like one of the famed “vaults” in the game is just damned clever ad-wizardry.

To be honest, I pass through Metro Center at least 10 times a week and I don’t even notice the ads anymore. As a gamer, I was really interested to see them go up, but they quickly faded into the background of the chaos that overtakes the DC Metro around rush hour, which, if you ask me, is a much more telling portent of the chaos that would consume DC following any sort of terrorist attack.

[via GamePolitics]