Activision countersues Finest Hour developer

Iria · Oct 7, 2005, 06:42 AM

Toward the end of August, Spark Unlimited made headlines for entering into what looked like a David-and-Goliath legal battle with Activision. An independent studio made up largely of veterans of Electronic Arts' Medal of Honor series, Spark is a much smaller entity than Activision, currently the world's second-largest third-party publisher of games.

Still, that didn't stop the small shop from leveling some big-time charges against Activision in a strongly worded lawsuit. The suit contended that the publisher tried to "kill off" the developer after the two parties couldn't come to an agreement to work on a sequel to their one and only collaboration, Call of Duty: Finest Hour.

Well, Activision struck back--hard. Last Friday, the publisher filed its own countersuit against Spark in Los Angeles Superior Court. It levels two of the same charges in the initial suit--fraud and breach of contract--and throws in four new ones, including trade secret misappropriation, trademark infringement, false designation of origin, and false advertising.

A copy of the countersuit tells a very different story about Spark and Activision's falling out than Spark's suit. Instead of Spark being the subject of a bidding war by a series of publishers, Activision contends that it was approached at E3 2002 by Spark CEO Craig Allen, who said he had "a veritable dream team for Activision's needs" to get into the World War II shooter market, which was dominated by Electronic Arts Medal of Honor series at the time.
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Read More / Source: GameSpot

Oct 7, 2005, 06:42 AM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 87	Activision countersues Finest Hour developer Toward the end of August, Spark Unlimited made headlines for entering into what looked like a David-and-Goliath legal battle with Activision. An independent studio made up largely of veterans of Electronic Arts' Medal of Honor series, Spark is a much smaller entity than Activision, currently the world's second-largest third-party publisher of games. Still, that didn't stop the small shop from leveling some big-time charges against Activision in a strongly worded lawsuit. The suit contended that the publisher tried to "kill off" the developer after the two parties couldn't come to an agreement to work on a sequel to their one and only collaboration, Call of Duty: Finest Hour. Well, Activision struck back--hard. Last Friday, the publisher filed its own countersuit against Spark in Los Angeles Superior Court. It levels two of the same charges in the initial suit--fraud and breach of contract--and throws in four new ones, including trade secret misappropriation, trademark infringement, false designation of origin, and false advertising. A copy of the countersuit tells a very different story about Spark and Activision's falling out than Spark's suit. Instead of Spark being the subject of a bidding war by a series of publishers, Activision contends that it was approached at E3 2002 by Spark CEO Craig Allen, who said he had "a veritable dream team for Activision's needs" to get into the World War II shooter market, which was dominated by Electronic Arts Medal of Honor series at the time. ____________ Read More / Source: GameSpot