11 publishers accused of pursuing torrenting settlements

The names of nine publishers have been released in conjunction with claims that a fresh spate of anti-piracy lawsuits has emerged across Europe.

The practise, which has been bullied out of court on numerous occasions, sees publishers contacting internet users with claims that their IP address has been used to download illegal games.

The accused are then offered the chance to settle out of court by voluntarily paying a fee, which can often be several hundred pounds.

TorrentFreak has named 11 publishers that it claims are actively engaging with the practice in Europe – Atari, Codemasters, Ubisoft, Square Enix, Atari, Deep Silver, Warner, dtp, Techland, BitComposer and Aerosoft.

The site speculates that some companies are treating this as a way of monetising back-catalogue titles that no longer sell in high volumes.

Much of the activity is being conducted in Germany after a prolonged spell of failed cases in the UK.

Titles that have been the subject of such claims include Test Drive Unlimited, Alone in the Dark, Dead Island, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, F1 2010, Dirt 3, Batman: Arkham City, Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, Prison Break, Operation Flashpoint: Red River, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Painkiller, Tropico 3, Cities XL and City Bus Simulator.

It adds that a number of smaller developers and publishers are also jumping on the bandwagon. Claims typically range between €300-€1,000.