MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Warner Bros has issued a statement addressing Bethesda’s lawsuit that claimed that Warner’s Behaviour Interactive-developed Westworld mobile title was a “blatant rip-off” of Fallout Shelter. Warner Bros denied all accusations of having used the same source code to build the game, Fallout Shelter having also been co-developed by Behaviour.
Talking to GamesIndustry.biz, Warner Bros said: "As one of the world’s leading creators of intellectual property, including the groundbreaking television series Westworld, Warner Bros has a deep respect for intellectual property rights. As such, the assertions by Bethesda Softworks that Warner’s Westworld mobile game improperly used source code from Bethesda’s Fallout Shelter are as surprising as they are unsubstantiated.”
The statement continued: "Warner Bros has been assured by the game developer, Behaviour Interactive, that Bethesda’s allegations are untrue and that none of Bethesda’s code was used in the Westworld game. Moreover, contrary to Bethesda’s baseless accusation, Warner Bros at no time ‘induced’ Behaviour to use the Fallout Shelter code in Westworld."
So it sounds like this will have to be settled in court. Bethesda issued the lawsuit earlier this week, saying Westworld (which launched on mobile last week) used “the same copyrighted computer code” as Fallout Shelter, as well as “same or highly similar game design, art style, animations, features and other gameplay elements.”
The lawsuit further said that “Bethesda seeks to enjoin such activities and recover statutory damages, actual damages, Behaviour’s and Warner Bros’ profits, restitution, and attorneys’ fees and costs.”
