Epic files counter claim against Silicon Knights

Epic’s Mark Rein has informed a number of games media outlets that the company has filed a counterclaim against Silicon Knight following legal accusations three weeks ago about the viability of Unreal Engine 3.

In a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Epic claims SK wants to "unlawfully enrich itself" at Epic’s expense.

Epic elaborates by stating that Silicon Knights "used Epic’s intellectual property to develop what SK expects will be a commercially lucrative video game that it is about to publicly release" and says that, after "having exploited Epic’s intellectual property to its advantage" to produce upcoming game Too Homan, SK now wants to "renege on its payment obligations under the License Agreement.

"The plain language of the Silicon Knights’ Complaint makes clear that Silicon Knights wants to take Epic’s Licensed Technology, pay nothing for it, and use it any way it pleases."

"SK’s lawsuit is a pretense," adds Epic’s statement. "SK does not have any valid claims against Epic. SK filed suit in a bid to renegotiate the License Agreement, in the hope that Epic will prefer that to the burden of responding to discovery and associated adverse publicity."