Earlier this week John Beiswenger, author of the novel Link, filed a complaint in Pennsylvania courts against Ubisoft for supposedly stealing his ideas for use in its extremely successful Assassin’s Creed franchise.
Link‘s story revolves around a “device and process whereby ancestral memories can be accessed, recalled, relived, and re-experienced by the user.” The novel was published in 2003, three years before the release of Assassin’s Creed. Gamers familiar with the franchise will note that this device does sound alarmingly similar to the Animus, although anyone familiar with game development knows that there is a possibility that Assassin’s Creed was in development well before 2003.
Ubisoft has refused to release a statement about the lawsuit, but could possibly pay up to $5 million in damages. In the grand scheme of things, $5 million may not be much to Ubisoft, especially with the highly anticipated release of Assassin’s Creed III expected later this year.
Do you think Ubisoft should stand up for its franchise, or give this guy his hush money and make this whole thing end? Let us know below.
