A press release from ZeniMax Media has revealed that all Fallout intellectual property rights now belong exclusively to Bethesda.
This news stems from a recent settlement reached between Bethesda and Interplay Entertainment after the former filed a lawsuit regarding the Fallout IP and a possible MMO.
Bethesda had originally acquired the Fallout IP back in 2007 and agreed to license trademark rights to Interplay in an effort to develop a Fallout MMO. But when Interplay failed to secure $30 million in financing by April 2009, Bethesda filed a lawsuit, citing Interplay’s breach of the licensing conditions.
The terms of the new settlement state that Interplay no longer has the right to create a Fallout MMO. However, the company will be allowed to sell Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics through December 2013. At that point, those Fallout titles become the property of Bethesda.
Robert Altman, chairman and CEO of ZeniMax, expressed his company’s relief at reaching a settlement.
“While we strongly believe in the merits of our suits, we are pleased to avoid the distraction and expense of litigation while completely resolving all claims to the Fallout IP,” he said. “Fallout is an important property of ZeniMax and we are now able to develop future Fallout titles for our fans without third party involvement or the overhang of others’ legal claims.”
It should be interesting to see if the Fallout MMO idea is shelved completely now that Bethesda has retained rights to the franchise.
