Tag: Legal
News 'Fame Does Not Create a Trademark': Sony, Tencent's War of Words Over Horizon Rip-Off Rage On
Ready, fight
Tencent is not backing down in its fight against Sony over the alleged Horizon rip-off Light of Motiram. The two organisations have gone back-and-forth in the courts a couple of times now, with the PlayStation maker originally describing its Chinese rival’s effort as a “slavish clone”. It sought the complete elimination of the...
"The damage is done"
The ongoing war of words between Sony and Tencent’s well-imbursed legal teams continues, as the Japanese giant has hit back at the Chinese juggernaut over Horizon knock-off Light of Motiram again. You may recall that PlayStation sued the “slavish clone” earlier in the year, claiming Tencent had pitched it on a mobile...
"An improper attempt to fence off a well-trodden corner of popular culture"
Sony’s lawsuit against Horizon rip-off Light of Motiram has just taken a dramatic twist, as Tencent has fired back by claiming the platform holder “seeks an impermissible monopoly on genre conventions”. The barbed response from the Chinese titan, read by The Game...
News Tencent's Take on Horizon Would Have Taken Aloy to Asia
Rambling all over the world
The Horizon games are set in a post-apocalyptic America, with Zero Dawn set in Colorado and Forbidden West in San Francisco. However, gaming giant Tencent pitched Sony on an adaptation of the franchise that would take heroine Aloy to Asia. The news comes c
News Sony Sues Tencent Over 'Shameless' Horizon Copycat Coming to PS5
Chinese firm allegedly tried to license Guerrilla's IP
There’s paying homage and then there’s just outright copying. It looks like Sony’s legal team think Light of Motiram has crossed a line, and it’s suing Chinese giant Tencent over the “slavish” Horizon clone. According to Reuters, the platform holder filed a lawsuit against the...
News Stop Killing Games Campaign Surpasses One Million Signatures, But There Are Issues
Sign it properly, folks
There have been a few instances recently of publishers rendering full-price games obsolete. The Crew is perhaps the most famous example: a game designed to be played online, which had its servers shutdown in 2023. This means if you own a copy of the release on Blu-ray, it’s utterly worthless these days, as you can’t...
News Sony Sued for 'Abusing Its Dominant Position in the Console Market'
Netherlands-based non-profit launches class action lawsuit
A Dutch class action lawsuit has accused Sony of “abusing its dominant position in the console market” and artificially inflating prices of software on the PS Store. The case filed in the Netherlands by non-profit firm Stichting Massaschade & Consument claims it’s acting on the behalf...
News Fortnite's AI Voiced Darth Vader Is Causing More Chaos in the Games Industry
"Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed"
If you’ve played Fortnite over the past few days, you may have recruited Darth Vader to your team. Pretty cool, huh? Even cooler is that you can actually talk to him, as the game experiments with chat bot technology trained on the late actor James Earl Jones’ voice, with...
News Bungie Conducting 'Thorough Review' After Plagiarised Art Is Found in Marathon
Not a good look
It’s not been a good 24 hours for Sony, with live service game Fairgames seemingly falling apart at the seams and Stellar Blade PC being blocked for sale in a whopping 129 countries. But now subsidiary Bungie has been forced to
News Palworld Is Being Forced to Make 'Disappointing' Changes to Its Gameplay Due to Nintendo
Legal eagle
Back when it was announced Nintendo was suing Palworld developer Pocketpair, most assumed it was due to the similarities between recognisable Pokémon and the game’s gun-toting creatures. But the legal case ended up revolving around patents, which the Mario maker said the enormous indie was infringing upon. Now, in a ra
News Comments from Ubisoft's Legal Team Are Not Going to Improve the Embattled Publisher's Image
Buyers shouldn't have believed they'd get "unfettered access" to The Crew
We understand lawyers are employed to get their clients off the hook, but these comments from Ubisoft’s legal team are not exactly going to help the embattled French publisher’s image. The company is currently fighting a case involving The Crew, which you may recall was...
News PS5 Maker Faces Lawsuit Over So-Called 'Sony Tax' on Digital Games
Company accused of behaving like a monopolist
Sony has been accused in the Netherlands of having a monopoly over the price of digital games on its PS Store. In what could become a headache for the company, a class action lawsuit claims that it’s violating Dutch and European competition laws by not allowing third-party retailers to sell digital...
News Nintendo and The Pokémon Company Want to Stop the Sale of Palworld
Claims the game infringes on its patents
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are seeking an injunction which will block the sale of Palworld, it’s been revealed. Earlier this year, just days prior to the indie game’s PS5 release, the Mario maker filed a patent lawsuit against developer Pocketpair – and now we have more details about what it...
Sony now faces trial
First reported on back in August 2022, a consumer rights campaigner named Alex Neill set out to sue Sony for £5 billion (roughly $6.7 billion). The basis of the class action lawsuit alleged that the PlayStation-maker charges "excessive" amounts of money for digital content through the PS Store — something that it can...
News Accused GTA 6 Leaker Deemed Unfit to Stand Trial by Psychiatrists
Faces 12 charges for various computing no-nos
In one of the biggest bombshell moments of this generation thus far – and there’s been no shortage of them overall – a catastrophic leak saw dozens of work-in-progress GTA 6 videos and screenshots emerge online. Now the accused perpetrator of that crime, 18-year-old Arion Kurtaj, has been deemed...
News "We've Lost the Console Wars," Says Trillion Dollar Underdog Xbox
Incentive to spend $69 billion
One consistent theme throughout the entire sorry Activision Blizzard buyout saga has been how both Sony and Microsoft have utterly dismantled their own businesses in attempt to convince regulators to get their own way. The latest effort comes courtesy of the US Federal Trade Commission’s ongoing court case, where...
News Sony 'Can't Risk' Sharing PS6 Details with a Microsoft-Owned Activision
Conveniently ignores Bungie and San Diego Studio
PlayStation bigwig Jim Ryan has said that Sony would not risk sharing PS6 details with a Microsoft-owned Activision Blizzard, as it claims this would hand its direct competitor highly sensitive information. Innovations like the DualSense and hardware specifications are crucially important to new...
News Microsoft Dealt Major Blow as UK Blocks Activision Buyout
Didn't see that one coming
In a dramatic twist that we frankly never saw coming, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has blocked Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard after months of investigations and deliberations. Microsoft's industry-shaking $69 billion buyout of the colossal publisher has, predictably, been the subject of...
News UK Regulator No Longer Concerned About Activision Buyout's Impact on Console Competition
Update: Activision rips into Sony in response to updated findings
Update: Activision Blizzard has released a gleeful response in relation to the UK regulators’ softened stance today. “The CMA’s updated provisional findings show an improved understanding of the console gaming market and demonstrate a commitment to supporting players and...
News Sigh! For the Record, Sony Is Not Making a Superman PS5 Exclusive
Kryptonite
The ongoing multi-billion dollar Activision Blizzard buyout drama has had its fair share of embarrassing moments from all parties, but this one borders on parody. Lawyers on Microsoft’s side, likely on seven digit salaries themselves, proposed in a recent document published by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority that Sony is...
News Sony Ordered to Pay Refunds As Austrian Court Declares FIFA Gambling
Result
Sony has been ordered to pay refunds after an Austrian court ruled FIFA Ultimate Team a form of gambling. The controversial game mode sees players spending money on digital card packs, which include virtual footballers. These can then be traded, sold for in-game currency, or used to assemble teams, which fans can use to compete online. But...
News Sony Sued £5 Billion for 'Ripping Off' PS5, PS4 Players
"The game is up for PlayStation"
Sony is being sued £5 billion (~$5.91 billion) for allegedly “ripping off” players of the PS5 and PS4. The lawsuit argues that by taking 30 per cent commission on every product purchased through the PS Store, the firm has “abused its position”. Consumer rights advocate Alex Neill, who’s leading the legal...
But no word of materials being ransomed
Bandai Namco has reportedly had its content ransomed, and in a statement the organisation has admitted that it “experienced authorised access by third-party to the internal systems of several Group companies in Asian regions”, excluding Japan. “After we confirmed the unauthorised access, we have taken...
News PlayStation Executive Fired After Unsavoury Allegations Emerge
Sony immediately terminates employment
Sony has “terminated” the employment of a PlayStation executive after he allegedly appeared as part of a paedophile sting operation this weekend. George Cacioppo, a senior vice president working on services like PSN and the PS Store, was reportedly caught on camera by a vigilante group aiming to expose...
News Activision Blizzard Lawsuit Accuses Publisher of Harassment within Workplace
Alleges "toxic frat boy workplace culture"
Content Warning: Please note that the following article and the sources linked within detail topics such as discrimination, sexual harassment, and suicide. Activision Blizzard, the publisher of franchises like Call of Duty and Overwatch, is being sued over incidents of discrimination and misconduct in the...
News Class Action Lawsuit Claims Sony Has Monopoly on PS Store Games
After the platform holder pulled plug on download codes at retail
Sony may soon have to mobilise its attorney against a class action lawsuit which claims it has a monopoly on the sale of digital games through the PS Store. The platform holder stopped selling download codes for software at retail a few years ago, meaning there’s technically no...
News Crossplay Controversy Shifts to Sony Being Only Company to Enforce Clause
Interesting clause sheds light on Sony's approach
Update: Now that social media has a better understanding of what the crossplay policy implemented by PlayStation actually means, the backlash has shifted to the fact that Sony is the only organisation to enforce it. To be fair, this is at least a better focal point for fans’ frustration – even if...
News Devastating Capcom Ransomware Attack Exposes Game Details, Employee Data
New Ace Attorney collection leaked
Capcom has confirmed that it’s been subject to a devastating ransomware attack, which has exposed game details, employee data, and much more. As part of a press release published earlier today, the Japanese publisher explained that it’s been the victim of a “customised ransomware attack”, with upwards of...
News The Sinking City Removed from PS Store As Frogwares Fights Further Legal Battles
That sinking feeling
Frogwares doesn’t appear to be having much luck with its publishers. Those of you with particularly potent memories may recall the Ukrainian developer falling victim to some policy changes at Focus Home Interactive, which meant that it had to remove various Sherlock Holmes games from the PlayStation Store in order to reclaim...
News Nintendo Putting Pressure on Sony to Remove Dreams Creations on PS4
Never change
Nintendo despises it when its fans do cool, non-profit things with its intellectual property, so it’s no surprise it’s putting pressure on Sony to remove the awesome Super Mario-inspired creations being shared in PlayStation 4 exclusive Dreams. One creator, Piece_of_Craft, was contacted by the legal department of Sony Interactive...
News Bethesda Defends Legal Action Against a Man Who Tried to Resell a Game
Used and abused
A strange story started circulating on Polygon overnight involving a man who attempted to resell a sealed copy of The Evil Within 2 as a “new” product on Amazon Marketplace. Bethesda’s law firm Vorys took issue with the listing, and threatened legal action against the individual. The company’s view is that there’s no way to...
News Sony Could End Up Paying Millions to Angry Linux Fans
Nerds
Remember when you could install Linux on a PlayStation 3? If you answered "vaguely" to the previous question, then you may be eligible to compensation – well, $9 to be precise. For the past six years, Sony's been battling a class action lawsuit, which proposed that the platform holder wronged up to 10 million owners by removing the 'OtherOS'...
News Hello Games Settles No Man's Sky Legal Dispute with Sky
Believe in better
The primary satellite service in the UK is provided by Sky, a pan-European broadcasting firm founded by none other than Rupert Murdoch. And for the past three years, Hello Games has secretly been locked in a trademark dispute with the billion pound firm over the word, well, "Sky". That dispute, according to gaffer Sean Murray, is...
News Sony's Dropped a Clanger with This Let's Play Lark
Company tries to trademark YouTube term
Sony, why?! The early success of the PlayStation 4 can be assigned to the feel-good factor that the Japanese giant built around the format: the gamer-centric marketing, the agreeable policies, the Jack Tretton smackdown – so why the heck is the company jeapordising that by trying to trademark the popular...
News Keighley: Konami Blocked Kojima from Collecting His Award
Gulp
The drunk Jade Raymond gaffe aside, Geoff Keighley's seemingly reckless swipe at Konami was the best moment of The Game Awards 2015. Shortly after Kiefer Sutherland took to the stage to collect an award on the behalf of Hideo Kojima, the Canadian host announced that lawyers had prevented the video game veteran from attending the show. We know,...
Weirdness Man Blames PlayStation for His Bad Driving
Jailed motorist didn't have a license
A 24-year-old man who took police on a 100mph pursuit through Lincolnshire has admitted that he learned to drive on a PlayStation. Adam Jones crashed his way through Grantham like he was playing Burnout Paradise, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage along the way. It was subsequently revealed that he was...
News Is That a PS4 in Your Pocket, Or Are You Just Pleased to See Us?
Robber tries to run away with system down his trousers
West Palm Beach resident Christopher Caldwell tried to smuggle a PlayStation 4 console out of a Wal-Mart store in his pants – but was caught by police with his trousers down. The 36-year-old squeezed the six pound system next to his crown jewels, and then subsequently tried to pile a couple of...
News Sony Agrees to Review Investigation Process after BBC Report
Lessons have been learned, apparently
BBC's long-running consumer rights programme Watchdog took PlayStation to task as part of its latest episode this evening, reporting on two cases in which fraudulent account charges had left customers out of pocket. The first, regarding John Lappin's inability to obtain a refund for a game that he never...
News PlayStation Taken to Task in BBC's Watchdog Programme
The weakest link
Sony's no stranger to Watchdog, the BBC consumer awareness show that's been running in the UK for over 30 years. One legendary report saw the PlayStation 3 taken to task following the yellow light of death scandal, but it's the PlayStation Network that will be subject to an Anne Robinson-fronted grilling in tonight's episode. The...
News Rockstar Games Is Suing the BBC Over a TV Drama About Grand Theft Auto
Game changer
BBC's planned television drama, currently titled Game Changer, is about the controversy surrounding Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto series. The plot follows the long dispute between Sam Houser, Rockstar's president, and Jack Thompson, the outspoken lawyer and critic who says that video games cause real world violence. Rockstar has now...
News Killzone: Shadow Fall's Ridiculous Resolution Court Case Has Been Dismissed
Law and order
We live in a world where games can be taken to court for their graphics not being good enough, and Killzone: Shadow Fall is one such release. Those of you with sharp memories may recall the Guerrilla Games developed PlayStation 4 exclusive being sued to the tune of $5 million because its multiplayer employed a "temporal upsc
News Sony's Going to Give You Free Stuff for Duping You into Buying a Vita
Fool me once, shame on you
Remember when Sony was found guilty of a deceptive PlayStation Vita marketing campaign? The commercials talked up the possibilities of cross-save, and failed to include any disclaimers, leaving the firm in a legal tussle. It lost, and now anyone who bought the portable before 1st June, 2012 is entitled to compensation...
News That Ridiculous Killzone: Shadow Fall Lawsuit Has Got the Nod
Seeking a resolution
As if Sony’s lawyers haven’t already got their hands full with hack attacks, a judge has ruled that pending litigation regarding the misrepresentation of PlayStation 4 exclusive Killzone: Shadow Fall’s resolution can go to court. Those of you with sharp memories will recall one individual suing the platform holder
News Oops, Sony Will Be Compensating Vita Early Adopters for Misleading Marketing
Never stop paying
You may recall that a few years back, Sony was embroiled in a legal minefield over its marketing of the PlayStation Vita. If you're interested, and have a head for legal mumbo-jumbo, you can take a look at the US Federal Trade Commission's original charges through here. For the rest of you, though, the basic gist is that the...
News Lindsay Lohan Wanted 'Publicity' from Grand Theft Auto V Lawsuit, Claims Rockstar
Seeking attention
Well, this is a story which keeps getting more and more interesting. You may remember reading about Lindsay Lohan's lawsuit against Rockstar earlier in the year. The actress had picked up on an unflattering likeness in the form of Grand Theft Auto V character Lacey Jonas, and decided to take legal action. The diva, who is found...
News Sony Sued $5 Million Over PS4 Shooter Killzone: Shadow Fall's Graphics
You're Kellan us here
Killzone: Shadow Fall may not be the best game on the PlayStation 4, but it undoubtedly ranks among the best looking. It seems that not everyone’s quite so keen on the first-person shooter’s uber-clean depiction of the future, however, as Sony is being sued over the next-gen exclusive’s graphics. Only in America, huh?...
News Wait, People Are Still Going on About the Infamous PSN Hack?
You may get a free game out of it
Few could forget the infamous PlayStation Network hack. It was a time of sorrow, solitary gaming, and some serious FUD from major publications. And it’s a story that’s still running to this very day, as Sony has just agreed to settle a $15 million class action lawsuit – which could net you a free game if you...
News It Seems Lindsay Lohan Is Still a Little Mad at Grand Theft Auto V
Raw
When she’s not in court and covering classic Stevie Nicks songs, Mean Girls lead Lindsay Lohan is apparently keeping herself busy by pursuing the billion dollar success of Grand Theft Auto V. As rumoured over six months ago, the child star turned jail bird has called in her attorney regarding the por
News Journey Composer Austin Wintory is Being Fined $50,000 By His Own Union
Shots fired
Earlier this week, on the day of the big E3 press conferences, critically acclaimed (and personal favourite of ours) game composer Austin Wintory released a video detailing some of the troubles that he may be facing from his own union. You may have heard his name thanks to his work on the superb Journey, or flOw, or any number of his...
Rumour Sony Wants the 'Net to Put Jodie Holmes' Clothes Back On
Think of the children
Considering director David Cage’s penchant for the odd shower scene, it was always inevitable that someone figured out how to strip Beyond: Two Souls protagonist Jodie Holmes down to her birthday suit. While the recent release's customary cleaning sequence is tastefully handled in the main campaign, one debug-owning video...
