Breaking: Silicon Knights Files Lawsuit Against Epic

[scooby_dooby]

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=14759

According to a statement from Epic's Mark Rein sent to leading news outlets including Gamasutra, the Unreal Engine 3 creator is the subject of a lawsuit from licensor Silicon Knights, presumably regarding UE3-utilizing Xbox 360 title Too Human.

Rein's statement, sent out to the media this afternoon, reads as follows: "This morning we were served with a lawsuit by Silicon Knights. We believe the claims against us are unfounded and without merit and we intend to fully defend against them."

The Epic VP continues: "We'd love to tell you more about it but unfortunately our lawyers want us to save our comments for the courthouse so we're going to do our best to comply with their wishes."

He concludes: "In that vein we'd appreciate if our friends in the industry and media would refrain from asking us about the suit because we're only going to say "no comment". We just wanted to share the news directly before the rumor mill starts churning."

Representatives from Silicon Knights were not immediately available for comment, but Gamasutra will update this story when more information about the contents of the lawsuit are made available.

The drama!

 

[scooby_dooby]

[UPDATE] GameDaily BIZ has now heard from Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack.

"We stand behind everything in our complaint and believe it is highly unfortunate that Epic forced us into this situation. We would rather spend our time focusing on making great games, but as stated in our complaint, Epic simply refuses to acknowledge the inadequacies of the Unreal Engine 3 code it provides to its licensees," he said, "and refuses to accept the fact that its code has caused serious damage not only to Silicon Knights, but a number of other developers in the industry. We look forward to successful resolution of our claims in this court proceeding."

 

[Ben-Nice]

How does this affect Too Human. Epic can't just pull they're license from them can they?

 

[Qroach]

This sounds pretty stupid imo. I think MS is going to drop these guys soon after they release Too human.

 

[Darkon]

Why i wonder ?

 

[Xenus]

I foresee delays and depending on how long it goes I'm not sure it will ever see the light of day. I don't think you can release a game while suing the licenser of your engine.

 

[Titanio]

Lots more detail from Gamasutra, who've obtained a copy of the suit. Yikes. I don't even know where to begin quoting.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=14759

"In particular, at the same time that Epic was supposed to be supporting its many licenses to the Engine (Silicon Knights’ among them) Epic was also racing to complete and market its own games: “Unreal Tournament 2007†and “Gears of War.""

It goes on to explain: "The support Epic had misrepresented it would provide Silicon Knights... became increasingly inconsistent as both Silicon Knights and Epic progressed toward the target launch date for their respective games. Epic has attempted to avoid its obligations under the Agreement by representing to Silicon Knights that the support,
modifications, or enhancements to the Engine – all of which are essential to the Engine’s proper function – were “game specific†and not “engine level†adaptations, and that Epic therefore need not provide them to any of its licensees, including Silicon Knights."

It's claimed: "That representation is false, as evidenced in part by the fact that Epic later provided nearly all the Gears of War code to all of its licensees, at no extra charge, in a belated effort at damage control."

The E3 06 showing is even cited:

"That advantage was nowhere more evident than at E3 2006, where Gears of War was awarded “Best Game in Show†and garnered nothing but laudatory press. By contrast, Silicon Knights – one of the only other [Unreal Engine 3] developers to publicly display a playable demonstration of its game – saw Too Human roundly criticized in the videogame press for its technical problems and generally unpolished appearance. The damage to Silicon Knights caused by Epic’s misconduct was manifest, because E3 attendees were able to compare Too Human with another game running ostensibly the same game engine, Gears of War, with vastly superior results."]

 

[NovemberMike]

Lots more detail from Gamasutra, who've obtained a copy of the suit. Yikes. I don't even know where to begin quoting.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=14759

How about the fact that Too Human is no longer using UE3.

 

[Arwin]

Well, what non-Epic UE3 games have currently been released on the 360. Might their complaint have some merit? Especially now that they may well be focussing on Unreal Tournament 3?

I don't really know how Epic works here, but so far I haven't seen a non-Epic EU3 game run really well just yet.

EDIT: yikes, that gamasutra article spills the beans. Epic may be in some trouble here.

 

[AlNom]

Wow. This is quite unexpected.

inadequacies of the Unreal Engine 3 code

Speculations? :|

Well, what non-Epic UE3 games have currently been released on the 360.

I don't recall any yet released except for RoboBlitz on XBLA. Later this year there will be Mass Effect, Lost Odyssey, Stranglehold, Medal of Honour, Army of Two, Turok, Blacksite Area 51... I'm unclear about BioShock though. There was a UE3.0 game canceled awhile back too - Frame City Killers.

edit: also released were Rainbow 6: Vegas, Monster Madness and Hour of Victory.

 

[Darkon]

Lots more detail from Gamasutra, who've obtained a copy of the suit. Yikes. I don't even know where to begin quoting.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=14759

I can see how UE caused difficulties for multiplat devs since apparently it sucks ass for ps3 but what problems did SK have ?

This certainly will be entertaining, I can see MS suing SK very soon.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

The problem SK have is that apparently Epic didnt gave them a decent working piece of code, which they say epic kept to themselves and didnt give to any licencee.

I dont know what to think of this. You'd say as SK says it they have a point. Epic did have a good working version for GoW, but apparantly they didnt share that as they said they would in the agreement and now SK is having a non functional engine.

OTOH you could say Epic might gave them the latest code, but maybe SK just couldnt work properly with that? though that sounds a bit far fatched as I assume SK does have some capable personal. Also why would epic not give the latest code? I dont think any game using the UE3 engine was on track to be launched around the same time as epic titels?

 

[Darkon]

Wow. This is quite unexpected.

Speculations? :|




I don't recall any yet released except for RoboBlitz on XBLA. Later this year there will be Mass Effect, Lost Odyssey, Stranglehold, Medal of Honour, Army of Two, Turok, Blacksite Area 51... I'm unclear about BioShock though. There was a UE3.0 game canceled awhile back too - Frame City Killers.

and Rainbow Six Vegas and GRAW i believe

I dont think any game using the UE3 engine was on track to be launched around the same time as epic titels?

Didn't Rainbow Six Vegas launch in the same month ?

 

[Skrying]

Interesting, just from a basic comparison of visuals and performance the Epic games using UE3 have been far better looking and performing and one must wonder why that is. I get the feeling Epic is simply licensing the engine and not providing a ton of support nor providing the latest revisions or tricks and tweaks that have been done.

 

[Corwin_B]

and Rainbow Six Vegas and GRAW i believe

I don't think GRAW uses UE3. R6 does, though. Also, I think I read thar Splinter Cell DA uses an heavily modified version of UE2.5.

 

[Darkon]

I don't think GRAW uses UE3. R6 does, though. Also, I think I read thar Splinter Cell DA uses an heavily modified version of UE2.5.

Wasn't that bioshock ?

 

[zed]

from the gamasutra piece it does look like SK have a pretty strong case (though of course in court its a lottery who wins)

gears of war came out in what nov2006, from the dozens of titles using UE3 theres been none released since then (excuse - they started later)
could this could be the start of lawsuits from various other UE3 licenses if they believe epic did hold back
(though cant see it happening if they still wanna use UE3 in their game)

 

[AlNom]

Wasn't that bioshock ?

Later interviews suggested a move to UE3.0, but... it's been rather ambiguous. But based off of the PC files for SC: DA, it looked like they modified UE2.x, not even basing the game off of Ubi Montreal's work with SC: CT. :|

gears of war came out in what nov2006, from the dozens of titles using UE3 theres been none released since then (excuse - they started later)

Well, recently, Rainbow 6 Vegas, Monster Madness, Hour of Victory were released.

 

[Npl]

from the gamasutra piece it does look like SK have a pretty strong case (though of course in court its a lottery who wins)

gears of war came out in what nov2006, from the dozens of titles using UE3 theres been none released since then (excuse - they started later)
could this could be the start of lawsuits from various other UE3 licenses if they believe epic did hold back
(though cant see it happening if they still wanna use UE3 in their game)

Exactly, smaller devs (or those without proper funding) could have no choice other than to silently hope Epic gets its act together.

Also, based on the Article, Epic should have provided the PS3-Version of its Engine in February, but it is still missing. This would put UE-licenses that have a PS3-Game in the works in an even more uncomfortable position.

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

(though cant see it happening if they still wanna use UE3 in their game)

If they have had to build their own engines like SK, they've got nothing to lose, and they sure don't want to still be paying licenses (or even worse, royalties) on a codebase they are not even using.

If devs have had their games and reputations damaged, maybe missed milestones and not got paid, this might be a way of publicly clearing their names and claw back some of the money they lost.