Posts Tagged ‘interplay’
Bethesda Considering Legal Action Over Fallout MMO
Fans awaited the arrival of the long-over due Fallout 3 with excitement, only to weep when it was announced that Interplay was ceasing work on the game. A tech demo hit the internet which only rubbed salt in the wounds of many but Bethesda swooped in and picked up the rights. While fans are still hotly debating whether or not their take on the universe was well executed or not, others are waiting with the same contained anxiety for the planned Fallout MMO.
When Bethesda purchased the Fallout IP from Interplay they left behind the MMO rights as part of an agreement that hinged upon Interplay beginning ‘full scale’ work on the game by April fourth as well as having secured funding for the development of the title. Bethesda is considering legal action as they claim that Interplay has fulfilled neither of these conditions.
Interplay is denying all of these claims and their work on a game called ‘Project V13′ hints that there might be more going on than Bethesda is aware of. Unfortunately for Interplay if Bethesda goes ahead with legal action and wins, they’ll have lost all rights to the license and that could lead to problems with the financing as MMOs based on a brand new IP have a low rate of success due to the colossal grip WoW has on the market.
Project V13 Gets Masthead Help
Interplay is getting help from Bulgarian developer Masthead Studios who will be joining them to work on the publisher’s mysterious MMO codenamed Project V13, which is rumored to be a Fallout MMO.
The agreement sees Masthead co-developing the game with Interplay’s internal teams under their direction and control. It will also see Masthead implementing tools and technology created for Earthrise – a post-apocalyptic MMO due out later this year.
Interplay is yet to announce any solid details on Project V13, though it is known that Jason Anderson – one of the original Fallout’s original designers – had been working on the project before he left to work for inXile.
Fallout MMO Still in the Works, Chris Taylor Hired
Fallout fans rejoice! Interplay has relaunched its company website which notes, among other things, that the Fallout MMO is in development. The company has opened an Orange County, CA office for development of the game and has hired Chris Taylor, who was part of the original Fallout team, to be the lead system designer. He joins several other former Fallout devs.
While the rights to create Fallout games was sold to Bethesda last year, Interplay retained the right to create an online game based on the franchise. However, Interplay needs to raise at least $30 million in funding for the project before April 2009; also, Bethesda is allowed to keep close tabs on the development. If the company fails to raise the money, it will lose the MMO license.