“Rocktober” May Be Farther Away Than Hoped…

Posted by Cuatro Chihuahuas on June 4th, 2009

I don’t know about you, but I’m psyched for Brutal Legend, Double Fine’s cool action game featuring a Metal Roadie transported into the world of Heavy Rock, and starring Jack Black as the voice of the lead character. The game is scheduled to be released on PS3 and 360 on “Rocktober” 13, but breaking news today may mean the game will be delayed, if released at all.

Today, according to Yahoo News, Activision filed suit against Double Fine, claiming that the company had no right to transfer the publishing to EA, and that they (Activision) supposedly have a $15 million investment in the game, and a valid contract to release it.

Funny, because they suddenly seem awfully interested in a game they couldn’t have cared less about a few months ago. A little background, for those of you who may not have been following the game or its production saga:

Sierra merged with Activision, and Activision promptly decided to dump most of Sierra’s projects, including Brutal Legend. As a result, Double Fine shopped the game around, hoping to find a new publisher - and EA came to the rescue.

However, suddenly, Activision wants to block the game’s release, and I am seriously hoping this doesn’t happen. Is it because Activision said “No” to a game they thought wasn’t worth anything since it wasn’t from an established franchise and didn’t have “sequel potential?” [Read: It wasn't Guitar Hero.] But now they realize how successful the game may be and have changed their mind? I’m not a legal scholar, but between this and all the other lawsuits Activision has embroiled itself in lately, I’m not saying I’m a huge fan of this company.

So here’s crossing my fingers that Brutal Legend will still be released, as planned, on October 13, 2009. I’ll try to keep you guys posted.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 4th, 2009 at 2:44 pm and is filed under Industry News, News, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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2 Comments

  • At 2025.06.05 04:39, TheHerp80 said:

    Activision sometimes pisses me off. They showed off GH5 at E3 saying new this new that and all of that was already in Rock Band 1! they hype up all of these sequels and they never seem to care too much about any game they dont "Think" can have multiple sequels. I really dont understand this one, if they cut the contract for the game how do they think they have any investment in the game.

    [Reply]
    • At 2025.06.05 22:51, pseudopseudo said:

      My favorite part about this lawsuit was Tim Schafer's response:

      "Hey, if Activision liked it, then they should have put a ring on it," Schafer said. "Oh great, now Beyoncé is going to sue me too."

      It's definitely just a cash grab. Activision's kind of a douchey company when it comes to stuff like that.

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