Bethesda/Interplay Preliminary Injunction Hearing Detailed

No Mutants Allowed got its hands on several of the court documents concerning the preliminary injunction hearing, and sums up a goodly part of Interplay’s arguments for us. It includes some interesting claims on the current state of Fallout Online.

When it comes to Fallout Online itself, Interplay notes it has “more than 600 pages of extensive game design documents detaling, without limitation: characters, character abilities, equipment and in game items, weapons, concept art, story outlines, and environment descriptions, among other game information.” Interplay claims to have entered full production with Masthead prior to the deadline set by the TLA and to have created a demo that “included a playable portion of the 3-D game environment, which was based upon the game design documents and showcased the art style selected by the team.” Interplay sent notice on April 2 to Bethesda that they had satisfied the TLA conditions. Bethesda unilaterally revoked Interplay’s rights under the TLA on April 7, claiming Interplay was not allowed to use independent contractors and rejecting Interplay’s financial arrangements. Bethesda also claimed Interplay was not allowed to use digital distribution channels under the APA.