Fallout rights holder Bethesda Softworks has made good on its threat to sue developer Interplay for allegedly failing to hold up its end of agreements inked in April 2007.

The plaintiff said because of the alleged trademark infringement, consumers have become confused between the makers of the pre-existing Fallout games and Bethesda’s more recent Fallout 3 — a situation that Bethesda wanted to avoid.

I have to say, if I saw “Fallout Trilogy” for sale, I would assume it was Fallout 1, 2, and 3. Obviously, I’d read carefully, but a lot of people won’t. And when they eventually realize they didn’t get Fallout 3 in the “trilogy” pack, they’d likely be pissed and assume it was Bethesda’s fault. That’s some pretty sleazy marketing on Interplay’s part.

Apparently Interplay also licensed the rights to make a Fallout MMO, but they had certain fund raising and progress goals they had to hit. Bethesda claims they failed. One of the tough things is that the agreement said it had to be in “full development.” Well, any of us who have worked on games know that “full development” can mean a lot of things!

When MMO Drama Causes Real Life Violence

Some of the stories are pretty shocking. I definitely do not think MMOs themselves are at all to blame. You get enough people engaging in a certain activity, and conflicts will arise. But still… the circumstances and events are pretty outrageous.