14 DAY TRIAL // Brutal Legend is one of the most promising new titles to appear at the end of the year and is also one of the few new franchises to hit before the winter holiday season. But it was also quite close to missing its release month as Activision took its developer, Double Fine, and its new publisher, EA, to court.
For those of you who don't know, Double Fine was set to deliver this game to Vivendi and have the company publish it. When Activision and Vivendi merged, the project was dropped by the newly formed corporation for supposedly “lacking franchise potential,” meaning that further installments on a yearly basis couldn't be made.
As such, Double Fine started shopping for a new publisher and EA appeared, with a consistent marketing campaign that made plenty of fans take notice of the heavy metal-themed action adventure title created by Tim Schafer. Seeing how the game grew in popularity, Activision returned and took the two companies to court for unpaid royalties and because the investment it made hadn't been returned.
In retaliation, Double Fine also sued the large corporation for trying to sabotage Brutal Legend in order for its Guitar Hero franchise to have more success. A final ruling was supposed to be given yesterday, but court representatives revealed to the media that a settlement was reached between the two parties and that Brutal Legend would arrive in October to gamers everywhere.
While no details were given about the nature of the settlement, it's quite nice to see that, in the end, the companies reached common ground and every gamer and music fan can enjoy the great experience delivered by Brutal Legend. Stay tuned for more details about this very promising game as its October release date soon approaches.