Hasbro and Atari Battle Over Dungeons & Dragons

Hasbro, the big toymaker manufacturer and creator, and videogame publisher Atari are going to court over a disputed licensing agreement related to Dungeons & Dragons, one of the best known fantasy franchises and the setting for a variety of role playing computer games.

Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, the subsidiary in charge of D&D development, are saying that Atari has breached an agreement when it sub-licensed the rights to digital content for the franchise to Namco Bandai. Hasbro is treating Namco as a competitor because both companies are selling collectible card games and target the same market niches.

Hasbro is asking the court to terminate the agreement between the two sides and to force Atari to pay compensation. Meanwhile, the latter is stating that “Atari has had a long and rich history with the Dungeons and Dragons franchise, investing millions of dollars into numerous critically acclaimed and commercially successful games that have generated significant revenue for Hasbro. Hasbro has resorted to these meritless allegations, in an apparent attempt to unfairly take back rights granted to Atari.”

Atari is still developing videogames based on Dungeons & Dragons with rumors saying that a Neverwinter Nights MMO, put together by the people at Cryptic, is coming in late 2010 or in early 2011. No huge details about the project have been offered but the game can be a hit if the developers successfully incorporate the huge lore of the universe and manage to translate the combat mechanics faithfully.

At the moment, the company also operates DDO, which has recently gone free to play and is supported through microtransactions. If the suit filed by Hasbro is successful, then development of the rumored MMO might be halted, which would not sit well with Atari, a company that is not in the best financial shape.