14 DAY TRIAL // WorldForge / Visionvale from Cyprus and Burut from Russia have been decided against in the legal proceedings with Playlogic Entertainment regarding copyrights of the game Ancient Wars: Sparta. The District Court of Amsterdam concluded that all the copyrights to the game always belonged to Playlogic, because of their agreement with WorldForge / Visionvale and Burut.
The counsel of Playlogic, Jeroen Zandt, said: "The judgment is clear as crystal. Playlogic owns the copyrights. WorldForge / Visionvale and Burut have to pay a penalty of ?10,000 each time they state the contrary or refrain from publishing rectifications of former wrong statements. They are prohibited to exploit the game Ancient Wars: Sparta outside countries of the former Soviet Union on pain of a penalty of ?1,000 for every copy without permission".
The game, developed by Russian developer World Forge, has been signed to be distributed by Eidos throughout the world, except for the former USSR, Italy, Spain and Latin America. This is what Stefan Layer said when the agreement between Playlogic and Eidos was signed: "We are very excited to have found in Eidos our distribution partner. Eidos has an excellent distribution network and is highly experienced in marketing its products, such as its 'Tomb Raider' (Lara Croft) franchise, which will drive the sales of both games. We are looking forward to working with them."
The game that was the seed of copyright issues between Playlogic and WorldForge / Visionvale and Burut, Ancient Wars: Sparta, is based on the history of the ancient ages. The factions fight for influence around Little Asia, Europe and North Africa are Spartans, Persians and Egyptians. The action takes place in the timeline between 500 and 450 BC, with different campaigns for each faction. Ancient Wars: Sparta is a 3d real time strategy built around the Ancient Wars Engine. Here, the player has to use each power's special abilities to be superior and eventually defeat the enemies.