14 DAY TRIAL // Genius Products, which put out a game called Scratch: The Ultimate DJ, has joined forces with Numark, a company that specializes in creating technology for DJs, to sue Activision Blizzard, the publisher of the upcoming DJ Hero, claiming that the latter acquired developer 7 Studio in order to make sure that Scrath was never released and that DJ Hero was the only game in the DJ simulation niche (if something like that really exists). The court action was set to deny Activision the right to publish its own game before Scratch: The Ultimate DJ was out.
A court in Los Angeles dismissed the case, ruling that the actions of Activision had in no way affected the activities of Genius and Numark.
Activision put out a statement saying that “Yesterday, the L.A. Superior Court found that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing by Activision and refused to grant any restraining order against Activision. These allegations are nothing more than an attempt by Genius to place blame for the game's delay, as well as to divert attention from the cash flow, liquidity and revenue challenges Genius detailed in its March 30, 2009, SEC filing.”
The publisher also stated that the suit brought against it is not affecting in any way the development of DJ Hero, the disc spinning videogames set to arrive in 2009 and whose aim is to allow players to simulate DJing in the same way that Guitar Hero permitted players to simulate being rock gods.
The game is part of Activision's effort of expanding the Guitar Hero franchise as wide as possible, as the title faces tough competition in the core music simulation market from Rock Band 2, which is created by MTV Games and Harmonix.
Titles such as DJ Hero are set to complement releases like Guitar Hero: Metallica and Greatest Hits.