Snowblind Studios, Inc. v. Interplay Entertainment Corp.



Snowblind Studios, Inc. v. Interplay Entertainment Corp. was a legal dispute between Snowblind Studios, the developer of Snowblind engine, and Interplay, the developer and publisher of Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel. It concerned the Interplay using the Snowblind engine for a number of games without obtaining consent from, and paying any royalties to, Snowblind Studios. The dispute ended in on April 2005 with a settlement in which Interplay lost the rights to use Snowblind engine for any future products, as well as the "Baldur's Gate" and "Dark Alliance" trademarks.

Background
On February, 2000, Interplay contracted Snowblind to create Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance videogame for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game was then published by Interplay on December, 2001, for PlayStation 2, and on October, 2002, for Xbox. Later that year Interplay published the game for GameCube console, and Destination Software published it for Game Boy Advance. GameCube version was developed by High Voltage Software, and Magic Pockets developed the version for GBA.

On January, 2004, Interplay published Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II, developed by Interplay itself and Black Isle Studios respectively. Both games were using the same engine as Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. Sequels for both series - Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2 and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance III were both being developed by Interplay and Black Isle Studios at that moment.

On November 19, 2003, Snowblind filed a lawsuit against Interplay in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Orange. Snowblind claimed that Interplay used their engine for Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II, and GameCube version of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance without their consent and that Snowblind is entitled to certain royalties on the exploitation of their product. The two studios were engaged in this legal conflict between 2003 and 2004.

Agreement
The litigation ended with both companies signing an agreement on April 19, 2005. The agreement determined that while Interplay would be allowed to work with materials already using the Snowblind engine, they would not be able to use it for any future games. The lawsuit would have Interplay giving the Baldur's Gate trademark to Atari and the Dark Alliance trademark, albeit temporarily, to Snowblind Studios.

This lawsuit led to cancellation of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance III. Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2 was also cancelled in 2004, when the litigation was in progress.