Bethesda, Warner Bros. and developer reach ‘amicable’ settlement
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| © Behaviour Interactive/WB Games |
By Owen S. Good, Polygon
Bethesda Softworks, Behavior Interactive and Warner Bros. Entertainment have resolved a lawsuit over the creation of a Westworld base-building mobile game that Bethesda alleged had been a ripoff of its Fallout Shelter game.
Bethesda called the resolution “amicable” in a very brief
statement but none of the terms were disclosed. On Dec. 12, a notice was
filed in federal court that both sides had resolved the dispute and
were to bear their own costs and attorney’s fees. Bethesda Softworks
dismissed its claims with prejudice, meaning the same claims can’t be
brought again.
In June 2018, Bethesda brought the lawsuit and alleged that Behaviour Interactive had used copyrighted code from Fallout Shelter, which it had developed in partnership with Bethesda and launched in 2015.
Bethesda alleged that a bug present in an early version of Fallout Shelter was also in Westworld, tipping Behaviour’s hand. Warner Bros., the Westworld rights holder and the mobile game’s publisher, said Behaviour assured it no code from Fallout Shelter was used in the game and disputed all claims against the game.
Westworld, which is free to play, remains available for download on both the iOS App Store and the Google Play store for Android devices.
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