![]() "ZeniMax and Bethesda knowingly and intentionally caused Human Head to breach its obligations with respect to Oblivion Song and Rune 2, and at the active instructions of ZeniMax, Human Head timed the unveiling of its plan to cause maximum damage," Ragnarok alleges in the suit. It goes on to allege that ZeniMax then ordered its new Roundhouse employees to stop working on those two games and "to ensure maximum damage to Rune 2 and protect its Skyrim franchise," sent Rune 2 lead developer Christopher Rhinehart on a business trip to ensure he would be unavailable for Rune 2's launch. Indeed, it appears as if Defendants with malicious intent deliberately organized the assets in such a way as to ensure they were as indecipherable and unusable as possible." While the suit acknowledges Ragnarok eventually received source code early this year, "the assets that ultimately were transferred were incomplete and unusable. The suit also accuses the defendants of "maliciously holding the hostage for months," preventing Ragnarok from working on the game and supporting it after launch. The suit notes that the equipment would have contained Ragnarok-owned trade secrets, specifically source code and materials for the two games it had contracted Human Head to make: Rune 2 and Oblivion Song, a game based on the comic series written by The Walking Dead co-creator Robert Kirkman. Ragnarok said ZeniMax formed the Roundhouse subsidiary two weeks before Rune 2's launch and quietly acquired the studio's equipment and took over its leases. This enabled Bethesda and ZeniMax to see for themselves the threat that Rune 2 posed to their hit franchise, Skyrim/Elder Scrolls." "In an act of utter bad faith and contractual breach of confidentiality requirements, Human Head secretly provided Bethesda and ZeniMax with 'keys' that permitted it to play a confidential, pre-release version of Rune 2. The suit does not name ZeniMax parent Microsoft, which only acquired the Elder Scrolls company last month. ![]() Ragnarok expanded the suit yesterday to include ZeniMax and Bethesda, saying it had conspired with Human Head starting late last summer. The studio reformed within days as Roundhouse, a new Bethesda-owned studio comprised of Human Head developers. The suit was originally filed last year against Human Head and three of its co-founders for fraud and breach of contract after the studio shut down a day after the launch of Rune 2, a game it had developed for Ragnarok. They ask for no less than 100 million dollars to repair the damages caused.Rune 2 publisher Ragnarok has added ZeniMax Media, Bethesda Softworks, and Roundhouse Studios to its lawsuit against key former Human Head employees, accusing them of intentionally sabotaging a pair of games they had contracted Human Head to develop. Oblivion Song will not be able to continue and will be abandoned due to his status. “Īccording to the whistleblower, ZeniMax ordered the new Roundhouse employees to stop working on those games “to ensure maximum damage to Rune 2,” while protecting “The Elder Scrolls brand.” ![]() It appears that the defendants deliberately and maliciously organized the assets to ensure that they were indecipherable and unusable. They are also accused of keeping the source code for months, which they received at the beginning of the year, but which was not valid: “The materials that were transferred to us were incomplete and could not be used. ![]() Some of that material was secret and property of the publisher, they say, specifically the source code and materials of the two games that Human Head developed for Ragnarok, Rune 2 and Oblivion Song. ![]() Ragnarok contends that ZeniMax created Roundhouse two weeks before launch and acquired the studio equipment. This has allowed Bethesda and ZeniMax to verify the threat that Rune 2 supposes for their Skyrin / Elder Scrolls sagas ”, they defend. “In an act of marked bad faith and breach of the confidentiality agreement, Human Head secretly provided Bethesda and ZeniMax with some keys that allowed them to play a confidential pre-release version of Rune 2. ![]()
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