NEWS FROM WORLD: Video Game Lawsuit Frenzy - Zygna, NCSoft, Blizzard Fight for Real Stakes

Video Game Lawsuit Frenzy - Zygna, NCSoft, Blizzard Fight for Real Stakes

Although videos games, particularly online, interactive and multi-player games, are supposed to be about fun and, well, games, they have obviously become increasingly big business. Any doubters of that fact need only look at Disney's $563M acquisition of online and social-networking game-maker Playdom earlier this month. However, game studios, publishers and players have all recently been reminded that with big business comes big lawsuits:

Blizzard Entertainment v. Scapegaming: On August 10, 2010, the Federal District Court for the Central District of California issued a Damages Order (based on the Court's earlier Order Granting Default Judgment) slamming defendant Scapegaming for $88M (in a Final Default Judgment) for running a private server and selling unauthorized in-game items and processing related transactions through PayPal (to the tune of $3M+) for copyright infringement and related anti-circumvention and breach of contract claims related to the popular World of Warcraft MMOG. With some of the issues and arguments advanced by Plaintiff, the case could have been a bit more interesting had the Defendant not defaulted (particularly as to the alleged DMCA anti-circumvention arguments). Read more at Ars Technica and The Hollywood Reporter

Digital Chocolate v. Zygna: In a 79-page complaint (including exhibits), Plaintiff game-maker Digital Chocolate alleges darling social gaming company Zygna's Facebook-based game MAFIA WARS infringes Plaintiff's game of the same name and (arguably) similar characteristics (Zygna also makes the popular Facebook-based game FarmVille). Interestingly, in a still ongoing case filed last year, Zygna sued Playdom (yes, the same company acquired by Disney as noted above) for, among other claims, infringement of Zygna's trademark rights in MAFIA WARS found in Playdom advertising. This could get interesting. Read more at Courthouse News and PaidContent.org

Jagex Ltd. v. Impulse Software: The company claiming to offer the largest free MMOG in the world sued Defendant Impulse Software in February 2010 on a host of claims including copyright and trademark infringement, related to the creation and offering for sale bot-based automated game-play technology that enables users to play the game with little to no human interaction while simultaneously reaching allegedly unfair advanced levels of game achievement. Although denying Plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction, the Court also dismissed Defendant's motion to dismiss, thereby enabling the case to continue. If the parties continue to litigate, the issues presented could lead to some very interesting issues being addressed. Read more at Courthouse News

Smallwood v. NCSoft: In a 49-page ruling, a Federal District Court in Hawaii has allowed portions of suit against game publisher NCSoft to proceed alleging a host of claims related to Plaintiff's general theory that NCSoft is to blame for Plaintiff's debilitating addiction to Defendant's Lineage II MMORPG 3-D game. Among the intriguing, if not sad, facts alleged giving insight into the world of online game players is Plaintiff's allegation that he played the game for 20,000 hours over a five-year period (that's nearly 11 hours per day, every day for five years!). After much initial motion action, the Defendants finally Answered the Complaint; although the Court dismissed some of Plaintiff's claims, it allowed others to proceed. Though I have heard anecdotally of similar 'addicted to video game cases', this is the first I've seen generating such a lengthy Order (though, admittedly, I did not conduct a comprehensive search). Although Defendant's case is definitely rickety, the case no doubt presents yet another interesting insight into the seriousness of the online video game industry and its expanding effects. Read more at Wired