Silicon Knights files lawsuit against Epic Games - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 20th Jul 2007, 14:18

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/07...t_epic_games/1

Mark Rein, VP at Epic Games has revealed that Silicon Knights has filed a lawsuit against the Unreal Engine 3 creator.

Flibblebot · 20th Jul 2007, 15:11

Surely Silicon Knights will have to show that Epic wilfully held back giving them the UE3 code? I'd have thought that would be nigh on impossible to prove.

Maybe it's just bad blood because they know their game is flawed, and they're diverting the flak by blaming someone else first...maybe there is a case to answer...maybe it's just yet another frivolous lawsuit.

I know which one my money is on

fwalm · 20th Jul 2007, 15:13

well microsoft aint going to let anything happen gears of war or epic since gears is microsofts big drive game till halo so SK will hav to pull something serious out of the bag to get something but i hope they do

Jamie · 20th Jul 2007, 15:24

I get the impression from the tone of Epic that they had good reason to hold back the engine. However if SK were promised on a particular date and it wasn't met then I'm sure they have some sort of case.

Bungle · 20th Jul 2007, 15:44

My my, that's some pretty nasty allegations being made there

. I guess something like this was going to happen sooner or later, with soo much riding on each released game now. Hope these allegations turn out to be false. The implications of this could be very damaging in the long run if proven true. Sounds to me like a witch hunt by SK, in order to deflect focus from their own internal problems. Stay tuned for the truth I guess.

Darkedge · 20th Jul 2007, 17:08

To be honest I think Epic are in trouble here and this could turn into a class action suit with people like Koei getting in on the act. UE3 promised the earth but in some cases hasn't delivered - for example Bioware found that the lighting in UE3 was a bit rubbish so they wrote their own which Epic has now licensed back off them to put it into UE3. Epic have never been great at the support for their engines either.

DougEdey · 20th Jul 2007, 17:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jamie

I get the impression from the tone of Epic that they had good reason to hold back the engine. However if SK were promised on a particular date and it wasn't met then I'm sure they have some sort of case.

It's very poor risk management, any Project Manager worth their salt would have some kind of clause in the original agreement saying what would happen if the stuff wasn't delivered on time.

I'm not saying that Epic aren't to blame, but RB6:Vegas is on UT3, that looks absolutely sweet

sandys · 20th Jul 2007, 17:31

Its doesn't look that sweet, it has low res textures and for all it it graphical gloss (or lack of) performs very average and on the PC requires a lot of grunt for crappy resolutions (1280x960), this is an engine thats supposed to make the transistion between platforms easier for developers and provide optimised end results on each platform, this clearly is not happening.

DougEdey · 20th Jul 2007, 18:12

I'm talking about Xbox 360 which is what the complaint is filed about

Tim S · 20th Jul 2007, 19:48

it's about all versions of the engine AFAIK.

DougEdey · 20th Jul 2007, 23:27

Well, if UBISOFT can make it work, then I'm sure SK can

Sim0n · 23rd Jul 2007, 06:57

Nice publicity for their upcoming game, regardless of how good it is. Name dropping Epic/Unreal3 that is.

Before reading this, i'd never heard of their game, or the company.

20th Jul 2007, 14:18	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	Silicon Knights files lawsuit against Epic Games http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/07...t_epic_games/1 Mark Rein, VP at Epic Games has revealed that Silicon Knights has filed a lawsuit against the Unreal Engine 3 creator. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

20th Jul 2007, 15:11	#2
Flibblebot Free from artificial flavourings Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Right here, right now Posts: 2,229	Surely Silicon Knights will have to show that Epic wilfully held back giving them the UE3 code? I'd have thought that would be nigh on impossible to prove. Maybe it's just bad blood because they know their game is flawed, and they're diverting the flak by blaming someone else first...maybe there is a case to answer...maybe it's just yet another frivolous lawsuit. I know which one my money is on __________________ My uber-system: 66Mhz 486DX2, 8Mb RAM, 20Mb hard drive, 256 colour VGA adaptor (goes all the way up to 800x600!), keyboard AND serial mouse

20th Jul 2007, 15:24	#4
Jamie bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 7,620	I get the impression from the tone of Epic that they had good reason to hold back the engine. However if SK were promised on a particular date and it wasn't met then I'm sure they have some sort of case. __________________ bit-tech hosted by tsohost.co.uk twitter \| flickr \| xbox live \| last.fm \| moot

20th Jul 2007, 15:44	#5
Bungle Rainbow Warrior Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Hampshire, England Posts: 999	My my, that's some pretty nasty allegations being made there. I guess something like this was going to happen sooner or later, with soo much riding on each released game now. Hope these allegations turn out to be false. The implications of this could be very damaging in the long run if proven true. Sounds to me like a witch hunt by SK, in order to deflect focus from their own internal problems. Stay tuned for the truth I guess. __________________ The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense. " Tom Clancy

20th Jul 2007, 17:31	#8
sandys Hypermodder Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bristol, UK Posts: 917	Its doesn't look that sweet, it has low res textures and for all it it graphical gloss (or lack of) performs very average and on the PC requires a lot of grunt for crappy resolutions (1280x960), this is an engine thats supposed to make the transistion between platforms easier for developers and provide optimised end results on each platform, this clearly is not happening. __________________ Into Gaming and around Bristol, UK, Click Here

20th Jul 2007, 15:13	#3
fwalm Supermodder Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 340	well microsoft aint going to let anything happen gears of war or epic since gears is microsofts big drive game till halo so SK will hav to pull something serious out of the bag to get something but i hope they do

20th Jul 2007, 17:08	#6
Darkedge Supermodder Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: UK Posts: 334	To be honest I think Epic are in trouble here and this could turn into a class action suit with people like Koei getting in on the act. UE3 promised the earth but in some cases hasn't delivered - for example Bioware found that the lighting in UE3 was a bit rubbish so they wrote their own which Epic has now licensed back off them to put it into UE3. Epic have never been great at the support for their engines either.

20th Jul 2007, 18:12	#9
DougEdey I pwn all your storage Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Southampton Posts: 13,933	I'm talking about Xbox 360 which is what the complaint is filed about __________________ Burnout: Paradise Stats!XBL: DougEdey Bindi PSN ID: DougEdey Twitter

20th Jul 2007, 19:48	#10
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	it's about all versions of the engine AFAIK. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

20th Jul 2007, 23:27	#11
DougEdey I pwn all your storage Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Southampton Posts: 13,933	Well, if UBISOFT can make it work, then I'm sure SK can __________________ Burnout: Paradise Stats!XBL: DougEdey Bindi PSN ID: DougEdey Twitter

23rd Jul 2007, 06:57	#12
Sim0n Ahhh Jimlad Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Nottingham, UK Posts: 1,109	Nice publicity for their upcoming game, regardless of how good it is. Name dropping Epic/Unreal3 that is. Before reading this, i'd never heard of their game, or the company.