According to what emerged in the last few hours, the publisher of Runes II, Ragnarok Game, would have filed a lawsuit against Bethesda e ZeniMax because they would try to sabotage their open world action RPG. For the uninitiated, the title in question was released onEpic Games Store last November 12, 2019, one day before the Human Head Studios announced the surprise closure after 22 years of activity. After an initial charge involving only the Madison-based studio, the publisher has decided to extend the lawsuit also against Bethesda e ZeniMax, for sabotaging the launch of Runes II e Oblivion Song after having founded a new software house (Roundhouse Studios) made up of developers who had worked at Human Head. We report in detail what is reported on GamesIndustry:
This lawsuit seeks compensation for fraud and willful sabotage of two video games, Rune II and Oblivion Song, perpetrated by one of the most infamous conglomerates of the video game industry against an emerging threat to their empire. The highly anticipated release of Rune II has been maliciously torpedoed in a conspiracy between the game's developer, desperate for money, and a large video game conglomerate intent on destroying those who might threaten their video game franchises. Oblivion Song was left in an unfinished state of disrepair due to the same conspiracy.
In an act of total bad faith and contractual breach of confidentiality requirements, Human Head secretly provided Bethesda and ZeniMax with the 'keys' that allowed them to reproduce a confidential and pre-release version of Rune 2. This enabled the two giants the threat our title posed to their successful brands, such as Skyrim / Elder Scrolls.
Two weeks prior to the launch of Rune II, ZeniMax secretly formed a new subsidiary, Roundhouse Studios LLC, and used that company to purchase all of Human Head's equipment and take over its leases. That equipment contained the plaintiffs' trade secrets, source code and materials for Rune II and Oblivion Song. In the same time frame, in order to complete a de facto merger.
Furthermore, according to recent statements by Ragnarok Game, ZeniMax allegedly ordered Human Head employees to stop working on Rune II and Oblivion Song, games they were contractually obligated to support. Waiting to find out how the story will evolve, if you are curious to know more about the open world action RPG of Ragnarok Game, you can consult ours at the following link review.
