Mobile game developer In-Fusio sues Microsoft for a cell phone Halo contract.
French mobile game developer In-Fusio declared a lawsuit against Microsoft over the wrongful termination of a three year contract to build a Halo extension on mobile devices, as well as Halo Portal, a service that would allow users to check Xbox Live stats, game info, wallpapers and ringtones. The lawsuit was filed the week before Christmas in a Seattle court.
In-Fusio reports that Microsoft failed to approve their game designs and provide development feedback, halting game development. In November, the developer withheld their second payment of $500,000 out of an agreed four royalty payments.
Included in the suit is a stipulation granting In-Fusio exclusive rights to Halo on mobile phones for a set period, as well as creative control over the project, cutting Microsoft out of the design process. In-Fusio seeks $10,075,000 in damages for breaches of contract and good faith, and legal fees.
A statement within the lawsuit reads: “Under the Agreement, In-Fusio’s Halo programming designs are subject to Microsoft’s approval, which cannot be unreasonably withheld. Nevertheless, Microsoft has thwarted In-Fusio’s efforts to develop Halo under the Agreement. Indeed, in the last 11 months, Microsoft has approved no fully-developed In-Fusio Halo game designs; ignoring and then refusing to accept In-Fusio’s game design concepts with little or no explanation and leaving In-Fusio little basis to revise its concepts to obtain Microsoft’s approval.”
Since 2004, In-Fusio has developed and published multiple ports of Microsoft games, including Zoo Tycoon 2, Age of Empires 2 and Banjo-Kazooie.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz
Published: Jan 3, 2007 03:30 pm