The Activision Blizzard executives are either really dumb or really greedy arseholes. Apparently, they are suing Double Fine over the publishing rights to Brutal Legend, despite the fact that they dumped the game last summer because it didn’t have sequel potential. You see, the metal-inspired adventure was originally supposed to be published by Sierra, but the label was shut down after its parent company, Vivendi Games, merged with Activision. Following the union, Activision opted not to retain a number of IPs in Sierra’s publishing portfolio, including 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, Ghostbusters: The Video Game, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena and Brutal Legend.

I don’t know about you, but I am leaning toward arseholes.

According to an AP report, the suit alleges that Activision Blizzard poured $15 million into the project, only to have Double Fine take the game to EA after requesting additional development time and money. The Santa Monica-based company claims that the two sides attempted to negotiate a solution, but nothing was ever agreed upon.

The lawsuit was reportedly filed on Wednesday, but this legal battle has been brewing for a while. Back in February, Variety writer Chris Morris reported that Activision Blizzard was disputing EA’s acquisition of Tim Schafer’s latest title, and might be seeking monetary compensation for the publishing rights. Morris had previously written that Atari coughed up some cash when it scooped up The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena and Ghostbusters: The Video Game.  That would certainly explain the lack of a Ghostbusters lawsuit. I doubt Activision Blizzard would drop such a popular property without some form of compensation.

EA balked at the claim, which is why the matter has now entered the legal realm. Though, as stated above, Activision Blizzard is suing Double Fine, not EA. Double Fine President Tim Schafer has repeatedly asserted that his company acted well within its rights when it put Brutal Legend on the market.

It is pretty clear that Activision Blizzard has no intention of publishing Brutal Legend. Otherwise, it would have agreed to do so in the first place. Instead the publisher and developer opted to retain established franchises like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. Then, when Double Fine was reportedly looking for a new publisher, Activision Blizzard remained silent. Not even a damn peep. Of course, if Activision Blizzard and Double Fine were in negotiations, as the AP story reported, then the former’s silence is understandable. Obviously, Activision Blizzard wouldn’t want to disclose any details prior to an official agreement. Though, I am puzzled as to why EA would agree to publish a game that already had a publisher. Why would EA risk a legal battle with Activision Blizzard over a single game?

Based on the suit, there seems to be two explanations: either Double Fine deliberately deceived EA, or the studio mistakenly put Brutal Legend on the market. As I stated above, Schafer has denied any wrongdoing by Double Fine.

Of course, it is entirely possible that this lawsuit is a pathetic attempt by Activision Blizzard to profit off of a game that it dumped nearly a year ago. Perhaps the game became a bit more appealing once EA, a rival publisher and developer, started putting some marketing muscle behind it. Or, maybe money was demanded in exchange for the publishing rights, and EA was simply unwilling to oblige.

Only one thing is clear: Activision Blizzard, regardless of the validity of its claim, will be viewed as the villain by many gamers.

As I have expressed many, many times on this site, I am not a big fan of Activision Blizzard’s penchant to exploit its popular franchises. However, I have accepted the fact that the company will continue to develop Guitar Hero games until people stop buying them. While the practice isn’t going to push the games industry forward, it does make the company a lot of money. This appeases investors and provides Activision Blizzard with the cash it needs to continue developing games. The company has every right to do what it pleases with its properties. However, if the company is deliberately blocking the release of Brutal Legend without cause, then it truly is the new tyrant of the industry. I realize that every company is out to make money, but the Activision Blizzard executives seem willing to cut throats to meet financial goals.

In April, Genius Products, the publisher of Scratch: The Ultimate DJ, filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, which claimed that the company acquired the game’s publisher, 7 Studios, in an attempt to slow its development. According to Genius, Activision Blizzard didn’t want Scratch to release before its own peripheral-accompanied game, DJ Hero. Numark, which developed the Scratch turntable, is involved in the suit, as is 7 Studios. Gamasutra has since reported that 7 Studios must return the Scratch source code to Genius, once Genius and Numark pay a specific amount of bond money. The litigation is ongoing and Activision Blizzard is devoting a significant amount of money to fighting the charges.

Brutal Legend is scheduled to release for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 13. The game will feature voice work from numerous famous musicians, including Jack Black, Lemmy Kilmister, Rob Halford and Ozzy Osbourne. Black voices the main character, a roadie named Eddie Riggs.

Sources: The Associated Press via Gamasutra, Gamasutra

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