Namco Bandai files suit over Witcher 2's European publishing rights

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Namco Bandai has filed suit against Optimus SA, the parent company of CD Projekt Red, for breaching its contract agreement over the publishing rights to The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. Having served as the European publisher of the PC version, Namco believes it should distribute the upcoming Xbox 360 copy. Much to the company's dismay, THQ recently announced that it secured the EU publishing rights to The Witcher 2 for the Xbox 360.

That's further complicated by the fact that Atari will distribute the Xbox 360 version in the US, as Namco Bandai acquired Atari Europe a few years back. As a side issue, Namco also claims that CD Projekt Red violated its contract by removing the DRM from PC copy of The Witcher 2 without Namco's approval. CD Projekt Red eliminated the DRM in a patch earlier this year after it was determined to reduce in-game performance by up to 30%.

While the suit is pending, Namco is withholding a payment of €1.255 million (roughly $1.8 million). Unfortunately for the disgruntled publisher, CD Projekt has dismissed the claims, asserting that it hasn't done anything wrong. Based on Google Translate, the developer says it won't be bullied over a couple million bucks and by delaying the payment, Namco is only setting itself up to dish out the interest later. CD Projekt hopes to settle out of court but says it will win if the case goes before a judge, and then Namco will have to eat the attorney's fees too.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/44619-namco-bandai-files-suit-over-witcher-2s-european-publishing-rights.html

 

[ramonsterns]

I hope this comes back to bite Namco in the ***.

 

[fpsgamerJR62]

It's not surprising at all that Namco also chose to bring up the DRM issue. Might be one reason why CD Projekt chose to go with THQ for the Xbox 360 port.

 

[Guest]

All I know is that CD Project proved to be extremely unprofessional.

The company messed up the general situation too much.

They released the game while was clearly in Beta-Phase. No support-forums. 'Till today, too much people are stuck and can't play the game. At the beginning, the DRM caused too much problems. The vast majority have had many problems. Then, removed it and caused other problems with companies that I don't care anyway.

A big project by a poor company = Failure.

 

[Guest]

What a load of frog s**t

 

[gwailo247]

They're also saying that Namco apparently had the first option to distribute the Xbox version, but decided not to exercise it, so they went with THQ.

 

[Butch]

Guest said:
All I know is that CD Project proved to be extremely unprofessional.

The company messed up the general situation too much.

They released the game while was clearly in Beta-Phase. No support-forums. 'Till today, too much people are stuck and can't play the game. At the beginning, the DRM caused too much problems. The vast majority have had many problems. Then, removed it and caused other problems with companies that I don't care anyway.

A big project by a poor company = Failure.

I totally disagree with you one this. CD Projekt is one of the best developers out there. They actually care about their fans unlike most others. Granted, there were some problems at launch but they were resolved how?.. by removing DRM. They did this knowing the possible consequences but they did it anyway and they did it for us, the fans of the game. I totally support CD Projekt..at least until they are bought by EA or Activsion or one of the others.

 

[jonelsorel]

And again, the publisher rears its ugly head.. Hope it does

Here's to self-publishing!

@ butch: game released in beta-phase? Are you high or in beta-wave sleep? Witcher 2 is one of the most polished games out of the box in the last few years, AND coming from a small studio.