Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast sues Atari over Dungeons & Dragons rights
by Seraphina Brennan 
Dec 18th 2009 at 5:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons Online, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Massively meta, Legal
Well, it seems that Atari has sub-licensed the Dungeons & Dragons rights out to Namco-Bandai, and Hasbro isn't too fond of that. Namco-Bandai is seen as a competitor to Hasbro's products, and Hasbro's contract with Atari specifically forbids them from doing any licensing like this. Namco-Bandai has recently purchased Atari's distribution wing in Europe, renaming it to Namco-Bandai partners.
Atari is alleging that the lawsuit is "meaningless," and that Hasbro is simply seeking a way to take the D&D game rights away from Atari.
"Hasbro has resorted to these meritless allegations, in an apparent attempt to unfairly take back rights granted to Atari," said Atari in a statement to Gamasutra on Thursday. "Atari has sought to resolve the matter without cooperation from Hasbro. We regret that our long-time partner has decided to pursue this action. Atari will respond appropriately through its legal counsel in court."
Gamasutra is also reporting on the rumor that Atari is currently developing a Neverwinter Nights MMO in cooperation with Cryptic Studios, one of the issues that sparked the suit between Turbine and Atari.
One of the issues at hand here would be what could happen to Dungeons and Dragons Online if the Hasbro suit is successful and revokes the rights to the game from Atari. However, it's too early to tell exactly what may happen during the course of these suits.
For the rest of the story, check out Gamasutra's initial report on the legal filings.
"Hasbro has resorted to these meritless allegations, in an apparent attempt to unfairly take back rights granted to Atari," said Atari in a statement to Gamasutra on Thursday. "Atari has sought to resolve the matter without cooperation from Hasbro. We regret that our long-time partner has decided to pursue this action. Atari will respond appropriately through its legal counsel in court."
Gamasutra is also reporting on the rumor that Atari is currently developing a Neverwinter Nights MMO in cooperation with Cryptic Studios, one of the issues that sparked the suit between Turbine and Atari.
One of the issues at hand here would be what could happen to Dungeons and Dragons Online if the Hasbro suit is successful and revokes the rights to the game from Atari. However, it's too early to tell exactly what may happen during the course of these suits.
For the rest of the story, check out Gamasutra's initial report on the legal filings.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Omali said on 5:13PM 12-18-2009
I was able to get a response back from Wizards of the Coast. They can't give me a complete response on legal issues, but:
"We like where DDO has been going lately and hope it continues to flourish."
So it looks like, if Atari does lose its licensing agreement, then at least Turbine won't have much of an issue simply running their license directly through Hasbro. Of all the reasons for an MMO to shut down, losing their license would be the worst.
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jslim419 said on 5:16PM 12-18-2009
and no one cares in
3...
2..
1...
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DeathMutant said on 5:18PM 12-18-2009
Is it possible that *someone* is considering creating a CRPG (or MMOG) using D&D 4th Edition (4e)?
Actually, I feel using 4e as the base mechanics for an MMOG would be *very* difficult due to the dependence on squares, positioning and turn sequence. A tactical CRPG, like the old Jagged Alliance series (and similar titles), would be a better fit; unless it was something like Atlantica Online.
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M said on 5:22PM 12-18-2009
Having worked for filthy namco for a number of years all I can say is they are definitely without doubt, pure, unadulterated, evil
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Brian said on 5:31PM 12-18-2009
Not sure who their parent company is but weren't BioWare working on an MMO or at least interested in doing an MMO set in their Neverwinter Nights world? As for the rights to D&D, I think it's about time that Hasbro / WotC took action in the computer gaming world. WotC are changing a lot of the classic D&D settings and I think it is misleading for computer games to attach themselves to the D&D name but not reflect the current game. The way I see it the idea of allowing computer games companies to use the D&D licence is ultimately to drive sales of the traditional pen and paper D&D game, this makes it very confusing now that the 4th ed. of D&D is so different to the last incarnation.
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CindyL said on 9:39AM 12-19-2009
I think the BioWare thing was rumor. They don't seem all that interested in the DD IP anymore, if they are thinking of another MMO I'd bet it would be Dragon Age now.
CCon99 said on 5:40PM 12-18-2009
I hope Hasboro and WotC win, the last thing I want to see is Cryptic butchering D&D using their tonka game engine and making D&D "Fun & Action Packed" which is always translated by them into "Boring & Dumbed Down".
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Hemtroll said on 7:24PM 12-18-2009
I could not agree more, if I ever hear any announcements regarding Cryptic and NWN I am going to punch babies. It seems Atari and lawsuits go hand in hand these days.
Oxlar said on 9:27PM 12-18-2009
Ccon99 said the last thing he wanted to see was D&D butchered. HAHAHA your kidding right? Your about 9 years too late for that one, especially with 4th edition. You couldn't butcher it any more than they themselves already have.
jkjudgex said on 10:56PM 12-21-2009
Oxlar strikes nail on head(20), rolls to confirm critical (17), Oxlar deals 3d6 + 5 + 3 (23) points of damage to nail's head.
JoeMello04 said on 6:21PM 12-18-2009
Is it just me, or does Atari seem to be talking out of multiple sides of their mouth?
Fielding two different lawsuits from two different companies can't be good for business.
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Lateris said on 6:25PM 12-18-2009
I agree- I am also hearing verbal gossip how Atari is making STO make their deadline for release which means STO really isn't done the way Cryptic wanted it to be.
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LancerX92 said on 1:51PM 12-20-2009
Same thing happened with CO. There was no way it was ready for the launch date. Atari pushed it out the door and into a coffen. same thing will happen to STO.
Alz said on 7:08PM 12-18-2009
It would seem Hasbro is in the right here. They stated that they repeatedly tried to get Atari to cut their licensing of an IP Hasbro owns to a competitor. If it comes to a lawsuit, then I guess Atari brought it on themselves, which is the last thing Atari needs considering they've gone through like 4 CEOs in the last two years.
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Load of Idiots said on 7:35PM 12-18-2009
Although I love Champions....I would rather Gouge my own eyes out then ever play their "vision" of D&D. It would be watered down contentless crap. Even though I wasn't fond of some of the mechanics that Turbine uses or left out for D&D they did do a few things right.
The experience inside the instances is definitely of D&D quality. Traps, Puzzles, what type of gear right down to potions, having a proper plan of attack, and the fact everyone gets rewarded instead of the standard limited number of items that most MMO's give out...were some of the best things ever brought into MMOs.
More MMOs need to build dungeons in that fashion. Today's insta grind fest sucks.
Atari honestly sucks..I hope that Turbine and Hasboro both win....and put them in their place. And I pray that Cryptic never makes a D&D game. They don't have a damn clue about group gameplay at all and D&D is all about groups small and big.
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Perin said on 10:03PM 12-18-2009
I appreciate what Cryptic's done for the superhero genre, BUT...
They better STAY THE FUCK AWAY from NeverwinterNights.
I'm not one for volatile responses, but Cryptic touching a game that had such a huge impact on my life warrants some aggression. Please, bring bioware back into the mix. Obsidian also gets my ban-hammer after what they did with NWN 2.
Away demons! AWAY!
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Ninevah said on 8:22PM 12-19-2009
I agree totally! NWN was great. NWN2 was disappointing at best.
mpdivo said on 11:20PM 12-18-2009
I thought Bioware did NWN2. That would explain why that game ended up sucking.
NWN - one of the greatest games ever. The fact that people still play on online servers really should include it in the MMO world that Massive covers. NWN is true DnD. NWN is still one of the top 20 games sold on Amazon.com.
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DeathMutant said on 1:42AM 12-19-2009
@mpdivo: I think you have it backwards.
I believe that Bioware developed NWN1, Obsidian developed NWN2 and Atari was the publisher of both.
Also, if you think Bioware sucks you might want to check out their latest CRPG, Dragon Age: Origins, and see for yourself.
mpdivo said on 2:07AM 12-19-2009
no, you misunderstand. Bioware is the Steinbech of the video game industry. Every game they produce has 100% more quality than the other companies. DragonAge is pretty friggin amazing. NWN is like I said, one of the best games ever made.
Hats off to Bioware!