The “feud” between Firefall developer Red 5 Studios and Korean MMO company Webzen is becoming sort of a hot topic in the online gaming industry recently. A few days after Red 5 Studios filed a lawsuit against Webzen, the accused released some statements to the foreign press. The representative claimed that Webzen will adhere to the final decision the court makes, but nonetheless will be fighting for its own rights over Firefall.
According to the signed contract, Webzen stated that no rules were broke despite Red 5 Studios’ accusations. Webzen, with the global rights for Firefall (except North America and Europe), will be using this as its main evidence. Here are the other points:
– Webzen said that it had invested heavily in Firefall’s development and showed extreme support towards Red 5 Studios despite the game getting delayed several times over a period of 5 years.
– Webzen claimed that despite Firefall being still in the development phase, Red 5 Studios kept rushing them to prepare for the game’s launch.
– Red 5 Studios opened its office in Korea, where Webzen has the publishing rights for the region, hence disputing the company’s rights in the region. Despite attempts by Webzen to call upon Red 5 Korea to cease operations, the latter continued with its daily routine.
– With all these happenings and its previously passive stand, Webzen has no choice but to approach the situation the “hard” way with various supported evidence to be presented in court.
Webzen ended that open letter by apologizing to the gamers in Korea, stating that it was unfortunate this has to happen after investing over USD 20 million into the game which isn’t even ready to be released. Webzen will still be continuing to work on its MU and SUN series of games and also on Continent of the Ninth (C9) for the gamers.
