In short, Studio 369 claims in the aforementioned lawsuit that the original version of Rune 2 was actively sabotaged by its previous developer and Bethesda, all to kill any competition that might edge in on Bethesda's Elder Scrolls property. We had a chance to talk with Matt Candler, president of Studio 369 Sam Goldberg, general counsel and manager at the game's publisher Dan Felts, a producer for the game and Mitch Alpiner, the community manager. There was plenty to discuss, too, as Rune 2 is at the center of a lawsuit that has embroiled Rune 2's new developer Studio 369, Bethesda, its parent company Zenimax, and the game's former development studio, Human Head. The coyly-named Rune 2: Decapitation Edition (opens in new tab), with an updated combat system, new abilities, dungeons, progression, and NPCs, is set to launch on Steam on November 13.Game Rant recently sat down with the developers of Rune 2: Decapitation Edition to talk about the game. A representative for Bethesda declined to comment on the matter.ĭespite all the trouble, work on Rune 2 has continued under the control of a new developer, Studio 369, which Ragnarok Game put together earlier this year.
#Rune 2 review plus
The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages of "no less than $100 million," plus restitution for development costs, punitive damages, attorneys fees, and other penalties. Interestingly, the lawsuit also indicates that Human Head was in buyout talks with other companies prior to its acquisition by ZeniMax, who wanted Ragnarok Game involved in the process and would have allowed it to continue working on Rune 2: "Zenimax was the only prospective acquisition partner that required secrecy and would not permit further development work on Rune II or Oblivion Song." This review signalled to Bethesda and ZeniMax that one of their biggest cash cows was under threat." "The hit videogame Skyrim is part of Bethesda's Elder Scrolls franchise and was developed and published by Bethesda and its affiliates. "One early review of Rune 2 described it as ' Skyrim on steroids (opens in new tab)'," the suit says.
The lawsuit against Bethesda and ZeniMax argues that the companies were eager to sink Rune 2 because of the threat it posed to The Elder Scrolls series. Plaintiffs were never informed of this betrayal," the lawsuit states. This enabled Bethesda and Zenimax to see for themselves the threat that Rune 2 posed to their hit franchise, Skyrim/Elder Scrolls. "In an act of utter bad faith and contractual breach of confidentiality requirements, Human Head secretly provided Bethesda and Zenimax with 'keys' that permitted it to play a confidential, pre-release version of Rune 2.
#Rune 2 review archive
Human Head's initial Roundhouse announcement (available via the Internet Archive (opens in new tab)) implied that the studio had reached out to Bethesda after the decision to close had been made, but the updated complaint (opens in new tab) says Bethesda was an active participant in the effort to torpedo Rune 2, and another game called Oblivion Song, and had begun "conspiring" with Human Head in late summer 2019.
The lawsuit has now been amended to include ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks, which announced in November 2019-the day that Human Head went out of business-that it had hired the entire team and reassembled it as Roundhouse Studios (opens in new tab).
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