Xboxist

Court Says Interplay Can Publish Fallout MMORPG

Fans of the original Fallout universe probably all have the same three words on their lips: "Screw you, Bethesda." The publisher of Fallout 3 believed that its rights to the license extended to marketing the old PC games developed by Interplay, and it wanted to stop Interplay from selling those old titles without permission. But Bethesda Softworks has failed in its attempt to have an injunction served against original license holder Interplay, as a US District Court Judge finds in Interplay's favor.

This court decision means that Interplay is still free to publish the original three PC titles Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics as well as the Fallout Trilogy compilation. In financial terms this is probably small potatoes compared to the other project Interplay is working on. The court decision means that Interplay will also be free to continue work on its massively multiplayer online version of the franchise, currently known as Project V13. The MMORPG is rumored to have been in development at Interplay since 2008 under the stewardship of original designer Chris Taylor.

Bethesda brought legal action against Interplay because it was reportedly unhappy with the marketing of older games and the release of the compilation on download service Steam. Bethesda was also reportedly upset about the slow pace of progress being made towards completion of the MMORPG. Hopefully this court decision clears the way for more great Fallout games from the original makers of the series. We know that quite a few fans would love to see that happen.

This logo for Project V13 is all we have seen of Interplay's rumored Fallout MMORPG.