The long and contentious legal battle between game developers Epic Games and Silicon Knights may be coming to an end. Today, Epic Games' Vice-President Mark Rein posted on his Twitter account, "Case over. Jury finds for Epic on all counts." The jury trial in the case began earlier in May.
Silicon Knights filed a lawsuit against Epic Games way back in July 2007, claiming that Epic did not provide adequate support for its Unreal Engine 3 game development tool. Silicon Knights licensed the engine to help make its Xbox 360 exclusive game Too Human.
Silicon Knights also claims that Epic used the license fees for Unreal Engine 3 to fund development of its first Gears of War game, rather than funding for continued support for Unreal Engine 3. Silicon Knights ended up using its own in-house engine technology for Too Human. It was released in 2008 to both mediocre sales and reviews.
No other information about the jury's decision today in this case has been revealed, including if Silicon Knights plans to appeal. There's also no word on any damages that might be awarded to Epic Games as a result of this decision.
Update: Joystiq has received a statement from Epic, confirming that not only did the jury find in their favor but they also ruled in favor of all of Epic's counterclaims against Silicon Knights. That included charges that Silicon Knights "breached the license agreement, misappropriated Epic's trade secrets, and infringed Epic's copyrights in the Unreal Engine 3 code."
The jury awarded Epic Games $4.45 million and Epic may also file a motion to have Silicon Knights reimburse Epic for its attorneys' fees and costs. So far Silicon Knights has not commented on this decision.
Via: VG247.com
Source: Mark Rein's Twitter page
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