Last year, Warner Bros. published a Westworld mobile game that bore a suspicious resemblance to Bethesda’s own Fallout Shelter. Shortly after the release, Bethesda filed a serious lawsuit against the company, going so far as to call the game a “blatant rip-off”. However, the lawsuit also alleged that the Westworld game, which was developed by the same studio that had developed Fallout Shelter, used copyrighted code from Fallout Shelter. That lawsuit has now come to an end, and the Westworld mobile game will be shutting down.
The Results of Bethesda’s Lawsuit Over ‘Blatant Rip-Off’ Westworld Mobile Game
The Westworld mobile game is the work of Behaviour Interactive, the same studio responsible for developing Fallout Shelter. In the lawsuit, the company alleged that Behaviour made use of copyrighted code. Essentially, Bethesda’s claim was that the new Westworld game was a near identical clone of Fallout Shelter; one with little differences but a fresh set of graphics. Importantly, Bethesda even said that Behaviour broke its contract with Bethesda by using; “its restricted access to Bethesda’s intellectual property, including Bethesda’s copyrighted code, trade secrets, and other rights, to compress its development timeline, reduce costs, and quickly bring the Westworld mobile game to market...”
Immediately after Bethesda filed the lawsuit, Warner Bros. published a fierce response online. In it, the company stated that; “the assertions by Bethesda Softworks that Warner’s Westworld mobile game improperly used source code from Bethesda’s Fallout Shelter are as surprising as they are unsubstantiated. Warner Bros. has been assured by the game developer, Behaviour Interactive, that Bethesda’s allegations are untrue and that none of Bethesda’s code was used in the Westworld game. Moreover, contrary to Bethesda’s baseless accusation, Warner Bros. at no time ‘induced’ Behaviour to use the Fallout Shelter code in Westworld.”
The Result of the Bethesda’s Lawsuit
Just a few weeks ago, the ongoing lawsuit finally came to an end with an “amicable settlement”. The details of this settlement are not available to the public. However, a statement has now been released on the official Westworld Mobile Twitter account; the game will be shutting down very soon. In fact, the game is no longer available from either the App Store or Google Play. It will officially close down on the 16th of April.
Players will no longer be able to make in-game purchases in the Westworld mobile game. The post doesn’t give a precise reason for the game’s closure. However, it seems extremely likely that this is a result of the recent “amicable settlement”. Evidently, Bethesda’s claims weren’t as “unsubstantiated,” as Warner Bros. said.
— Westworld Mobile (@WestworldMobile) January 15, 2019