Did Studio Wildcard actually design the MMORPG ARK: Survival Evolved? Another developer claims that a former employee stole technology used for the MMO.
Trendy Entertainment, known for the online game Dungeon Defenders, filed a lawsuit against Studio Wildcard last December. Trendy Entertainment claims that a former employee, designer Jeremy Stieglitz, secretly worked for Wildcard on ARK, thus breaching his contract.
As is common in the industry, Stieglitz had to agree upon leaving Trendy not to compete with his former employer for a period of time. However, during this time he contacted former colleagues to ask if they wanted to work with him on a new game.
Is ARK based on stolen technology?
Trendy informed Stieglitz that this was not permitted. According to the company, Stieglitz did not comply with the request and thus did not adhere to the contract. Furthermore, he is accused of having stolen technology he worked on during his time at Trendy, as well as trade secrets.
Technology used to develop the MMORPG ARK: Survival Evolved. This would have had a strong negative impact on Trendy’s business. The company further states that it sees ARK as a direct competitor to Dungeon Defenders.
Will ARK be taken off the market?
Wildcard, however, states that Jeremy Stieglitz was not very heavily involved in the development of ARK and was just an advisor. However, his wife is a co-founder of the ARK developer studio.
However, Trendy has now filed a lawsuit in Florida. The hearings are set for April 27. If Trendy is granted a temporary restraining order, it would have severe implications for the MMO ARK. There may be a need to completely cease work and remove the game – both in the PC version and the Xbox One version – from the market.
Wildcard urged the court not to grant the lawsuit. A response is still pending. Both companies have so far not publicly commented on this case.
A report from the US sounds almost like a secret plan
Schuhmann says: In a detailed report from Kotaku, which goes into some background, the whole case appears to be extremely tangled and complicated. Stieglitz and the head of Ark, Jesse Rapzack, are long-time friends who met in college. However, Stieglitz could not directly join Ark because a “Non-Compete” clause from his time at Trendy prevented him from doing so. However, he had already shortened it from 3 years to 1 year, it is said. This could suggest that he was already contemplating a transition to Ark during his time at Trendy Games and had prepared for it.
Stieglitz left Trendy under difficult circumstances, sensing betrayal and intrigue. Kotaku states: Many developers from Trendy indeed later moved to Ark.
There is indeed a “narrative” or perspective that, according to Kotaku’s statements, lends the whole affair a hint of “secret plan and conspiracy.” However, it is puzzling what technology Stieglitz could have taken from “Trendy Games,” known for the tower defense game Dungeon Defenders, to significantly support “Ark.”
And the co-founder of the studio, Susan Stieglitz, seems not to have much to do with the gaming industry; her other business is a bakery. This raises the suspicion that she is stepping in “on behalf of her husband.” Such ideas are at least suggested by the report from Kotaku.
The clear factual situation looks very different.
It seems to come down to the question of whether Stieglitz really played a significant role at Ark while he contractually should not have – that is the crucial question right now.
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