A lawsuit is currently pending against Bethesda and its parent company ZeniMax related to their acquisition of the developer studio “Human Head” in 2019. This studio developed the role-playing game Rune 2, but closed just one day after its release. The publisher of Rune 2 is now accusing Bethesda of sabotage and demanding a significant compensation.
What happened? On November 12, 2019, the Viking RPG Rune 2 was released on the Epic Games Store. The next day, November 13, the studio behind the game, Human Head, announced its closure.
Already two weeks earlier, Bethesda had opened the company Roundhouse Studios, where, on November 13, the employees of Human Head found a new home. Even the address of the studio is said to have remained unchanged.
The publisher of Rune 2, Ragnarok Game, did not take the action well. As they claimed, they were informed about the studio’s closure on November 7, which was far too close to the release. Additionally, it had originally been planned for Rune 2 to receive new content after the launch (via GameStar).
How did the publisher react? In 2019, Ragnarok Game filed a lawsuit against the developer studio. They described the development process as slow, full of errors and mismanagement. They demanded compensation, also for having already paid in advance for additional content.
They also complained that Human Head did not release the code and the assets of the game so that the publisher could have the game further developed by another studio.
Specifically, they demand in the lawsuit:
- 100 million dollars in compensation
- The return of already paid funds
- Funds for attorney fees
- The release of the code and the assets
What’s new? Just a few days ago, the lawsuit was expanded and now focuses on the parent company of Roundhouse. As PCGamer reports, Ragnarok Game is now directly addressing ZeniMax and Bethesda, the developers and publishers of games like The Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76.
According to the plaintiffs, they allege that ZeniMax intentionally sabotaged Rune 2 because they saw their own games in danger.
Bethesda allegedly sabotaged Rune 2
What does the lawsuit say now? The complaint was updated on October 20. It now alleges that Bethesda/ZeniMax had already been able to play Rune 2 in advance, and therefore bought the studio:
In an act of intentional misconduct and a breach of confidentiality requirements, Human Head secretly provided Bethesda and ZeniMax with “keys” that allowed them to play a confidential pre-release version of Rune 2.
This enabled Bethesda and ZeniMax to assess the threat that Rune 2 posed to their hit franchise, Skyrim/Elder Scrolls. The plaintiffs were never informed about this betrayal.
Furthermore, it states:
Two weeks before the launch of Rune 2, ZeniMax secretly founded a new subsidiary, Roundhouse Studios LLC (“Roundhouse”), and used this company to purchase all the equipment of Human Head and take over the licenses.
This equipment included the plaintiffs’ trade secrets, the source code, and materials for Rune 2 and Oblivion Song. During the same period, ZeniMax had all the employees of Human Head laid off and hired by ZeniMax to complete a de facto merger.
According to the lawsuit, Human Head had already been in talks with other companies about a takeover, which, however, wanted to include Ragnarok Games in their plans. Only ZeniMax is said to have acted “secretively”.
How do the defendants respond? Human Head has so far only publicly commented on the closure of the company in 2019. They stated that they were proud of their talented team, but still had to close the independent studio. They were glad that Bethesda took them in (via Web Archive).
Bethesda and ZeniMax, who were recently acquired by Microsoft, have not publicly commented on the lawsuit.
Addendum: We have contacted Bethesda for a statement regarding the lawsuit.
What’s next for Rune 2? Ragnarok Games has found a new developer in Studio 369, who are currently working on a “Decapitation Edition”. This is supposed to include a revision of the combat system, new skills, dungeons, and NPCs.
The launch is planned for November 13 on Steam.
Our colleagues from GameStar tested Rune 2 in November 2019.
