Warner Bros. and Behaviour Interactive released a statement today regarding the Westworld mobile game less than a week after Bethesda filed a lawsuit against the companies, accusing them of copyright infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, deceptive business practices, and unfair competition.
Bethesda took legal action after pointing out Westworld’s apparent similarities to Fallout Shelter, claiming the former of copying “the same or highly similar game design, art style, animations, features, and other gameplay elements as Fallout Shelter.
For context, Behaviour Interactive was contracted by Bethesda to work on Fallout Shelter which was released back in 2015. As laid out by Bethesda’s legal representation, Bethesda has ownership of “Behaviour work product of any kind, including code, designs, artwork, layouts, and other assets and materials” created for the game.
The lawsuit further stated that “Bethesda seeks to enjoin such activities and recover statutory damages, actual damages, Behaviour’s and Warner Bros’ profits, restitution, and attorneys’ fees and costs.”
In response, Warner Bros. and Behaviour Interactive told Game Informer that the accusations made against them were baseless. “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.” the statement continues.
“Moreover, contrary to Bethesda’s baseless accusation, Warner Bros. at no time ‘induced’ Behaviour to use the Fallout Shelter code in Westworld.”