Valve versus Sierra [Sep 20, 2004, 11:34 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
Valve vs.
Vivendi Universal dogfight heats up in US District Court on GameSpot (thanks
Democritus) reveals some details of a behind-the-scenes legal battle between
Valve and Sierra (now part of VU Games) over Half-Life and Half-Life 2 that's
been brewing for several years now. The article picks through details of a
recent court filing by Valve that reveals the current state of the litigation,
which has its next court date on October 8, though an actual trial is not
scheduled until March 21, 2005. Included are disputes over what
role Steam is to take in the game's distribution and who actually holds rights
to the Half-Life intellectual property. Here's a segment that summarizes some of
this:
In court filings, Sierra/VUG says that the current distribution of Half-Life 2 via Steam exceeds the scope of the current software publishing agreement between the two parties. It is apparently seeking the court's assistance in compelling Valve not to use Steam as an avenue of distribution.
On Friday, when asked if Valve was remained intent on making Half-Life 2 available to gamers via Steam, regardless of what was determined on October 8, Lombardi replied, "Yes."
Interestingly, and in spite of the ongoing legal dispute, Sierra/VUG still wants to work with Valve in the future and is asking the court via filings to force Valve to work with it on whatever is next in the development pipeline. It asks the court, in filings, "for a declaration that Sierra and VUG have the right to a fourth engine license pursuant to the terms of...the 2001 Agreement."
According to Lombardi, "We're going to meet the obligations of our current agreement."
Those self-important jackasses must be suffering from a god-complex, and as far as I'm concerned, anyone who pays for a copy of half-life 2 only to relenquish their privacy or any control over their own machines/games to Valve is as much a part of the problem as the ever increasing sleazoids in the software industry.
You're right. What kind of megalomaniac bastards would think of doing whatever they want with a game they created. Jesus. The arrogance. I bet those capitalist pigs at Valve only want money for their damn game they spent years and millions of dollars making! It's like making games is their job or something. How dare they?!
I am sick and tired of software companies that come into my house hold me down at rifle point and install Steam and they shitty games on my machine! Goddam them!!
They just keep violating my sacrosanct privacy by installing updates and patches while I'm not at my computer. I feel violated every time I get on my computer and I play my freshly patched game. I can't stand how they hide those autoupdate settings three clicks deeps so you can't find them if you have the intelligence of a bubonic dead monkey with a rock for a brain.
I hate Valve...
Date
Subject
Author
Copyright © 1996-2025 Stephen Heaslip. All rights reserved.
All trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
Privacy Policy. Manage Cookie Settings.
News CGI copyright © 1999-2025 James "furn" Furness & Blue's News. All rights reserved.
Chatbear v1.5.0/blue++: Page generated 14 June 2025, 15:59.