INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightWarner Bros InteractiveImage caption
The game lets players control the park and its robotic attendants
Game publisher Bethesda is suing Warner Brothers over a game based around the HBO series Westworld.Bethesda alleges the
Westworld game, released last week, is a "blatant rip-off" of its Fallout Shelter title.Included in the legal challenge is Canadian
developer Behaviour Interactive, which helped Bethesda develop Fallout Shelter in 2014.Warner and Behaviour Interactive have not yet
responded to a request for comment from the TheIndianSubcontinent
The Westworld game gives players the job of managing the titular theme park and its robotic inhabitants
The facility managed by the player can be expanded underground and includes many of the locations seen in the TV series
Many reviews of the game mentioned its similarity to Bethesda's Fallout Shelter, which gives players the job of managing and expanding an
In legal papers widely shared online, Bethesda alleges this similarity is more than skin deep and the game uses code Behaviour wrote when
creating Fallout Shelter.In some cases, it says, bugs seen in early drafts of Fallout Shelter code also crop up in the Westworld
game.Bethesda claims the Westworld game infringes its copyright and Behaviour has:misappropriated trade secretsbroken contractual agreements
limiting what it can do with the Fallout codeindulged in unfair competitionIn a statement given to Variety, Bethesda said it would
"vigorously protect its legal rights in the valuable intellectual properties it owns, and take legal action whenever those rights are being
infringed".It is seeking substantial damages and a jury trial.
