Last week, Fallout publisher Bethesda made headlines when it filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Interactive and developer Behaviour Interactive over the Westworld mobile game. The Westworld management sim is a "blatant" rip-off of mobile management sim Fallout Shelter, said Bethesda. Both games were developed by Behaviour Interactive and Bethesda accused the developer of copying the design, concept and actual programming code from Fallout Shelter to use in the Westworld game.

Bethesda's lawsuit didn't pull any punches, even pointing out that the two games have the same bugs and technical issues, citing this as further evidence of the code copying. Warner Bros. Interactive isn't taking the company's accusations lying down, however, as the publisher has now responded, calling the comments "as surprising as they are unsubstantiated." Warner Bros. also highlights its own "deep respect for intellectual property rights," noting that it is "one of the world's leading creators of intellectual property."

The statement from Warner Bros. also says that Behaviour Interactive has assured it that Bethesda's allegations are "untrue" and that it didn't use code from Fallout Shelter in the Westworld game. Moreover, the Westworld game publisher says that Bethesda's accusations are "baseless," stressing that it has never "induced" Behaviour Interactive into using Fallout Shelter code in the Westworld game.

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Unsurprisingly, given how high-profile the Westworld and Fallout brands are, fans are already taking sides. Those who are against Bethesda's lawsuit say that it's wrong for the company to try to take ownership of this style of mobile management sim. Pointing to the (since dropped) PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Fortnite lawsuit, in which PUBG developer PUBG Corp. accused Epic Games of ripping off its idea, fans are asking if someone can own a game genre or a specific style.

Some are also pointing to Bethesda's past legal battles, including its attempt  Minecraft developer Mojang over the use of the word "Scrolls". Some argue Bethesda is too aggressive when it comes to protecting its IP, with folks of this opinion saying that the company should let this go.

But there are also some staunch Bethesda defenders who say that the company has to defend Fallout Shelter due to its success. The game, which recently released on PS4 and Nintendo Switch, has made millions of dollars and is the most popular Fallout to date. If Bethesda just allows companies like Warner Bros. to borrow its ideas, it will lose money in the long-term.

Ultimately, it isn't the court of public opinion that will decide the outcome of this legal challenge. However, it is currently unclear whether this will make it to court or whether Bethesda and Warner Bros. Interactive will settle before it reaches to a messier stage.

Source: IGN