Above all else, the video game industry is a business, and as such, deals and trades are made with various companies all the time. One very common deal and trade is getting the use of certain video game engines. Epic Games for example is famous for letting many use the Unreal Engine, as long as they follow certain rules to do so. Regardless of which engine you have though, if you break the deal with the person who lent it to you, you’ll regret. And now, Microsoft is coming under fire for breaking those rules.
Infernal Technologies and Terminal Reality is a group that has their own game engine called the Infernal Engine. And this engine was lent to Microsoft for the use of games like Gears of War 4, Halo 5, and the recent Sea of Thieves. They’re suing Microsoft because they used incorrect “graphical lighting and shadowing methods” in those games. Here is the full breakdown of the legal argument in question.
Now, you might think this sounds petty, but according to Infernal Technologies and Terminal Reality, Microsoft has tried for years to try and tweak their patents on their game engine, and been denied. So when they couldn’t get the permission they wanted, they just struck out and changed the engine to suit their needs, which is a direct infringement of their contract with the company.
Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first company that Infernal Technologies and Terminal Reality over a matter like this with their engine. They actually sued EA for similar matters, as EA tried to state that certain things can’t be patented. The judge didn’t agree though, and the two are working on a settlement. Because of this, Microsoft is already in trouble of losing the case because there is now precedent for this kind of issue.
What does Infernal Technologies and Terminal Reality want? A large royalty sum, apparently.
