Square Enix settles lawsuit with former Front Mission developer accused of stealing assets

Square Enix has settled its lawsuit against publisher HK Ten Tree after former Front Mission collaborator BlackJack Studio was accused of including stolen assets from a cancelled project in its new title.

The details:

• Back in March, Square Enix filed a lawsuit claiming that BlackJack Studio, the developer of the now-cancelled mobile Front Mission reboot Front Mission 2089: Borderscape, used project assets without permission. In the filing, the Final Fantasy publisher provided several comparisons between a Borderscape prototype build and BlackJack's Mecharashi (known in the West as Metal Storm), with many of the assets appearing to be nearly identical.

• Square sought $150,000 in damages for each instance of copyright infringement and intended to block the game's Western release entirely. Ten Tree quickly acknowledged the situation and began transferring some of Mecharashi's assets shortly after the lawsuit was filed. However, Square Enix also pointed out that some of its gameplay systems were similar to those of Borderscape, an issue that would be more difficult to address.

• As reported by Automaton, Ten Tree has now issued a statement confirming that the two publishers have settled their lawsuit as of May 20. The details are unknown, but it appears that Mecharashi's Western release will proceed as planned, with a new trailer being released this week. “The company and Square Enix Co Ltd have agreed to settle the dispute regarding the Company’s game application Metal Storm: Steel Storm for smart devices,” the statement reads. “The company will continue to strive to provide better services to its users. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused. We hope you will continue to enjoy the game.”

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