TERA publisher rejects NCsoft’s lawsuit claims

NCsoft has filed a lawsuit against Bluehole Studio in an attempt to block the upcoming US launch of the latter’s TERA MMO.
The lawsuit claims that TERA developers, some of who were formerly employed by NCsoft on the making of Lineage 3, have used stolen technology and art assets in the production of TERA.
That’s a claim that TERA publisher, En Masse Entertainment, have denied outright – although the South Korean based Bluehole had, in 2009, already been found guilty on stealing NCsoft software, hardware and assets in Korean. An appeal to their verdict is pending.
A message of the official TERA forums by En Masse’s publishing VP Chris Lee insists that TERA’s US launch will go ahead a scheduled in May.
“We are disappointed that NCsoft is attempting to mar the launch of TERA. Unfortunately we can’t discuss much publicly due to the sensitivity of legal actions, but we do outright reject the NCsoft claims, and we are going to do everything in our power to defend and protect ourselves,” said Lee.
“To all our supporters who have been anticipating the arrival of TERA – please know that this situation has no impact on our continuing efforts to realize the vision we have for our game. We are committed to making TERA awesome and delivering the game to you on time on May 1. Thank you for your patience and support.”
NCsoft has accused members of Bluehole Studio, the South Korean developer behind TERA, of stealing assets while employed at NCsoft. They’ve already been found guilty in Korea, though an appeal is pending.
As it stands, TERA is due to launch in Europe on 3rd May and in North America on 1st May.
[video2=2646]
Source: TERA forums