Shift Up, the Korean developer that made a splash with its hit game Stellar Blade, has now been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit. Not so long ago, Stellar Blade splashed onto the PlayStation scene and received great reviews despite a few controversies at launch. However, a new storm is now brewing for the game’s developers.
A copyright infringement lawsuit has now stormed the studio, which seems an unexpected blow for Shift Up.
Stellar Blade is a third-person sci-fi action game where players control Eve as she battles alien invaders to reclaim Earth. The game has proven to be Shift Up’s most successful title to date, selling over 1 million copies within only two months of its release. Other popular titles the studio has experimented with include Goddess of Victory: Nikke, a technically gacha action game set within a futuristic world.
Just as this beautiful game seems to be all gung-ho about a ticket to the main stage, Shift Up is now being sued by a tiny film company based in Louisiana called Stellarblade LLC. The maker of amateur films, Stellarblade LLC, has existed since 2006. The founder of this company, Griffiths Chamber Mehaffey, claims that his company has been overshadowed and forced “into digital obscurity” because of the game’s name. According to Mehaffey, the fact that this game “is going to hurt his livelihood” since he believes that his company’s name is being infringed upon, the lawsuit filed against Shift Up is still on.
Can Stellar Blade be compelled to alter its name?
It’s not the first and certainly won’t be the last case when a relatively small company loses the limelight to a giant brand. Many such game developers struggle in Asia, whose titles, after all, are translated into English. One of the interesting facts is that Stellar Blade was known by the name ‘Project EVE‘; it was later changed in September in the year 2022. This happened during the PlayStation State of Play event.
For its part, Mehaffey’s lawyers will argue that Shift Up and Sony likely knew of his company’s pre-existing rights to the name “Stellarblade,” a point sure to be at the heart of any litigation. It has come to notice that Mehaffey has also demanded that all products that include the Stellar Blade name should be destroyed. Even though this is extremely unlikely now, given that Mehaffey only claims possession of the web domain, potential retribution awaiting Shift Up and Sony comes about once the court sides with Mehaffey’s case.
The Balance for the Future of Stellar Blade Rests with the Lawsuit End
It is going to be quite interesting to see how this plays out and what it says about the future of the IP. Shift Up has pretty big ambitions for the game, already developing several DLCs and having allusions toward a potential PC port. And despite all of this legal trouble, the studio seems determined to continue expanding on the Stellar Blade brand.
As the case unfolds, it could significantly sway the future of this game and even its brand. It will be closely followed by fans to see whether the game Stellar Blade needs to change its name or if it finally ends up out of court.
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