Epic Games has responded to the lawsuit brought against it by Silicon Knights today by announcing a counterclaim and referring to the suit as “a pretense.”
A statement from Epic Games Vice President Mark Rein claims Epic has “done nothing wrong,” and then goes further to say “Silicon Knights wants to take Epic’s Licensed Technology, pay nothing for it, and use it any way it pleases.” He said Epic is committed to defending itself against the “unfounded allegations.”
Silicon Knights’ lawsuit against Epic, filed in July, centered around the Unreal Engine 3, which Silicon Knights had licensed for use in its upcoming action-adventure release Too Human. According to the company, Epic misrepresented the capabilities of the Unreal Engine 3 and refused to properly support it, resulting in numerous delays and losses. In its counter-suit, however, Epic says that Silicon Knights was aware that the Unreal Engine 3 was still under development when the licensing deal was signed, and that new features would continue to be added as part of Epic’s development of Gears of War.
“SK’s lawsuit is a pretense,” Rein said in his statement. “SK does not have any valid claims against Epic. SK filed suit in a bid to renegotiate the License Agreement, in the hope that Epic will prefer that to the burden of responding to discovery and associated adverse publicity.” Epic is seeking minimum compensatory damages in excess of $650,000, as well as other injunctive relief.
