Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1 Posted July 1, 2003 Activision Sues Viacom Over Lack Of Trek By Christian July 1, 2003 - 4:28 PM Video game publisher Activision announced today it is pulling out of its contract with Viacom to produce Star Trek games, and is suing the entertainment company for damages caused by the declining value of the Trek franchise. In a complaint filed in Californian court yesterday, Activision accused Viacom of not exploiting the Star Trek franchise in the way it did in 1998, when Activision obtained a ten-year licence to develop Trek games. "Through its actions and inactions, Viacom has let the once proud Star Trek franchise stagnate and decay," the company said in a statement. "Viacom has released only one Star Trek movie since entering into agreement with Activision and has recently informed Activision it has no current plans for further Star Trek films." The latter statement comes as the first official confirmation that the box office failure of Star Trek: Nemesis has put an end to the Trek movie franchise for the near future. Other grievances from Activision include the fact the television branch of the audience has dwindled since 1998, when both Deep Space Nine and Voyager were still in production. "Viacom also has allowed two Star Trek television series to go off the air and the remaining series suffers from weak ratings. Viacom also frustrated Activision's efforts to coordinate the development and marketing of its games with Viacom's development and marketing of its new movies and television series." After Activision obtained the Star Trek game licence in 1998, it embarked on a mission to develop several Trek games per year, quickly announcing titles such as Armada, Hidden Evil and Elite Force. However, most of the Trek games the company released for the PC failed to deliver large sales numbers. Only two games were even released for the consoles: Star Trek: Invasion and Voyager: Elite Force, for the PlayStation and the PlayStation 2, respectively. The most recent Trek game released by Activision was Voyager: Elite Force 2, and it seems this will be the last for a while. "As a result of the breaches by Viacom," the company's press release continued, "Activision has terminated the agreement and filed a complaint seeking to recover the damages it has suffered and will suffer as a result of Viacom's failure to abide by its agreement, and its stated intention to continue to breach its agreement." Besides Elite Force 2, Activision was last reported to have at least one further Trek game in development, the action game Shattered Universe game for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It is not known how these latest events will affect the development of this game, which was to have featured the voice of George Takei (Hikaru Sulu). Activision Sues Viacom Over Lack Of Trek Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sothis 0 Posted July 1, 2003 It's a shame, as Activision produced some great games- Elite Force and Armada spring to mind. They kept the gaming side of Star Trek very much active. Viacom will be hard-pressed to find a better developer for the games. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1 Posted July 1, 2003 Personally, I think this lawsuit is absolutely stupid. Can they not make games based on previous shows or movies? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sothis 0 Posted July 1, 2003 I think what Activision are generally getting at is that with Star Trek seemingly in decline at the movies and on TV, the problem will spread to the games too- poor publicity for one sector of the franchise will tarnish another. I also think Activision have a point about co-ordinated marketing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrekkieMage 0 Posted July 1, 2003 Why am I getting the feeling that cancelling that contract is really going to do more harm than good? Personally I think that Elite Force is a great game! I just think they should have advertised it more...I would have bought it earlier if I'd known more about it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goose 0 Posted July 2, 2003 Stardate:213499.9 I think it is a shame as well.I have both Armada for the PC and Invasion for PS and i think they are very good games.Activision just needs to learn to be patient.Star Trek may be on a decline for now as far as merchandise but it will come back. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
master_q 0 Posted July 2, 2003 Here is the Viacom follow up to that: Viacom Inc. last night responded to Activision's lawsuit alleging it has damaged the Star Trek franchise and thus broken the terms of their license agreement (story). "Activision's allegations are without merit," Viacom said in a statement, according a report by Ben Berkowitz of the Reuters news agency. "Activision appears to be trying to use the courts in an effort to renegotiate a deal it made in 1998 to secure the rights to the valued Star Trek franchise for interactive games." The computer game developer yesterday filed a breach of contract suit against Viacom, the parent company of Paramount Pictures and owners of the Star Trek name. Activision said Viacom has broken the "fundamental promise" of its ten-year license agreement, namely that Viacom would continue to produce Star Trek television series and films which could be used as the basis for computer games. In addition to lodging the lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court, Activision cancelled its contract with Viacom. According to Activision spokeswoman Maryanne Lataif, this action was taken as a last resort. "We've expressed our dissatisfaction with the state of affairs some time ago," she told Reuters. "We would have preferred to maintain our relationship with Viacom." The lawsuit also alleges Viacom said it has "no current plans" to produce more Star Trek feature films. However, Viacom sources today told the Hollywood Reporter's Jesse Hiestand they do intend to make further Trek feature films and "support" the only television series currently on air, Enterprise. Activision has developed several Star Trek games since landing the license in 1998, including one of the most successful Trek gaming titles, Star Trek: Voyager: Elite Force. Its sequel, Star Trek: Elite Force II, was only released in the United States last week. The company reportedly planned to produce a game based on Star Trek Nemesis, but said Viacom failed to provide "crucial information" on the film in a timely fashion. --TrekToday http://www.trektoday.com/news/020703_01.shtml Master Q StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1 Posted July 2, 2003 Does this mean Star Trek: Elite Force II won't be coming to PS2? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
master_q 0 Posted July 2, 2003 It does not seem like anything has been compromised between the two companies at this point. This is just Viacom’s response. I would not say that the relationship between the companies is completely gone. We will have to wait and see what happens Master Q StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
master_q 0 Posted July 14, 2003 Activision & Elite Force II Elite Force II players can rest easy: Activision has issued a statement to the Adrenaline Vault assuring owners of the company's Star Trek games of ongoing support: "Activision greatly appreciates and respects the loyalty of its Star Trek fans. The company hopes to continue supporting the community and the games that are currently available with ... patches and multiplayer servers as well as tips and cheats. We have no current plan to release new video games based on the Star Trek universe as a result of the termination of our Star Trek agreement with Viacom. -- http://www.greatlink.org/dcisV2.asp?url=sh...m.asp?item=2327 Master Q StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
