A couple of weeks ago it was reported that Trendy Entertainment had filed a lawsuit against Studio Wildcard and former employee Jeremy Stieglitz. This suit was originally filed on accusations that Stieglitz had broken both his non-compete and his no-interference agreements on his contract.
This case was meant to go to court on the 27th of April but after a mediation between Studio Wildcard and Trendy last week it seems that Wildcard has decided to settle out of court, a document was released to this fact. While the amount of a settlement is usually kept under wraps Susan Stieglitz, co-founder of Studio Wildcard, tweeted that Trendy wanted $600 Million to be paid.
https://twitter.com/SusanCStieglitz/status/719987095796711424 The final amount that was paid in the settlement though was $40 million, this amount was revealed after a fan asked Susan via Twitter DMs, this message was then shared in a post on the ARK: Survival Evolved subreddit. Prior to the settlement Trendy filed a motion for garnishment, this step was likely taken as a precaution due to allegations of Jeremy and Susan Stieglitz traveling overseas to deposit profits from ARK into foreign bank accounts. Additionally there were steps being taken by Insight, the owner of Trendy, to file for Civil Theft.
The settlement of this case should mean the continued development and support of ARK: Survival Evolved, if this case had gone to court then there was a possibility that the game could have been removed from PC and Xbox One.
We will continue to watch for any further developments as this case continues to wrap up.
Quick Take
It's good to see that these matters were able to be taken care of so quickly, and with Studio Wildcard getting out of it with a good deal. Looking over some of the filings it was interesting to see the claims that had been made and how other evidence almost immediately contradicted it. For the fans of ARK though being able to move past this with minimal harm is a good level headed move that will ensure the continued development of a game that has taken off so much in the past year.
What do you think of the case and settlement? Do you think that Studio Wildcard made the right call? Let us know in the comments below.
