GSC Game World, owners of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise, have filed a copyright infringement claim against the indie co-op title MISERY. The former argues MISERY infringes on its IP, citing player reviews and comparisons as proof, but MISERY's creators are having none of it.
In a Steam community posed shared today, Nov. 8, MISERY's developers said GSC Game World, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s owner, has "attacked MISERY with a DMCA strike," claiming copyright infringement.
"In their claim, they state that MISERY infringes on their IP and that players' reviews mention S.T.A.L.K.E.R., which means it hurts their interests," the devs stated.
Furthermore, they completely dismissed all claims made by GSC Game World, stating they would "fight back" against the claim and do everything possible to have the game reinstated. On that subject, MISERY was removed from Steam following the claim, and cannot be purchased on that store at the time of writing.
The developers believe this is "100 percent a misunderstanding," as MISERY "is a completely different concept, happening in the fictional Republic of Zaslavie."
"It has nothing to do with the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe, Chernobyl, etc. MISERY uses no characters, plot, storyline, assets, monsters, music, code, etc., from their games," they added, saying that GSC does not own copyright on "depressive Soviet-era buildings, playing guitar, vodka, radiation, or abandoned locations, or even the poo."
What's more, the devs said S.T.A.L.K.E.R. itself is filled with various inspirations that it does not own the copyright to, including Andrei Tarkovsky's film, which is literally called STALKER, where hunters go to explore a mysterious "Zone." The movie itself was inspired by the Roadside Picnic novel, which contains many of the concepts that would later find their way into S.T.A.L.K.E.R., the game.
The franchise thus is built on verbatim copies, or derivatives, of existing works and ideas, which is fine, as all art has to be inspired by something. But MISERY's devs believe issuing copyright claims on inspirations is "just wrong."
The creators remain hopeful that all will be well soon, with MISERY back on the storefront, with updates rolling out.
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