News

Judge Rules Against Activision in <i>DJ Hero</i> Case

2:14 p.m. · April 21, 2009 · by Andrew Winistorfer

Last week, it was announced that Genius Products was suing Activision for breach of contract and misusing trade secrets over Activision trying to hold up the release of 7 Studios Scratch, a sure competitor for the parent company's DJ Hero. A California judge has sided with Genius, ordering Activision to stop interfering with Scratch (Genius alleges Activision held product like code and controllers for Scratch up in the development stage), and 7 Studios can no longer share information with Activision regarding the game.

This doesn't bode well for Activision, which is now in danger of being sued for damages if DJ Hero comes out first and harms the market for Scratch. The whole thing started when Activision learned 7 was working on a DJ game for Genius, and tried to buy Genius outright. When Genius owners refused, Activision bought 7 Studios instead. If Activision could have found a way to fold Scratch into DJ Hero this all could have been avoided. [Daily Swarm]