CONNECT WITH US
Gaming

Gaming

Epic Games Claims Ownership Over Jazz Jackrabbit in Fortnite Legal Tussle With Gears of War Creator

IGN logo

Published on

Add as a preferred source on Google
Epic Games Claims Ownership Over Jazz Jackrabbit in Fortnite Legal Tussle With Gears of War Creator

Cliff Bleszinski, longtime Epic Games developer and the renowned designer of Gears of War and Unreal Tournament, hit a legal wall when trying to secure the rights to one of his very first game characters, Jazz Jackrabbit, from his former employer.

Bleszinski says he created Jazz Jackrabbit when he was about 17. He turned the character into the star of one of his very first video games, which he developed and released in 1994 after he joined Epic in 1992. Jazz became Epic's biggest hit at the time. Now, though, after Epic added Jazz to Fortnite as a Sprite in Chapter 7, Season 4 earlier this year, Bleszinski expressed disappointment at being shut out of his character by Epic after a legal back-and-forth. "After lawyering up Epic claims they fully own the rights to Jazz Jackrabbit and won't back down in spite of not having any paperwork to prove it (nor do I) in spite of the fact that they still pay me from sales of it on GoG (which means paperwork exists somewhere) and are still happy to monetize him in [Fortnite]," Bleszinski posted on his X account. "So, if I get around to doing a new one expect the "spiritual sequel" route. Business is business, I suppose. My first sketches from high school here. Hell, must have been 17 when I doodled these." Here they are:

Bleszinski issued a statement to IGN: "Jazz was my first hit and will always have a spot in my heart. When I signed the contract with Epic I was a teenager and just happy to be making games and those documents have been lost to the sands of time.


Source link
Related Topics:Gaming

Disclaimer

We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We TheMorningPulse.fyi want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It's possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.