Hasbro has sued Atari for allegedly committing fraud and breaching a licensing agreement related to the Dungeons & Dragons brand.
“Dungeons & Dragons is owned by Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast, who discovered earlier this year that Atari may have entered into an unauthorized sublicensing relationship with Namco Bandai Partners (NBP) for the Dungeons & Dragons digital game rights,” Hasbro claimed in an official statement.
“NBP is a competitor for both Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro, and such an agreement is prohibited under the contract between Hasbro and Atari.”
Greg Leeds, President of Wizards of the Coast, explained that the action was unfortunate, but necessary to protect the D&D brand.
“We have been working for several months now to reach resolution with Atari, and they have left us with no other choice than to pursue legal action,” said Leeds. ??”Hasbro is seeking compensatory damages for economic losses suffered as well as a termination of the licensing agreement.”
Atari responded to the lawsuit by noting that it had a “long and rich history” with the D&D franchise.
“[We have] invested millions of dollars into numerous critically acclaimed and commercially successful games that have generated significant revenue for Hasbro,” Atari stated in a note obtained by BluesNews.
“Hasbro has resorted to these meritless allegations, in an apparent attempt to unfairly take back rights granted to Atari. Atari has sought to resolve the matter without cooperation from Hasbro. We regret that our long-time partner has decided to pursue this action [and] will respond appropriately through [our] legal counsel in court.”
