According to Pete Hines, They “Really Didn’t Have Much of a Choice”
Bethesda’s parent company Zenimax encountered some rather fierce blow-back after they forced a tiny indie game studio into a name change for their upcoming hit Praey for the Gods. Pete Hines, Bethesda’s Vice President of PR and Marketing, immediately rallied to the company’s defense on Twitter. According to Hines, Zenimax had little choice in the matter.
As Hines explained, the company could have lost the “Prey” trademark altogether if they didn’t take action against No Matter Studios. Bethesda and Zenimax allegedly reached out to No Matter multiple times over a period of years in order to resolve this matter, to no avail. Hines also pointed out that No Matter went against the advice of “their own trademark lawyer(s)” regarding this particular issue.
This is apparently not the first time Bethesda has been forced to reach out to a company for trademark protection purposes, either. The timing of this Prey/Praey move is a little peculiar, however. Why blow this up the week Prey launches? Why not make this a big deal when they first contacted No Matter Studios during their game’s Kickstarter campaign? While No Matter has already made an official statement on this issue, it will be interesting to see how (or if) they respond to Hines’ defense of his company’s decisions.