Three years ago, the now defunct Human Head Studios, developer of the original Prey, announced Rune: Ragnarok. The title would later change to Rune 2, which launched in 2019. Almost immediately, things started going wrong.
The day after Rune 2 went live, Human Head Studios announced it was closing down. This came as a surprise for invested players, who expected the studio to continue to support the game, but it also came as a surprise to Ragnarok Game LLC, Rune 2‘s publisher. According to Ragnarok Game, Human Head only disclosed its imminent closure a few days before release. From there, things only got stranger as lawsuits began to be filed.
Ragnarok Game went on to sue Human Head Studios over the developer’s refusal to hand over the source code and other essentials for maintaining the game. Ragnarok Game stated it had always intended to continue supporting the game, but Human Head’s refusal to cooperate hindered that. All of this was further complicated by Human Head reforming under Bethesda as Roundhouse. Ragnarok Game only found out about this through the press, along with everyone else. As of now, its lawsuit has been amended to include Bethesda and ZeniMax as well.
The new suit states that ZeniMax/Bethesda was an active participant in Rune 2‘s alleged sabotage. According to Ragnarok Game, Human Head/Roundhouse “conspired” with ZeniMax to be brought under its umbrella before the game was released. The suit alleges that ZeniMax told Human Head Studios not to release the assets and source code for Rune 2, and that Human Head Studios’ statement of closure was actually penned by ZeniMax. This is certainly odd, since Bethesda and Human Head Studios clashed over Prey 2 years before. If Ragnarok Game’s accusations are true, it would mean Human Head potentially went to Bethesda for a buyout and sabotaged Rune 2 as part of the deal.
All of this has caused Ragnarok Game to extend its suit to ZeniMax. The suit calls for compensation of “no less than $100 million,” plus other fees. That sounds like a lot to demand from the company that released The Quiet Man a year before Rune 2, and Human Head Studios was clearly in financial trouble if it went to Bethesda for a buyout.
Further complicating things is the fact this accusation is based on the idea that Bethesda/ZeniMax saw Rune 2 as competition for Skyrim. Ragnarok Game bases this off an “early review” that said the game looked like “Skyrim on steroids.” This “review” was actually an impression of a pre-alpha trailer for Rune 2 when it was still called Rune: Ragnarok. Considering Rune 2 was reviewed poorly, it seems unlikely Rune 2 would be a serious competitor to Skyrim, adding some grey area into the suit.
Source: PCGamer
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