Webzen Suing FireFall Developer Red 5 Korea

Responding to Red 5 Studios' attempt to cancel its Asian publishing agreement for online team-based shooter FireFall, Korean firm Webzen is suing against the developer for allegedly breaching its contract. Irvine, CA-headquartered Red 5 filed for arbitration in its home state last month, seeking a termination of FireFall's publishing deal and the recovery of $5 million unspent dollars, and accusing Webzen of failing to properly market the game as was contractually agreed upon. Webzen is slated to publish and operate the free-to-play title in Asia, and says it has invested almost $25 million in FireFall while waiting for Red 5 to complete development. The publisher adds that the project has suffered "numerous delays" in the past five years. And now Webzen is suing Red 5's Korean branch in Korea, claiming multiple breaches in their publishing contract. The firm says it negotiated an offline test for the game, but that Red 5 Korea requested a delay and then announced the testing without Webzen's permission. It also accuses Red 5 Korea of distributing a press release regarding Ender's Game author Orson Scott Card's work on FireFall's script, again without Webzen's permission. The publisher says it was preparing to release its own press release for the announcement. "We have been preparing to reveal [the details] at G-star 2011, but we heard Red 5 Korea is trying to attend G-star 2011 independently with FireFall" said a Webzen representative, according to Korean online gaming news site ThisIsGame. "So we decided to take a legal action."