Square Enix sues developer Mecharashi over allegations of using material from cancelled Front Mission game
Square Enix has filed a lawsuit against game developer Mecharashi, claiming that the studio used materials from the cancelled Front Mission 2089 project: Borderscape. The lawsuit was filed on 13 March in a Seattle court.
Here's What We Know
In 2022, Square Enix announced the development of Front Mission 2089: Borderscape in collaboration with BlackJack Studio. However, in October of the same year, the project was cancelled and the licensing agreement was terminated. Later, in October 2024, BlackJack Studio released Mecharashi (also known as Metal Storm) in China and Japan. Square Enix claims that this game was developed using materials created under the licence agreement for Front Mission 2089: Borderscape.
In the lawsuit, Square Enix states that BlackJack Studio "intentionally copied protected elements from the licensed game into Metal Storm, including, but not limited to, mech designs, characters, game mechanics, and other creative elements". The company is demanding that these materials be removed from the game and that it be banned from release in its current form in Western markets. In addition, Square Enix demands compensation in the amount of $150,000 for each copyright infringement.
BlackJack Studio describes Mecharashi as a "tactical turn-based mech-themed game" with the ability to customise robots and choose pilots for combat. The game's Steam page states that it uses a "Front Mission-style combat system". After receiving several copyright infringement notices (DMCA), the game was temporarily removed from the platforms, but later returned after a counter-claim was filed.
Source: Reddit
