Former Red Octane Staff Prohibited from Music Games

In what seems to be some ugly fallout from the Guitar Hero / RedOctane purchase, former Octane employees John Tam and Corey Fong are now legally prohibited from working on rhythm games. Activision has successfully brought suit against the men, arguing that they were using proprietary information gained under employ at the corporation to aid their new venture. As part their work after leaving RedOctane, Tam and Fong had begun working with the Reverb and The Ant Commandos groups on a demo for a dance/guitar game. "The demo incorporated elements of Guitar Hero and StepMania, a free dance game for the PC that supports dancepads and includes a step editor. The pair used it to solicit partners and funding for Lodestone Entertainment, the injunction states. As part of the injunction, the pair is prohibited from distributing or using the demo in any capacity and acting on or disclosing any Activision trade secrets. They are also prevented from taking steps to develop drum-, guitar-, or synthesizer-based games for the next year, nor can they work on any Xbox 360 controllers for Guitar Hero II until six months after the game's release this week. "

Comments

Lets Not Forget

[Anonymous Coward]

That RedOctane and Activision didn't even make Guitar Hero, Harmonix did. But they certainly did their share of taking credit.

These two are probably rich, and goofed up trying to make even more money. No pity.

Re:Congradulations Activision,

[Edgewize]

Anything I do, at all, is owned by my employer. If you're not an hourly worker (and, chances are, they weren't), then there's no such thing as "spare time": it's always owned by the employer.

That depends not only on your employment contract, but also the laws of your state. Some employment contracts make unenforceable or illegal claims. If you do something entirely yourself, at home, using your own equipment, in a field unrelated to your employer's business -- it's almost certainly yours. But talk to a lawyer to be sure.

Re:No Rythym whatsoever?

[Soul-Burn666]

FTFA:
"As part of the injunction, the pair is prohibited from distributing or using the demo in any capacity and acting on or disclosing any Activision trade secrets. They are also prevented from taking steps to develop drum-, guitar-, or synthesizer-based games for the next year, nor can they work on any Xbox 360 controllers for Guitar Hero II until six months after the game's release this week."

So for the next year, they can't make games based specifically on guitars, drums or synthesizers or controllers specifically for Guitar Hero 2 and specifically for the XBox 360.

They can make a Xylophone, Flute or Tuba game.. and they can make a Guitar Hero 2 controller for the PS2 version.