Sony, Jaffe sued over God of War @ Gaming Target

Written by Matt Swider on September 18, 2008

News: Plaintiffs allege copyright infringement by God of War publisher and designer.

The gods of ancient video game hero Cratos are being summoned to the modern court of justice for alleged copyright infringement, says GamePolitics.com

Sony Computer Entertainment America and God of War designer David Jaffe have been named in a lawsuit by two Davis, California plaintiffs. The pair allege that they sent a 2002 screenplay submission to Sony Pictures and agents associated with SCEA, only to have similar elements of Greek mythology appear in Sony's successful God of War video game franchise three years later.

God of War released on PlayStation 2 in March 2005, spawned a PS2 sequel and mobile phone game in 2007 and, most recently, saw a handheld edition launch on PlayStation Portable this year.

The complaint (warning, .pdf) contains several examples and exhibits of Olympiad, the fiction story that the plaintiffs claim was lifted. However, a Sony and Jaffe retort (warning, another .pdf) points out that their Greek mythology elements are part of public domain and deny any copyright infringement.

God of War III, tentatively planned for 2009 on PlayStation 3, hasn't been delayed due this ongoing lawsuit.

source: GamePolitics.com