Rockstar Games Are Suing The BBC Over “Game Changer”

If you’re a fan of Daniel Radcliffe, or any of Rockstar’s games, you may have heard about the docu-drama that is currently in development by the BBC. If you haven’t then you’re probably wondering what Daniel Radcliffe has to do with Grand Theft Auto; it’s not like Harry Potter typically jumps to mind when thinking GTA. As it turns out, Daniel Radcliffe was casted as Sam Houser, the co-founder of Rockstar Games for an upcoming drama called “Game Changer” that would follow the creation of the Grand Theft Auto Series.

When the BBC’s new project was initially announced there was a degree of skepticism among a few of the original GTA programmers. In the company’s earliest days it was a project of DMA Design, a small indie company from Dundee, Scotland. However, it was reported that none of the original members of DMA new anything about the BBC’s project – they had never been contacted. They were even skeptical that Rockstar had been involved in the projects development, and it seems they were correct. Rockstar Games is now suing the BBC for trademark infringement through its parent company, Take-Two Interactive, as reported by IGN.

“While holders of the trademarks referenced in the film title and its promotion, Rockstar Games has had no involvement with this project. Our goal is to ensure that our trademarks are not misused in the BBC’s pursuit of an unofficial depiction of purported events related to Rockstar Games. We have attempted multiple times to resolve this matter with the BBC without any meaningful resolution. It is our obligation to protect our intellectual property and unfortunately in this case litigation was necessary.”

The BBC’s project was intended to be a part of a campaign to promote coding in Great Britain and it would be a shame if Game Changer never saw light because of this dispute. Yet, it does seem somewhat silly that the BBC did not contact Rockstar Games or any of the developers for their own insight into what actually happened. As it happens, should things be resolved the court case may actually provide even more hype for Game Changer,