Ark: Survival Evolved Developers Settle Ugly Lawsuit 

Ark: Survival Evolved Developers Settle Ugly Lawsuit 

Ark: Survival Evolved developer Studio Wildcard came to a settlement agreement this week with Trendy Entertainment, putting an end to an ugly legal battle that had been raging for months.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Wildcard co-founder Susan Stieglitz wrote on Twitter earlier this week that Trendy was looking for $US600 ($779) million. In a direct message published on Reddit, Stieglitz told a fan that they had settled for “40”.

The settlement came out of mediation on Wednesday in Gainesville, Florida, where Trendy is based. On Thursday morning, attorneys for both parties filed a mediation disposition report, writing: “A mediation conference was conducted on the 13th day of April 2016. The conference resulted in a final written settlement agreement.”

Trendy, best known for developing the game Dungeon Defenders, sued both Wildcard and designer Jeremy Stieglitz, Susan’s husband, in December for breaching contract. Stieglitz was a top creative director at Trendy before he left the company in the winter of 2014. In the suit, Trendy alleged that Stieglitz violated his non-compete agreement by poaching employees and helping start Wildcard, where they say he secretly designed Ark: Survival: Evolved. (You can read more backstory on the lawsuit in our report from last month.)

It’s unclear how this settlement will affect Ark: Survival Evolved, which has become a smash commercial hit since launching on PC and Xbox One last year. Representatives for Trendy and Wildcard did not respond to requests for comment by press time.


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