Publisher Take-Two Forces It Takes Two Dev Hazelight to Abandon Title Trademark

Makes no sense for Take-Two Interactive to have a problem with this. They would not win a court decision on this. Hopefully Hazelight does not get damaged by this.

Sorry Take-Two Interactive, but when I hear "It Takes Two," I think of the hit single by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock... not the game.

I would think “It Takes Two” is far enough removed from “Take-Two”. The implications are completely different. But what do I know? Alas, money shall decide.

It’s not just this either. Take Two have been going after everyone. Anyone that uses a word that they think they own. You’d think they’d have better things to do... like, I don’t know... making sure the games they publish aren’t broken pieces of poop 🤷

The 1995 smash hit "It Takes Two" starring Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen!? Anybody?

Bueller?

I'm so old...

@fR_eeBritney hmm, sounds someone familiar I believe. They are taking a leaf out of this particular companies book

@BrockSmith that means I’m ancient. The smash hit It takes two by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston.

Take two is biggest scammers in the industry. They should be wiped off from the scene. They ruined not only 2K games, but also Rockstar Games.

It speaks a lot to the hubris of these corporations when ***** like this happens. The average person hasn’t got a clue what ‘Take-Two Interactive’ is.

They just keep digging their graves. Absolutely hate them right now.

Oh man…
Take two should concentrate to release good games and patch the GTA collection instead of having calls with their legal department.

Oh look, scummy Take 2 is trying to divert attention from that GTA D.E dumpster fire -_-
Imagine going after a small studio because of one word!!?
Hope EA can back up Hazelight.
I'm never touching a Rockstar product ever again.

I guess this means we can't make a game called Rockstar of the Icy Borderlands or something. I feel like that's a good title.

@sawaoyamanaka Hahaha touche good sir... touche

Man f!@k Take Two. Between them allowing the sh@#ty GTA ports to them bullying Hazelight over some so petty, im about over them.

Take Two, Ubisoft, Activision and EA going all out in the race to the bottom.

Take Two what a piece of garbage developer. Just change your name to GTA5 and Co.

Getting flashbacks when Fine Bros tried to copyright ''react''

@sawaoyamanaka @BrockSmith Hi there friends
I remember both the movie and the song......
Were not old, nor ancient......
Were living Dinosaurs, that´s what we are 😜
Jokes asside, this shouldn´t be a thing to even debate.
But alas, corporate greed at its finest.
Hopefuly they can resolve the situation on good terms.
Cheers, stay safe and happy gaming to us all

They went after a company called Rockstar Axe Throwing. These places are big in the southern US. You go in and throw axes, knives, shuriken, etc at a wooden target. Wtf that got to do with a video game publisher?!

I would've thought Marvin Gaye, Kim Weston, and Sony would be more interested in that phrase than Take Two Interactive.

A**hole move by Take Two. Reminds me of when Bethesda was suing because someone used Scrolls as a game title.

I’m probably in the minority here, but I totally understand why Take-Two would put in a claim. As a company they need to protect their IP. It’s why Praey of Gods had to get a new change as well (cause of Pray). Imagine if Ubisoft released ‘God’s of War: Phoenix Rising’ you know Sony would be all over that.

Seems like they got off easy. I don’t think If takes two was going to be a franchise & they can still sell it.

People here are missing that this actually doesn't appear to be a jerk move from Take Two since the game gets to continue to exist. Unlike jerk Tim Langdell who has forced games like Cross Edge to be delisted for using the word edge.

The full report is interesting, sounds like they’ve been going after any business, big or small, for anything remotely resembling one of their trademarks. Like, a company called ‘Starrock’, give me a break! Meanwhile, they’ve released perhaps the most insulting release of 2021, which is REALLY saying something. How much in legal fees, I wonder?

@Perturbator Well it actually Zenimax who filled the lawsuit against Mojang. But yeah

@Fight_Teza_Fight "Take-Two" isn't even an IP. And "It Takes Two" is just a saying, and actually fits the game. It's not like the devs were thinking of a loophole to misuse Take-Two's name.

And Zenimax somehow has the rights to every game with Prey in the name. Utter BS.

@Floki I stand corrected!

@Fight_Teza_Fight That's a steaming Hot-💩 take on this situation. Yes Take-Two has that right, but you're acting like they should sue instantly without giving them a chance to cease-and-desist. Companies that do that should be shutdown as companies like that will sue everyone. Remember Blackberries? We have to call the berry Black Raspberry now because a mobile phone company forced us to rename a freaking fruit that was discovered and named thousands of years earlier because of "copyrights"...

Hopefully every news portal out there reports on this, and Take-Two prefixes every game they make with their name (Take-Two's GTA Trilogy), so people know exactly which games not to buy.

@Fight_Teza_Fight "Take-two", a phrase to denote a second attempt at recording music or video, or even rehearsing a play... "It Takes Two", a phrase to implicate that more than one being/object is needed to accomplish something. Not to mention one is an actual game and the other just a publisher of games. Completely stupid and they won't change anything.

@TowaHerschel7 lol that can't be true, surely. I think they're still sold as Blackberries here in the UK.

@TowaHerschel7 Ok, just had a look. Definitely a joke, you got me. Wouldn't even be too surprised if it happened in the US, though haha

Coming up next: Sony is suing Sega for the Sonic trademark.

Eesh. What a bunch of sad clowns.

Cooperate America at its finest

I'm now waiting for bungie to sue beyonce for "halo" 🤣.. seriously though this is rather stupid...could the oxford dictionary sue everybody on the planet for using the words we communicate with?

@Octane It just the way it is with trademarks & copyrights. You spend a decade + developing an IP , name recognition… . I can certainly see why they would want to protect their interest- & they do have every right to it.

@Jayofmaya @TowaHerschel7 It’s not a matter of right or wrong. Companies need to protect their & share holders interest. It’s just the way it is. Imagine if some random developer decided to call themselves Rockstar Manchester. I mean the word ‘Rockstar’ is completely normal, but when it’s used in terms of video games it’s different.
Like I said, it’s not right or wrong, but Rockstar have every right to appeal. It’s up to a judge to decide.

Who the ***** cares.
Ownership over a string of words it pointless nonsense.

@Fight_Teza_Fight If it was something like "Rockstar Manchester" then yes, I'd understand there would be an issue. Said development company would obviously be trying to gain familiarity and popularity based on someone else established company. Even if they could somehow prove they didn't know of Rockstar North or whatever, they would still have to change the name as it is far too similar and cause confusion. This case mentioned in the article will get thrown out or they'll just waste their own publisher money, so whatever, it's their mistake. Lol

@Fight_Teza_Fight Like I said, it's not even the same. It's just complete BS, Take-Two isn't even an IP.

Take two only asked to remove trademark of it takes two. Not to change the name of the game. And I respect them for that. I think they did it, not because the name is similar, but because it is an old phrase that it shouldn't be trademarked. Coz when it gets trademarked, no one will be allowed to use it anymore. So I think they did a good thing, so other companies can still use the phrase for their works, whether it's for a book, a song or something else.