The indie title and Kickstarter success Prey for the Gods will from now on be known as Praey for the Gods. Yes, everyone is perfectly aware that Praey is not a word.
This change of title was brought about by Bethesda, or more precisely its parent company Zenimax. Because “Prey for the Gods” has the word “Prey” in it, they figured it constitutes a trademark infringement. No Matter Studios, the 3 people team behind Praey for the Gods has decided to simply change the name instead of fighting it.
“We could’ve fought this and we did think about it for quite a while,” No Matter wrote on their official newsletter. “Something like a trademark opposition can be long and depending on how far someone wants to fight it can be very expensive. We didn’t want to spend our precious Kickstarter funds, nor did we want to have to ask for additional funds to fight this in court.
“Using backer money towards something that doesn’t go towards the development or backer rewards felt horrible to us. Even if we did win we’d have to spend a solid chunk of our funds and in our opinion it wasn’t worth it.”
The game will technically still be called Prey for the Gods but spelled “Praey”, making Googling the game a bit tougher. The indie studio will also be able to use the game’s current logo, with features a woman kneeling down in prayer in place of the “E” in “Prey”.
All in all, No Matter Studios are understandably upset, but they seem to just be happy they can continue working on the game.
“It was something that kept me up many nights, and no doubt shifted our focus from our game frequently,” game director Brian Parnell concluded. “Worrying about the outcome if we went to trial, if we’d lose our fans or walk away from the mark and still potentially get sued for millions on trademark infringement. This is really something no starting company should have to deal with let alone a tiny team of 3. So the fact that we came out the other end intact still developing the game was a win. One that will no doubt shape our company moving forward.”
Praey for the Gods is being developed for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
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