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Bethesda has filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. and Behaviour Interactive, alleging the recent Westworld title is a 'blatant rip-off' of Fallout Shelter, which Behaviour also helped create.
Westworld was released on iOS and Android just this week, although according to the suit, which was filed by Bethesda at the Maryland U.S. District Court, the project features a number of elements that are present in Fallout Shelter, including game design, art style, animations, and more.
Furthermore, the Elder Scrolls publisher added that Westworld's developer applied various cosmetic changes to the game for its western setting, though its core features were 'copied' from Fallout Shelter.
Other similarities noted include its implementation of cartoon-esque 2D characters presented in a 3D world, as well as the appearance of underground facilities that players are able to construct and explore.
Fallout Shelter was released three years ago on mobile formats and was later ported to the PlayStation 4, PC, Switch, and Xbox One.
Bethesda alleges that Behaviour Interactive has utilised 'the same copyrighted computer code created for Fallout Shelter in Westworld,' observing that Westworld has an identical bug that was previously seen in an early version of Fallout Shelter before being removed.
'Behaviour breached its contract with Bethesda and utilized its restricted access to Bethesda’s intellectual property, including Bethesda’s copyrighted code, trade secrets, and other rights, to compress its development timeline, reduce costs, and quickly bring the Westworld mobile game to market, and offer players the widely popular gameplay experience found in Fallout Shelter,' reads the suit.
