Ark: Survival Evolved Dev Reportedly Settles Messy Lawsuit for $40 Million

Back in March, a legal battle ensued between Ark: Survival Evolved developer, Studio Wildcard, and Dungeon Defenders studio Trendy Entertainment. Game Designer Jeremy Stieglitz was sued by his former employer, Trendy, which claimed that he had violated an agreement barring him from partaking in any “competitive activities” for a full year and encouraging fellow employees from leaving. Apparently, Stieglitz was guilty of both, and Trendy’s lawsuit threatened the future of Ark: Survival Evolved – a game that Stieglitz says he was only “consulted” for but Trendy claims he was fully involved with since the very beginning. 

Earlier this week, Wild Card co-founder Susan Stieglitz mentioned on Twitter that Trendy was demanding $600 million. However, according to a Reddit user who spoke to her via DM on Twitter, the lawsuit was settled for $40 million. The post was subsequently removed from Reddit following a negative reaction from Susan, but a portion of the screenshot can be found here.

Reddit user Childishjakerino claims:

I cannot show the full message. This was a private conversation and things were said that might not be meant for public eye.

I was tweeting at her a shit ton of questions which lead her to DMing me since there was no character limit. She didn’t want to settle. Neither did her lawyers. But others were heavily intimidated and scared. Which they should’ve been after hearing what trendy owners said but yeah.

The thread led Susan to tweet the following:

Dear all, I will no longer answer DM if you intend to send them to Mr Schreier [Jason Schreier of Kotaku]. He has caused me only pain. Thank you for adding to my pain.

Jason informs me the person actually simply posted it to reddit. I still feel hurt. Please don’t do that.

Sounds like an absolute mess but here’s hoping the matter is resolved. 

Ark: Survival Evolved is scheduled to release for the PlayStation 4 in June.

[Source: Reddit, Susan Stieglitz [Twitter]]

TRENDING