Gaming company, MicroProse, has sued competitors Activision and The Avalon Hill Game Company over the rights to the name "Civilization." MicroProse is determined to prove that the company Hartland Trefoil, which was recently purchased by MicroProse, owns the rights to the Civilization franchise since they developed the original board game carrying the name "Civilization."
Some background
Not too long ago, Activision declared they had purchased the rights to the name "Civilization" from Avalon Hill, the original distributors of the board game with the same name. MicroProse didn't appreciate this move, since their two computer games carrying the name "Civilization," Sid Meier's Civilization and Civilization II have done great in stores, and is their most profitable brand name, selling over two million copies worldwide. MicroProse claims the name belongs to Hartland Trefoil, which they conveniently purchased last year. So they filed suit against Activision and Avalon Hill, saying they had infringed on their rights to the name, used false advertisement, and used bad business practices. These two companies countered by saying that MicroProse's use of the name "Civilization" was a one-time thing, and their turn is over.
What's in store(s)?
Just to avoid a lawsuit of their own, MicroProse produced an add-on to Civilization II under the name Civ II. However, they do plan to release an expansion set to this sequel under the full name, Ultimate Civilization II. Gasp! And now that Activision has a license with Avalon Hill, they also have plans to produce a Civilization game of their own. Who knows how this thing will turn out.
Riven: The Sequel to Myst has just sold their one-millionth copy. The game accomplished this milestone in only five months, quite an amazing clip. It was the best selling game of 1997, even though is was only released in October. And the number two selling game of 1997? Myst, first released in February of 1994, sold more than 850,000 copies in 1997. Wow!
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