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Iron Maiden Is Suing 3D Realms Over an Ion Maiden Game

Iron Maiden Is Suing 3D Realms Over an Ion Maiden Game

In news you wouldn’t expect, the rock group Iron Maiden has filed a lawsuit against 3D Realms. Why? Because 3D Realms is making a game called Ion Maiden . The band claims that Ion Maiden’ s title “is nearly identical to the Iron Maiden trademark in appearance, sound and overall commercial impression.” The group is seeking $2 million in damages and asks 3D Realms to give up the Ion Maiden name and website.

Some choice quotes from the lawsuit reference Iron Maiden’s past involvement in the game space and its allegations of how 3D Realms and Ion Maiden copy the group. (Iron Maiden has a mobile Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast game, as well as an Iron Maiden pinball game that was available as an actual table and as a video game.

Here is a snippet from the Iron Maiden lawsuit:

“Standing alone, those facts establish likelihood of confusion but there is even more evidence of likelihood of confusion. That evidence includes the fact that Defendant has exhibited its intent to trade off on the Iron Maiden mark by adopting Shelly Harrison as the name of its main character which is an attempt to copy the name of Steve Harris, an Iron Maiden founder and primary songwriter; adopting a similar steel cut font for its Ion Maiden name knowing that Iron Maiden also uses a steel cut font for its iconic Iron Maiden mark; creating a video game that has the same look and feel as the Iron Maiden video game, ‘Legacy Of The Beast’ ; and choosing to use its Ion Maiden Yellow Bomb emoji in its Ion Maiden video game and merchandise which is graphically similar to Iron Maiden’s Eddie character who appears in all of Iron Maiden’s video games and virtually all of Iron Maiden’s compact disc covers, t-shirts and other merchandise.”

3D Realms, which is known for Duke Nukem, Max Payne, has made a statement online. Frederik Schreiber, the company’s vice president, said on Steam that “anyone who has played Ion Maiden would find [the claims] more over the top than Shelly’s “Loverboy”, her signature 18-round triple-barreled revolver.” He also noted that Voidpoint, the first-person shooter’s developer, 3D Realms, and 1C Entertainment would make decisions after getting “official notice of the lawsuit.”

Ion Maiden will come to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in 2019. It follows Global Defense Force’s Shelly, who is known for getting rid of bombs, to fight cyber soldiers in Neo DC. Her weapons of choice include her Loverboy tri-barrel revolver, a grenade launcher, and smart bombs as she goes through seven zones.

Source: The Daily Beast , 3D Realms

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