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Majestic caught with its pants down. Oblivion rip-off?

by Steven Williamson on 12 June 2008, 09:47

Tags: The Elder Scrolls IV, Tri Synergy, PC, Xbox 360, PS3, Action/Adventure

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Majestic Studio's new point and click adventure, Limbo of the Lost appears to hold a dark secret that could land them in a whole heap of trouble, according to GamePlasma's recent review of the game.

The game has just gone on general release and Gameplasma, who are the first site to review the title, believe that some of the level design may have been copied directly from Bethesda's role-playing game, Oblivion. Just take a look at these screenshots and you'll see exactly what he means; it's totally blatant.

"Notice how everything is placed in exactly the same place and almost all of the textures are identical. In fact, the only real difference is the quality of the texture and overall graphical look. Even the portrait that can be seen under the stairs is exactly the same as the one that can be found in Oblivion. Also, take note of the placement of the rug in the middle of the floor and the placement of the stairways. These similarities lead to many questions. How rampant are situations like this in games that fall under the radar of the typical gaming crowd?" reads the review.

It goes without saying that the issues has been flagged with the publisher TriSynergy and a statement sent to Bluesnews claims that the company had no idea and wouldn't have let the game be released had they have known. They have now contacted Majestic and are waiting for a response.

It goes without saying that Oblivion developer, Bethesda will now know of the issue. We get the feeling that Majestic are going to need to shift plenty of copies of Limbo of Lost; they may well need the cash.

It doesn't stop there. Other reports are suggesting that assets may also have been lifted from Thief 3, Silent Hill and Diablo 2. Anyone know a good lawyer?

UPDATE:: Tri Synergy has discontinued distribution of Limbo of the Lost.

Source :: GamePlasma


HEXUS Forums :: 9 Comments

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Many of Oblivion's assets are themselves licensed from a third party, so if Majestic have also licensed the same texture packs etc. I could imagine they would look similar, but the news report does suggest it's more at the design level. The screenshot link isn't working for me to have a look myself though.
Strange, link was working earlier (Wonder if it has been taken down after requests possibly? ). It has shots from the castle in Cheydinhal on Oblivion and also from the new game. It looks virtually the same at a glance, from what I have been reading about the net there are also references apparently to other games like Painkiler, Black & White 2, Unreal Tournament, Morrowind, Diablo and Vampire Masquerade Bloodlines on top of what was origionally mentioned.

It could possibly be an honest mistake on the developers behalf using licensed texture packs etc to create their game. Be ineresting to see how this one unfolds. No doubt Bethesda, Majesco and other companies will have statements shortly so its best not to speculate on what is going on.
I've walked through the castle a dozen times, it was identical - even to the pics on the wall.
^^^^^^^

What Steve said but I didn't want to write that!