Monster Energy is well known in the industry for its actions to enforce naming rights. Now it’s hitting an indie developer, but he’s fighting back
Does anything about the title of this game bother you? (Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals
). No? Then you are clearly not working as a lawyer for Monster Beverage or its owner Coca Cola.
Because the latter combo of concentrated corporate power is notorious for taking action against products that bear the term Monster
in their name or otherwise threaten design of the well-known energy drink cans from the perspective of the US mega-corporations , (as PCGamer reports).
Indiestudio wants to fight
Now the developer Glowstick Entertainment, who released the above title on Steam at the end of 2020, has been hit. The developer revealed the case on Twitter:
It’s well known that @MonsterEnergy is a notorious trademark troll. Unfortunately, they’re at it again. For a company that likes to target their drinks at gamers, they also like to try to bully bankrupt game studios with lengthy high dollar litigation. indiegamedev gamedev pic.twitter.com/8xvg7iWqQe
– Vincent Livings (@VincentLivings) March 29, 2023
As the studio’s head Vincent Livings detailed on Twitter, the notorious copyright troll accused his studio of making the game bear a confusing resemblance to their drinks. But he is determined:
Instead of backing down, I will fight in court.
Vincent Livings, Glowstick Entertainment
Because dishonest companies like Monster Energy rely on acting out their bullying in secret while outwardly maintaining a clean image for their base – made up of athletes and gamers. Exposing their real face is the only effective way to stop them, he continues.
Still, he says he is well aware that they like to try to bankrupt game developers with extended legal battles for large sums of money.
He will share all the documents he has received so far to reveal how the company operates. In addition, in his tweets he calls for boycotting Coca Cola’s products so as not to indirectly support such behaviour.
Known monster victims
Monsters trademark wrath has already hit other games in recent years, for example from publisher Ubisoft. The latter was forced to rename the title Gods and Monsters to Immortals Fenyx Rising. Numerous other cases can be found on this list of a US authority.
Such actions take on an ironic note when one considers that gamers belong to the beverage company’s main target group. Sometimes, deals are even made with publishers for advertising purposes. For example, a can of the energy drink found its way into the world of Death Stranding.
What do you think? Do you think Monster Energy’s behaviour is justified or is it pure harassment from your point of view? And do you think the developers’ resistance has a chance of success, or should they rather pull out early and rename their game? Feel free to write us your views on this conflict in the comments!
