Kotaku might not be the biggest fans of crowdfunding but they’ve been doing a commendable job the last couple days covering the rough time Stoic is having with their crowdfunded darling, The Banner Saga.
The first article, published last night, details the Notice of Opposition that King.com filed with the Patent Office in December to stop Stoic from getting a trademark on The Banner Saga. In it King.com states that consumers could potentially confuse The Banner Saga with one of their Saga games, such as Candy Crush Saga. Moving on.
Earlier this morning another piece was published with quotes from King.com saying they’re going after copycats, not The Banner Saga. That’s understandable; the problem with having a trademark is that if you don’t call out any and everyone that’s infringing on it even a little bit you’re hurting your chances to defend it when it really counts. It’s less about dilution than it is about protection and planning for the future. The statement from King.com even states specifically that they aren’t trying to stop Stoic from using The Banner Saga Name, and that they don’t feel that Stoic is trying to build on their Saga brand or content.
Happy days, right? Maybe it was just a big misunderstanding that we’ll all be laughing about later while shameless clones get shut down and quality titles like The Banner Saga flourish.
No, not really.
The latest Kotaku post has a statement from Stoic that paints an unhappy picture. Read for yourself here.
When you’re done you can learn more about The Banner Saga on it’s official website, and even pick up a copy for yourself for $24.99 on Steam.
