Perception, JoWooD draw battle lines

Stargate SG-1: The Alliance is not dead, Sydney-based developer Perception PTY Ltd. said in a statement today.

The developer is continuing work on the game and is pursuing legal action against publisher JoWooD Productions Software AG, which last week terminated the contract between the two companies (story).

“To be clear, Perception is the official licensee of MGM on Stargate SG-1: The Alliance,” the company said. “Any suggestion that JoWooD has rights to Stargate SG-1: The Alliance upon termination of the contract is incorrect and not based on commercial or legal fact.

“Development on the game will continue uninterrupted at Perception’s Sydney studio. Perception is committed to giving fans the best gaming experience possible.”

JoWooD claimed that, in its judgment, the game in its current form did not meet the quality requirements of either the publisher or Stargate fans. The Alliance was scheduled for an October release on Playstation 2, XBox, and the PC.

“We view it as unfortunate that JoWooD would elect to make such misleading and libelous comments to the media and the marketplace,” Perception CEO Ben Lenzo said. “Over the last nine months, JoWooD has openly acknowledged being in breach of contract in a number of areas including many legal and confidentiality breaches as well as several financial defaults for work performed by Perception and accepted by JoWooD.”

According to the developer the company attempted to resolve these issues over several months, finally giving JoWooD an August 8 deadline to remedy them, or Perception would terminate the contract.

JoWooD announced to the media on August 5 that it was terminating the contract between the two companies.

“It’s disappointing to hear of this so called termination via the press on the basis of a ‘get in first’ tactic,” Lenzo said.

“JoWooD had to face the fact that the present technical status of the development makes a completion of the project by Perception within the contractually agreed time limit (end of August 2005) definitely impossible,” JoWood said in a second statement on Friday. “This assessment is supported by an external expertise which confirms the severe defects in the areas of visualisation, animations, audio and light effects of the development project already brought up by JoWooD months ago. Three weeks ahead of the contractually planned target date the versions for the major platforms Playstation 2 as well as Xbox are extremely unstable and face severe performance issues.”

Per JoWooD’s reading of the contract, the publisher is pursuing financial compensation for its investment — more than $6 million — plus the unfinished game’s code and assets. Perception will counter the demands by bringing legal action against its former partner and its CEO, Albert Seidl, for libel and the return of monies it claims it is owed.

As for The Alliance — a game that now bears an ironic title — Perception still looks forward to the game’s eventual release. It is not known when the game might hit store shelves, should either JoWooD or Perception prevail in the legal dispute over ownership and complete it.

Visit Perception’s official Web site to read the company’s full statement.