Game news Halo: the original composers turn against Microsoft, the threatened TV series!
Since the launch of Halo Infinite, Microsoft has been rubbing its hands as the license, which celebrated its 20th anniversary, allows the Xbox brand to be at the forefront. The firm is jubilant, of course, but dissatisfaction is accumulating on the side of the players and, to this frustration, is added the ire of the two original composers, Marty O’Donnell and Mike Salvatori, to whom we owe the iconic game theme.
For Microsoft, the end of 2021 has been more than fruitful, in particular thanks to the launch of Forza Horizon 5 and of Halo Infinite. Thanks to its two exclusivities, the Redmond firm was able to land a nice jackpot and bring together a record number of players ! On the side of the CEO of the American company, declarations are often accompanied by a big smile but, behind the scenes, there is something to do gray mine !
One of the causes of this mixed happiness can be explained by lack of content around the title: an absence on which the teams of 343 Industries had to explain themselves in an attempt to reassure the players, but above all to keep them! As if all this wasn’t enough, the original franchise composers Haloor when the game was the intellectual property of the Bungie studio, recently acquired by Sonyhave decided to rebel against Microsoft for a history of unpaid !
Composers claim their due
In a river interview granted to the Eurogamer site, the original composers of the iconic music of Halo announced that they have filed a lawsuit against Microsoft. The reason ? The Redmond firm would not have paid them the royalties (the famous ” royalties ») that they were supposed to get. However, the steps are not new, as they date back to June 2020, as explained by Marty O’Donnell and Mike Salvatori, and follow a status quo – Microsoft has not complied with their claims – which lasts for more than 10 years.
In fact, the two composers claim that a license for the music of Halo was granted to the original studio, namely Bungie, but point out that Microsoft’s takeover of the studio would have harmed them. For their part, the composers argue that their music was created under license while Microsoft considers these works as part of a whole that it now owns and uses.in particular to promote derivative products around the franchise such as the series produced in collaboration with Paramount.
While waiting for the amount of the royalties to be paid to them, the composers, supported by their legal team, study their strategy and the possibility of asserting a preliminary injunction, as a sign of warning, in order to block the broadcast of the Halo television seriessupposed to air from March 24. The reasons mentioned by the two accomplices are numerous : breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of duty to act in good faith, lack of accounting partnership, unjust enrichment, tortious interference, etc.
Nevertheless, the two parties must meet during the next few days during a mediation session in order to find an agreement that suits the plaintiffs and the target company: only if this fails could the case be taken to court and have repercussions, such as the one mentioned above. Case to follow!
Through JinxebWriting jeuxvideo.com
MP