Judge Okays Dance Game Lawsuit Against Beyonce

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
1
0
Judge Okays Dance Game Lawsuit Against Beyonce


A New York City judge has given the green light to a lawsuit against Beyonce for backing out of a dance game entitled Starpower: Beyonce.

Back in April [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109643-Beyonce-Faces-100-Million-Lawsuit-for-Killing-Dance-Game], a game developer you've never heard of called Gate Five filed a $100 million lawsuit against Beyonce, claiming the singer had agreed to appear in a videogame called Starpower: Beyonce but then, once development had begun, tried to squeeze more money out of the deal. That maneuver caused an investor to back out of the game, which in turn led her to quit the project entirely in late December 2010.

The studio filed suit for $100 million, a nice, round figure that also just happened to be the profits it said it expected to earn on the game. The lawsuit has been on hold while Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramos mulled over the singer's request to dismiss it outright; her lawyers had argued that Beyonce was within her rights to pull out of the game because Gate Five failed to meet its November 10 deadline for securing funding. But the judge has now ruled, without explanation, that the suit will be allowed to proceed.

Gate Five effectively collapsed once the singer took the ring off it, resulting in the loss of 70 jobs. That's very unfortunate by any measure and certainly not something to be flippant about; on the other hand, it's hard not to see one less crappy, half-baked dance game in the world as at least a little bit of a silver lining.

Source: GamePolitics [http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/judge-videogame-maker-100-million-lawsuit-beyonce-article-1.987803]


Permalink
 

Imperioratorex Caprae

Henchgoat Emperor
May 15, 2010
5,499
0
0
There's also now no chance of Kanye hopping on stage during the Spike VGA's next year and interrupt someone's speech to say how Beyonce's game should have won...
 

Otaku World Order

New member
Nov 24, 2011
463
0
0
amaranth_dru said:
There's also now no chance of Kanye hopping on stage during the Spike VGA's next year and interrupt someone's speech to say how Beyonce's game should have won...
That wouldn't be the stupidest thing to happen at the VGAs.
 

Triforceformer

New member
Jun 16, 2009
1,286
0
0
Otaku World Order said:
amaranth_dru said:
There's also now no chance of Kanye hopping on stage during the Spike VGA's next year and interrupt someone's speech to say how Beyonce's game should have won...
That wouldn't be the stupidest thing to happen at the VGAs.
Think hard about this now. Would it really be the dumbest thing to happen at the VGAs?
 

gallaetha_matt

New member
Feb 28, 2010
438
0
0
It's interesting to look at the website that's quoted as a source here. It takes great pains to mention how Beyonce is 'pregnant' and that the judge gave the okay for the law suit 'without explanation.'

Little manipulative keywords to make Beyonce look like the victim in this case. It'd be easy to view her as the underdog, one woman against the mean old video games industry.

Of course this is one woman with massive media support, legions of fans and an army of lawyers vs a games studio nobody has ever heard of. If Beyonce employs as many lawyers as she does songwriters (Zoom Zoom Zoom!) then Gate Five doesn't have a chance in hell here. I don't think there are even that many lawyers in the world.

I'm with Gate Five on this one. Give 'er hell, obscure video games company!
 

Tyranicus

New member
Feb 8, 2008
313
0
0
Good to see celebs aren't getting away with fuckin people over when they enter some sort of arrangement. Doesnt matter if it was gonna be a shitty game that company is no more because of her.
 

Nathan Dewar

New member
Dec 5, 2011
30
0
0
Really as much I hate rich stars, we don't know what's gong on here folks, its just business. Who knows maybe Beyonce got her hands on some playable demo, found out the game was shit and bailed. This kind of stuff happens all the time and just because the media has focused on this one case doesn't make it any different from any other business disagreement.
 

Scars Unseen

^ ^ v v < > < > B A
May 7, 2009
3,028
0
0
Okay. So here we have a celebrity that backed out of an agreement and cost 70 people their jobs, and that's bad m'kay? And I really think that some compensation should be in order, see? But then I think about it. And I look at the numbers being brought up. And then I ask myself...

Is any of that $100M actually going to the 70 unemployed developers?
 

Corven

Forever Gonzo
Sep 10, 2008
2,022
0
0
TheDarkEricDraven said:
Beyonce is a hero for backing out. Like you said, man. Micheal Jackson was the last dance game we need for awhile. Remember the Hannah Montana guitar game? Shiver
once development had begun,[beyonce] tried to squeeze more money out of the deal. That maneuver caused an investor to back out of the game, which in turn led her to quit the project entirely in late December 2010.
Sounds like real hero material to me alright. Whether or not the game was going to be a piece of shovelware doesn't matter, her greed got the project shut down and cost people their jobs.

OT: Whatever the circumstances behind the case, or it's future proceedings I hope the people who lost their jobs due to this debacle are properly compensated when all is said and done.
 

Something Amyss

Aswyng and Amyss
Dec 3, 2008
24,759
0
0
amaranth_dru said:
There's also now no chance of Kanye hopping on stage during the Spike VGA's next year and interrupt someone's speech to say how Beyonce's game should have won...
All in all, I call that a win.
 

Kopikatsu

New member
May 27, 2010
4,924
0
0
Scars Unseen said:
Okay. So here we have a celebrity that backed out of an agreement and cost 70 people their jobs, and that's bad m'kay? And I really think that some compensation should be in order, see? But then I think about it. And I look at the numbers being brought up. And then I ask myself...

Is any of that $100M actually going to the 70 unemployed developers?
I imagine that they're the ones filing the lawsuit? The article said that Five Gate shut down. There is no company left to sue.
 

Scars Unseen

^ ^ v v < > < > B A
May 7, 2009
3,028
0
0
Kopikatsu said:
Scars Unseen said:
Okay. So here we have a celebrity that backed out of an agreement and cost 70 people their jobs, and that's bad m'kay? And I really think that some compensation should be in order, see? But then I think about it. And I look at the numbers being brought up. And then I ask myself...

Is any of that $100M actually going to the 70 unemployed developers?
I imagine that they're the ones filing the lawsuit? The article said that Five Gate shut down. There is no company left to sue.
Which would mean that the one likely suing is whoever ran the company. It's possible that all 70 of them are benefiting, but I wouldn't say it's necessarily likely.
 

mjc0961

YOU'RE a pie chart.
Nov 30, 2009
3,847
0
0
Good. I hope they proceed to win the lawsuit against her. Joke all you want about not having another crappy dancing game, but a rich woman being so greedy that she wants even more money and then causes 70 people to lose their jobs because she can't get it needs to be taken down quite a few pegs.
 

AstylahAthrys

New member
Apr 7, 2010
1,317
0
0
Andy Chalk said:
Gate Five effectively collapsed once the singer took the ring off it, resulting in the loss of 70 jobs.
Wow. Beyoncé is such an upstanding citizen. She wanted more money, so she made 70 people unemployed. As if she didn't have enough. Makes me sick.