The War Z Picks Up A Brand New Title

[Earnest Cavalli]

The War Z Picks Up A Brand New Title

Developer Hammerpoint Interactive has changed the title of its post-apocalyptic survival game The War Z to the less controversy-riddled Infestation: Survivor Stories.

If you still recall The War Z, odds are solid that it's got nothing to do with the title's gameplay and everything to do with the firestorm of controversy that sprung up from its Steam debut. In December of 2012 the game hit Steam with a very appealing feature set. Unfortunately for those who purchased the title, it was quickly discovered that most of those features were either not yet complete or simply didn't exist at all. That, combined with Hammerpoint's affection for swiping design cues from the undeniably similar, yet far more beloved DayZ, forced the developer to offer immediate refunds to anyone who dropped cash on The War Z.

Well, that is, it would have if Hammerpoint CEO Segey Titov didn't Titov apologized for the debacle [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121178-Update-A-Rocky-Start-For-The-War-Z].

That was more than half a year ago, and now Hammerpoint has changed the game's title from The War Z to Infestation: Survivor Stories (as you can see on its official website [http://infestationmmo.com/]). Is this an effort to distance the title from its ignominious past? Possibly. Probably. Hammerpoint isn't saying, but if you were running a gaming company that was suddenly best known as a group of charlatans who hoped to profit off the stupidity and good will of the general public, wouldn't you make every effort to put all of that behind you?

I would, but I also wouldn't have ever built a game with such ambulatory zombies. That's simply not a biologically realistic way to portray mysteriously reanimated corpses.

Source: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/remember-the-war-z-now-theyve-got-a-new-name-514382439]


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[Doom972]

I hope that Valve won't allow the name change on Steam. It looks more like an attempt to mislead gamers into buying it instead of actually making it better.

 

[Bindal]

I hope that Valve won't allow the name change on Steam. It looks more like an attempt to mislead gamers into buying it instead of actually making it better.

They do. Orion Dino Beatdown is now called Orion Dino Horde. Or the other way around...

But the Internet won't forget. People still gonna call it "WarZ". Or "Crap".

 

[Ruley]

A wolf in sheep's clothing... will still eat your money and give you crap in return ^_^

OT: With the amount of problems this game has had, i completely understand the re-branding and indeed as mentioned, Orion: Dino Beatdown probably gave the company the inspiration for this idea.

I just hope people don't fall for this. The company should have learned from its mistakes and done a squeal or a patch worth of taking another look at the game.

I'm hating the new trend of how most games are Beta's for the next ones. Games should not be released until they are ready for prime time except when you know you are playing an unfinished product!

 

[Starke]

Wasn't the film, The War Z, suing them for trademark infringement? Is this a result of that?

 

[Covarr]

This reminds me of the time Data Design Interactive renamed their popular game Ninjabread Man to Anubis II. Of course, it didn't work, customers became even more angry with them before, and they went out of business in 2009. I won't be disappointed if the same thing happens to Hammerpoint Interactive.

P.S. Thanks

 

[Doom972]

I hope that Valve won't allow the name change on Steam. It looks more like an attempt to mislead gamers into buying it instead of actually making it better.

They do. Orion Dino Beatdown is now called Orion Dino Horde. Or the other way around...

But the Internet won't forget. People still gonna call it "WarZ". Or "Crap".

It still kept the Orion name and logo, so you can tell that it's the same game or at least has something to do with it.
In this case, people who don't keep up with gaming news all that much might think that it's a new game, as The War Z doesn't have a unique look and could be easily mistaken for some other zombie game when shown out of context.
I haven't seen a single gameplay video of this, but I know to avoid it because of what happened. I wouldn't know that it's the same game if it gets a name change and suddenly appears on Steam as a new game (I would still look for reviews though).

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Wasn't the film, The War Z, suing them for trademark infringement? Is this a result of that?

Nope. The movie's actually called "World War Z", in reference to the Max Brooks book.

 

[Bindal]

Wasn't the film, The War Z, suing them for trademark infringement? Is this a result of that?

Nope. The movie's actually called "World War Z", in reference to the Max Brooks book.

They still called the WarZ guys out for that name because it is too similar (and understandibly so) with the potential videogame tie-ins in mind...

 

[Ruley]

Wasn't the film, The War Z, suing them for trademark infringement? Is this a result of that?

Nope. The movie's actually called "World War Z", in reference to the Max Brooks book.

They still called the WarZ guys out for that name because it is too similar (and understandibly so) with the potential videogame tie-ins in mind...

I think you guys have gotten confused with all the people throwing around the word lawsuit about hosting the game on steam in the first place. all the problems etc..

but i don't deny the grounding you have in believing a lawsuit could be in the works between the movie and unrelated game of similar name. And for all we know, one might be behind closed doors!

 

[Baldr]

Escapist do your research. WarZ lost it battle to World War Z over trademark issues. USPTO revoked WarZ trademark a couple months ago for being to similar to the World War Z trademark which was filed first by Paramount Pictures. It takes a couple months and appeals to go through, but I'm guessing they lost it for good and now Paramount is threatening to sue.

 

[archabaddon]

Dear "Nex",

I'm not sure if you wrote an article or op-ed piece. Although it's OK to draw conclusions near the end of an article (as many Escapist writers do), you lead readers to believe that your conclusions is the only plausible conclusion.

Personally, I find it more plausible that the game is trying to distance itself from World War Z. That's probably a better reason to change the name - to avoid getting sued by an author or major movie studio.

Also, I know the guys who made DayZ also had a beef with the title of The War Z being too close a resemblance.

So please, less personal bias and leading readers to your forgone conclusions, thanks.

 

[GAunderrated]

So basically they sold a game with a name Hammerpoint didn't own, was allowed to sell it on steam twice, and now is going to do the right thing after exploiting gamers and fans of zombie survival.

I wonder why anyone had a problem with these guys to begin with. lol.

 

[1337mokro]

They didn't change the Bullshots though!

Ah Hammerpoint. A bunch of scumbag bottom feeding parasites on the underbelly of the gaming industry. If you take a left at their office you can get to EA and M$ HQ

 

[Starke]

Wasn't the film, The War Z, suing them for trademark infringement? Is this a result of that?

Nope. The movie's actually called "World War Z", in reference to the Max Brooks book.

Theoretically, in adaptation of... but, that doesn't change the fact that there was a lawsuit.

I think you guys have gotten confused with all the people throwing around the word lawsuit about hosting the game on steam in the first place. all the problems etc..

but i don't deny the grounding you have in believing a lawsuit could be in the works between the movie and unrelated game of similar name. And for all we know, one might be behind closed doors!

No, again, there was a trademark suit filed against Hammerpoint, because "War Z" was too close to the production company's filing for "World War Z", which included trademark filings for the inevitable shitty tie in games. If you really want, I can go dig up some news articles regarding it.

 

[BoogieManFL]

From the dirty way they said it was the buyers fault, the sheer audacity in outright LYING about what was in the game, and the douchebag way they talk and treat people on the forums. Such as banning and deleting the posts of those who were trying to warn everyone. They are a bunch of unprofessional bottomfeeding trolls, and I'll never give them a penny.

No redemption for you, Hammerpoint.

 

[Formica Archonis]

I knew a guy in a small town with a crap garage band who changed its name every yearish so people wouldn't realize it was the same crap band they already hated.

Kinda what this reminds me of.

 

[Glaice]

Wasn't the film, The War Z, suing them for trademark infringement? Is this a result of that?

From way back in Feburary or March, I believe Hammerpoint lost their trademark for WarZ.

 

[LordLundar]

They can change the name on that crappy game all they want, it's still a crappy game.