Just when we all thought this story couldn’t get any more absurd…
The War Z has made news an awful lot recently. False advertising, terrible public relations, blatant censorship of criticism, and finally being rendered impossible to purchase on Steam while refunds are being handed out no-questions-asked… It’s one of the single most ridiculous and rocky game releases ever (even if Hammerpoint Interactive tried to claim online games have no release).
Now it looks like it might not only be a good idea for The War Z to change its name before relaunching, but legally required.
The game’s name has had its trademark suspended for being too similar to World War Z, implying that it may even be possible someone who originally approved the trademark might have thought the two were linked.
Regardless, this spells potential problems for the already-controversial game while simultaneously pointing out even more how shady the game and its development have been.
The trademark was only filed in July of this year, providing more evidence that The War Z has only been in development for six months. Even worse, the suspension letter regarding the trademark was dated November 15th, meaning that Hammerpoint Interactive knew they were going to have to change the name before the game even released on Steam.
Paramount is making their own game based on World War Z, so it is entirely possible that they’ll legally prohibit War Z to keep its name, but time will tell.
