The creators of the titillatingly marketed, disabled-gamer-saving MMO Evony went on the warpath yesterday to extract nearly $1 million out of a modder accused of selling auto-playing bots and a gigantic map that exploit the game.
When you're getting sued for $825,000, it's probably not a great idea to show up to federal court in sweatpants, much less late for your hearing. That, however, was the approach of Philip James Holland, 23, the defendant. The plaintiffs are Evony LLC and Regan Mercantile LLC, the two firms who created and own the game.
This is no joke. The suit was filed two months ago. Because Holland has no attorney and filed no response to Evony's complaint since then, the accusations against him are presumed to be true. Evony's ownership says Holland's map and bots and the entire web site of Holland's Xandium Studios "is devoted to infringing on Evony's copyrights and trademarks."
Holland said he only makes a few hundred dollars a month off of the site. Evony's lawyers asked the judge for an injunction barring Holland from operating that site. The judge will rule on that soon.
No fantasy: Game maker wants $825,000 from Mt. Lebanon Man [The Post-Gazette. Image by Kotaku reader snake6778]