The Elder Scrolls 6 Redfall trademark dispute was amicably resolved. Bethesda Game Studios’ owner ZeniMax came to an agreement with publisher BookBreeze after a trademark battle over the word “Redfall.” The agreement was described as “mutually beneficial” to both parties, though the exact nature of the agreement is unknown.
The dispute started after Bethesda registered Redfall as a trademark last September. Elder Scrolls fans assumed the mysterious Redfall would be the location of the next game. After the trademark registration, the company got backlash from publisher BookBreeze on behalf of author Jay Falconer, who writes a sci-fi novel series called Redfall. BookBreeze took action on the author’s behalf after the author allegedly tried and failed to get in touch with ZeniMax directly.
In a prepared statement published on Gamasutra, the companies said:
“ZeniMax Media Inc. and Bookbreeze.com are pleased to announce that they have amicably resolved a pending trademark dispute related to the Redfall trademark… While the specific terms of the agreement are confidential, the parties believe that resolution of the matter is mutually beneficial to both ZeniMax and Bookbreeze.com and their respective fans.”
Without knowing the details of the agreement, it’s unclear how Redfall will come into play in The Elder Scrolls 6. It seems clear from the “mutually beneficial” outcome that the word will likely appear in the game’s title, or at least have a significant role to play. Unfortunately for curious fans such as I, it doesn’t look like we’ll get answers anytime soon. Bethesda already announced that it would not discuss The Elder Scrolls 6 at E3 2019, meaning all we have to go on for now is the teaser trailer and boatloads of internet speculation. The release date is likely a long way off, so I don’t think I’ll be alone in tiding myself over with more and more Skyrim.
