If you've been frustrated by that perpetual "Coming Soon" tag on the "Jumpgate Evolution" website because you thought the game was supposed to be out in 2009, you aren't alone. In fact, the game's publisher Codemasters finally decided that they've had enough and are suing NetDevil and its parent company Gazillion for $1.1 million in paid advances and $299,629 that allegedly went into art assets.
"Codemasters has filed a Complaint with the federal court in San Francisco against Gazillion and NetDevil," a statement from the publisher read that was posted to the forums on Codemasters.com (via Massively).
Their complaint has been made publicly available on CourthouseNews.com, where you can read their grievance in its entirety. Basically, Codemasters expected "Jumpgate" to ship by on or before February 24, 2009, and because that didn't happen, they want to be compensated for what they didn't receive.
"During the course of the litigation other documents will become part of the court's public records further detailing the respective positions of the parties," their online statement explained. "On the advice of Codemasters' US attorneys, Codemasters has no further comment at this time."
NetDevil did manage to put "Lego Universe" out in October, so it's not like they've been sitting around doing nothing while "Jumpgate" has been in development. Whether this lawsuit means that we'll never see the game at all or we'll see it very quickly without the kinks worked out because NetDevil doesn't want to give their money back remains to be seen though. Whatever's next, it's not likely to be pretty.
Have you be anxiously awaiting the release of "Jumpgate Evolution"? Would you still like to see its makers find a way to get it out? Share your reactions with us in the comment section below.