AM General sues Activision over 'Call of Duty' Humvee use
The "Call of Duty" franchise rakes in billions, and AM General wants a piece of the pie.
Khodrocar - It's hard to think of military vehicles without thinking of the HMMWV, otherwise known as the Humvee. That's why its manufacturer is pretty peeved about its appearance in a popular video game franchise.
AM General, the Humvee's manufacturer, has filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard Inc., Reuters reports. The suit alleges that the company in charge of the "Call of Duty" franchise never received permission to use AM General's products in its video game series, and is thus entitled to compensation.
AM General, which is based out of South Bend, Indiana, is seeking compensatory, punitive and triple damages after pre-lawsuit communications failed to produce a result. The suit alleges that Activision's success with its franchise came "at the expense of AM General and consumers who are deceived into believing that AM General licenses the games or is somehow connected with or involved in the creation of the games."
Neither Activision nor AM General returned requests for comment.
Activision has sold more than 250 million copies of its "Call of Duty" games, raking in revenue in excess of $15 billion. It's also branched out into toys, books and other mediums. It's not hard to see why AM General would want a piece of that action, especially if its vehicles were recreated in the virtual world without permission, as is allegedly the case.
Source: RoadShow