Capcom files lawsuit against Koei Tecmo (Read for more details).

Capcom is suing Koei Tecmo for patent infringement.

According to a report from Japanese publication Sankei (translated via Siliconera), Capcom claims that Koei Tecmo infringed upon a patent it filed back in 2002 that lets you gain new content by combining a new piece of software with an already existing game. Ostensibly this could refer to save data transferring or DLC that ends with the player acquiring new content in the parent game.

This is a very common practice, so it’s not entirely clear why Capcom is taking it out on Koei specifically, but maybe there’s more to it. Perhaps it has less to do with the concept than the technical execution of it?

The Street Fighter and Mega Man publisher’s other peculiar patent that it’s claiming Koei infringed upon is making a controller vibrate when enemies are near. Capcom postulated that this feature “has greatly contributed to the sales” of Koei Tecmo’s titles.

Capcom feels that it’s owed ¥980 million yen (about £5.68 million or $9.43 million) from the Ninja Gaiden publisher, which it claims violated Capcom patents in 50 of its games including Samurai Warriors: Xtreme Legends. It would also like to see several Koei games suspended from the marketplace.