Namco Bandai wins Witcher 2 suit against CD Projekt

Earlier this year, Namco Bandai sued The Witcher 2 creator CD Projekt in a dispute involving the European publishing rights for its fantasy role-playing game. In the suit, Namco Bandai claimed its rights to publish the Witcher 2 in the region superseded those that CD Projekt had later given to THQ for the Xbox 360 version of the game. Now, a court has agreed.

Edge reports that a French court has ruled CD Projekt must present Namco Bandai with a publishing agreement within the next 15 days or face a €15,000 ($20,000) fine per day following noncompliance. The report also cites Polish news outlet Parkiet with a quote from CD Projekt CEO Marcin Iwinski saying he was "not satisfied" with the judge's order but was happy to have the issue settled.

The Witcher 2 developer must now back out of its publishing agreement with THQ for the Xbox 360 version of the game in Europe. The THQ deal included distribution in Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East.

Namco Bandai's complaint surrounding CD Projekt's offering of the game without DRM through Good Old Games was not addressed in this report. The Witcher 2 for the Xbox 360 is slated for release in the first quarter of 2012, with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment publishing in North America.

For more on the PC original, check out GameSpot's review of The Witcher 2.