PC game accused of purloining Oblivion assets

The word "limbo" is a thesaurus-suggested synonym of "oblivion." So it's oddly fitting that Majestic Studios' Limbo of the Lost is under fire for apparently stealing art from Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

As pointed out by GamePlasma, some of the environments in Limbo of the Lost bear a striking resemblance to areas of Oblivion, from textures used to room layouts and the objects that populate them. Although the similarities in the screenshots are undeniable, the games themselves are quite different in practice.

Published by Tri Synergy, Limbo of the Lost is a point-and-click adventure game in which players guide protagonist Captain Benjamin Spooner Briggs as he explores the realm of Limbo and The Keep of Lost Souls at its heart. Released in 2006 for the PC and Xbox 360 and the following year for the PlayStation 3, Oblivion is an open-world role-playing game in which players can create their own characters and save a kingdom from encroaching demons that are tearing holes in the fabric of reality.

A Tri Synergy representative addressed the matter for GameSpot, saying that the publisher had no previous knowledge of the issue. He also said a question had been raised about similar issues with Limbo of the Lost and Eidos' 2004 action adventure game Thief: Deadly Shadows.

"We're seeing this for the first time," the representative emphasized. "We had no idea any of this was going on."

Tri Synergy has already given Limbo of the Lost a limited release, and the representative said that it had not determined what to do regarding plans to release the game to major retailers such as Best Buy. So far, the publisher's attempts to reach the developer have not been successful, given that the team has apparently been on vacation after completing development on Limbo. The representative also said that Tri Synergy has not been in direct contact with Bethesda or Eidos yet.

A representative from Bethesda told GameSpot that the company was aware of the issue but was unable to comment on the matter. An Eidos representative had not returned a request for comment.