S.T.A.L.K.E.R. rights disputed

Yesterday, bitComposer Entertainment announced it had acquired the worldwide exclusive rights to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. Now, this claim has been contested. GSC Game World and CEO Sergey Grigorovich have issued a statement claiming that GSC Game World is in fact the sole rights owner for the franchise.

"In view of the rumors appearing in press, we find it necessary to inform that GSC Game World and Sergey Grigorovich remain to be the sole owners of all the intellectual property rights to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game series and the brand overall, including all the trademarks, the game universe, the technology etc," the company said. "This can be easily verified with the trademark services online."

The fate of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series has been enshrouded in mystery of late. Earlier this year, rumor had it that Fallout and Elder Scrolls publisher Bethesda was to take over the series. Before that, developer GSC Game World was shut down, with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 being canceled outright, despite efforts to keep the project alive.

The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games are centered around Chernobyl, which suffered a nuclear reactor meltdown in 1986. In the original game, the town is subjected to a second dose of nuclear fallout, spawning a rash of hideously mutated monsters. GSC Game World released two follow-ups to the original game: Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat.