Activision frisky about Brutal Legend?

Activision is reportedly hot and bothered about EA Partners' plans to publish Double Fine's game Brutal Legend.

Brutal Legend used to be a Vivendi game prior to the merger that created Activision Blizzard last year, and was supposedly one of those "identified as not likely to achieve the profit margin potential that we look for", in the words of Activision super-boss Bobby Kotick.

However, Variety now reports that Activision is "threatening to sue developer Double Fine and new publisher Electronic Arts" because it reckons it still holds publishing rights.

The report claims Activision Blizzard has written a letter "to EA (and possibly Double Fine)" about its "legal concerns", even though the publisher doesn't actually want to publish Brutal Legend itself.

Rather brilliantly, an EA spokesperson then apparently expressed doubts about the likelihood of legal action by saying, "That would be like a husband abandoning his family and then suing after his wife meets a better looking guy." Indeed - virtually indistinguishable.

We've contacted both Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts for comment and will update this story if we hear anything useful.

At the time of EA Partners' signing Brutal Legend, Double Fine founder and Eurogamer hero Tim Schafer welcomed his new masters by saying, "They're the perfect place to launch a new IP and to do something that is pushing the boundaries of gaming."

In Schafer's excellent world, that means an action-adventure where roadie Eddie Riggs (played by Jack Black) enters a heavy-metal fantasy world and faces off against demons using a giant axe and guitar among other things.