Former American football player sues Gears of War dev, claims Cole Train cribs his likeness
Bring it on, sucka! This is my kinda s**t!
Former American football player and wrestler Lenwood "Hard Rock" Hamilton is suing the devs behind Gears of War, claiming that his likeness was stolen in the creation of the character Augustus Cole, aka the Cole Train.
As reported by TMZ, Hamilton claims Cole Train looks similar to him and they both sport derbies, wristbands, and have a gold front tooth.
Weirdly, Hamilton isn't just suing Epic Games here, but also Cole Train actor and former football player Lester Speight.
Hamilton claims he hired a forensic voice examiner to compare Speight's performance to his voice and deduced that they were indistinguishable.
Furthermore, Hamilton says he and Speight know each other and they even discussed making a video game character together, so Hamilton believes his idea was stolen and then pitched to Epic.
As for why it took over a decade for Hamilton to notice this, the former football player said he was only made aware of the situation recently when his son's friend showed him the 2006 game.
For reference, this is what Hamilton looks and sounds like:
And here's Cole Train:
This isn't the first time a celebrity has sued a video game developer over allegedly using their likeness. Lindsey Lohan filed a lawsuit against Rockstar Games, claiming that her likeness was used in Grand Theft Auto 5. However, the court ruled in favour of the game developer and the case was dismissed.
We've requested comment from Epic Games about this matter and will update should we get a statement.