Rein clarifies UE3 lawsuit ruling

The judge in the middle of the squabble between Epic Games and Silicon Knights has refused to dismiss the lawsuit.

The latest motion to put a stop to proceedings was argued to a California judge by Mark Rein and Tim Sweeney, who said Silicon Knights had shown Unreal Engine 3 to those not authorised to see it, leaking all sorts of secrets about how it works to would-be competition.

Rein was also upset that Silicon Knights had signed a new game with SEGA allegedly built on a modified UE3 engine - something Epic never says it never got paid for or asked about.

Speaking to Eurogamer this afternoon, Rein pointed out that the dismissal of the motion is not a ruling on the veracity of the claims at the heart of the case.

"It is important to note that the judge did not rule on the merits of Silicon Knights' claims, despite what Silicon Knights might allege," he wrote in an email.

"Judge Dever's decision simply allows the discovery process to move forward so that he can rule on the facts.

"We are confident that the evidence will show Silicon Knights breached its license with Epic Games and violated our copyrights and trade secrets."

Silicon Knights filed a lawsuit against Epic Games in August, claiming the Unreal Engine 3 creator was in breach of its contract for not providing enough technical support because it was too busy making its own game Gears of War. The result was an elongated and unnecessarily expensive development period for Too Human, the developer said.