ZeniMax faces lawsuit from singer Dion over Fallout 4 promo

Claims his song "The Wanderer" was used in "morally indefensible" ad.

News by Jeffrey Matulef Contributor

Updated on July 7, 2017

Fallout 4 developer Bethesda Game Studios' parent company ZeniMax is being sued by 60s folk singer/songwriter Dion DiMucci (best known as simply "Dion") who wasn't happy with how his music was used to sell the post-apocalyptic RPG.

Have you ever actually listened to the lyrics of The Wanderer? Let's just say that its association with Fallout 4's violence isn't the only thing problematic about it.

As reported by The Wrap, Dion found the ads "objectionable because they featured repeated homicides in a dark, dystopian landscape, where violence is glorified as sport. The killings and physical violence were not to protect innocent life, but instead were repugnant and morally indefensible images designed to appeal to young consumers."

Those are some pretty strong words. Though you may be asking yourself, "wait, didn't Dion sign off on this?"

That's where things get tricky. According to court documents obtained by The Wrap, Dion made an arrangement with record label UMG Recordings to license his 1961 classic tune to ZeniMax, but he was supposed to be able to bargain for a better rate or prohibit use of the song altogether if he didn't like the way in which is was being used.

Dion claimed that ZeniMax never reached out to him and he didn't know how his work was being used until after the ads ran. Had he been given a heads up, he could have either pulled the song, convinced ZeniMax to make these ads tell "the story of a post-apocalyptic struggle for survival without craven violence", or renegotiated a higher fee to overcome the negative association he saw in these promos.