As spotted by Twitter user @usemyhandle, Rockstar and Remedy have apparently entered into a trademark dispute over Remedy’s new logo.
The Finnish game development studio switched its logo for the first time in twenty years in April 2023. At the time, Remedy explained:
Creating a new logo and a refreshed visual identity for Remedy was an emotional journey, like anything to do with art. For longtime Remedy followers, you surely know how vital artistic direction is for us. Not just in our games but from the standpoint of how our studio identity looks. Not to mention our hoodies!
As a game development studio, we have come a long way since 1995 when we got our start. Remedy is constantly evolving.
The bullet in the letter R in the old logo represented the era of Max Payne, but the Remedy of now is much bigger than a single game; we have a whole portfolio of games, new and old.
It was time to update and redefine our visual identity to bring more consistency, showcase our evolution over the years, and better express our vision of today’s Remedy.
A few months later, Rockstar began opposing it in the UK (and presumably elsewhere, too), likely due to the similarity with its own historic logo. In any case, it is likely the two companies will be able to resolve this amicably soon enough. After all, Rockstar Games was the publisher of Max Payne 2 and subsequently developed the third installment after Take-Two purchased the IP rights (for $10 million) from Remedy. In April 2022, the companies partnered once again to remake the first two franchise entries, with Rockstar again acting as the publisher and Remedy as the developer.
A couple of months ago, the Finnish studio, which recently garnered widespread acclaim for Alan Wake II, confirmed the Max Payne remakes had entered the production stage.
Meanwhile, Rockstar is all hands on deck with the development of GTA VI. We got the first trailer last month, with a planned release at some point next year on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S|X.
