In 2023, Remedy unveiled their new trademark, a large letter R that has a rippling effect to it which they stated reflected a “New and Refined look,” for the studio. This has not sat well with Take-Two, owner of the extremely popular Rockstar Games, who are disputing this new logo over similarities to the logo of the Grand Theft Auto developer. This filing was made in the UK and EU, because of the “likelihood of confusion,” said the publisher.
Remedy had filed with EU’s Intellectual Property office on April 13, 2023, which was one day before their public announcement. They then filed with Uk’s IPO a month after that on May 11th, with them filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office two weeks later on May 24th.
The irony of this situation is that both companies are currently in the process of remaking the Remedy classic Max Payne for modern platforms. Before that, it would appear there was very little in the way of drama between the two studios. Remedy originally developed the Max Payne games under Rockstar in the early 2000’s, with Remedy eventually parting ways to develop Alan Wake with Microsoft.
Years later, Rockstar would bring the character back with Max Payne 3, a well-received though thematically different game, written by Dan Houser who is better known for his involvement with Grand Theft Auto. Current rumors also suggest that Rockstar may also be developing, or planning to develop, Max Payne 4.
This is a possibility that all of this will be resolved before this goes to court. Both Take-Two and Remedy have requested an extension to the “Cooling off period,” which is now set to expire on September 25th, 2025. This leaves both with well over a year of time to attempt to hash this out without seeing the inside of a courtroom.
Follow us on social media to keep up to date with everything happening at PixelByte Gaming.
