It Takes Two was well received when it came out earlier this year, but Grand Theft Auto parent company Take-Two wasn't so happy about its name.
A new report from Eurogamer reveals that Hazelight, the studio which developed It Takes Two with publishing support from Electronic Arts, abandoned its trademark application for the name of the game after receiving a trademark claim from Take-Two Interactive Software. Hazelight told Eurogamer that it was an ongoing dispute and the studio is "hopeful it will be resolved," though it couldn't reveal any further details.
While the news is only emerging now, Hazelight filed to abandon its trademark application in response to Take-Two's claim the day before the game was released, according to the official notice of abandonment. It's not clear if or how this has affected Hazelight and EA's ability to market the game after launch, or any potential plans for a followup, though losing a trademark doesn't mean you aren't able to use those words at all - they just don't have trademark protection.
- It Takes Two sold over 20 million copies and won GOTY, but Hazelight's Josef Fares says "all the numbers looked really, really bad" before the co-op studio became "this really big developer"
- Former GTA dev weighs in on Rockstar's attempt to silence Vice City mod that ports the whole game to GTA 4: "This is what companies are supposed to do"
According to the report, Take-Two has filed numerous other trademark claims this year, targeting names that use the word "rockstar," "civilization," and beyond. Trademark law encourages holders to be proactive about defending their trademarks or risk losing them entirely, though a games industry lawyer Eurogamer spoke to noted that "Take-Two is being very, very aggressive" in its approach.
Unfortunate naming troubles aside, Hazelight really knows how to make a collaborative two-player experience; It Takes Two still tops our list of the best co-op games.
