During the process of becoming the capitalistic Godzilla of game publishing we know today, Activision inherited numerous titles it had no interest in owning. Whether it be Ghostbusters or Chronicles of Riddick, if it couldn’t be spun-off, annually sequelized or compatible with a plastic instrument, the folks behind Guitar Hero and Call of Duty wanted no part in it. Brutal Legend was axedin the shortsighted purging, in spite of the millions of dollars Activision had already invested in the project and considerable anticipation from people who actually buy games to actually play them.
Luckily, creator Tim Schafer and Double Fine carried on, and the game eventually found a publisher in the form of EA (Ironically, now known in some circles as “The Old Activision”). Even though the company had basically cast Brutal Legend to the wolves to wither and die, Activision decided it was still entitled to its profits and sued to prevent the game from being published… which is sorta like showing up to the foster home of your orphaned child and demanding he mow your lawn. You may’ve knocked the girl up, Activision… but EA married her!
