A lawsuit has been levied against Atari by Xbox co-creator Rob Wyatt, who claims the company did not pay him for the work he put into designing the Atari VCS console. Wyatt, who also founded The Last Gameboard, said he quit as lead architect for Atari in an interview last year, accusing them of failing to pay his company, Tin Giant, for work carried out over a six-month period.
Atari hasn't built a console for over 20 years but the idea for the VCS was put out there by Feargal Mac Conuladh in 2017. Feargal doesn't exactly have a squeaky-clean reputation and has been involved in some questionable crowdfunded ventures in the past. He left Atari after the company held up the project, initially named Ataribox, and pushed preorders back. Atari revealed having renamed the console Atari VCS during the Game Developers Conference in 2019, announcing the system would ship in 2019. But they failed to meet the dates and have since announced it will ship out this spring.
According to Venturebeat.com, Tin Giant has filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Colorado with claims of breach of contract and defamation. The designers allege Atari owes $261,720.
Atari CEO Fred Chesnais refused to comment on the matter, stating he was yet to receive a copy of the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states that Tin Giant agreed to a contract on June 26, 2018, and Wyatt claims to have met all of his obligations. However, he says he did not receive payment after demanding it in October 2019, with invoices totaling the aforementioned sum.
Wyatt claims Atari falsely accused Tin Giant of delaying the project and failing to complete all of the tasks listed in the agreement. Chesnais and Atari executive Michael Arzt are also said to have made statements to the public that were untrue.
“In fact, it was Atari’s own mismanagement of the console project that was the cause of or reason for the delayed launch,” the lawsuit reads.
Atari has not shipped the VCS to any of the customers who preordered and recently claimed the coronavirus outbreak has forced them to put plans on hold.
Source: Venturebeat.com