Rockstar Parent Company Goes After Remedy Entertainment Over Trademark Dispute

The parent company of Rockstar Games, the creator of popular franchises like GTA, Red Dead Redemption, and Take-Two Interactive, has filed another trademark dispute. For the current dispute, Take-Two Interactive will go against the developers of Alan Wake 2 and Max Payne, Remedy Entertainment, over the letter "R" in their logo. Take-Two Interactive feels that Remedy's logo closely resembles Rockstar Games' logo and could create confusion among the public.

Take-Two Interactive's other widespread trademark conflict was the 2021 Game of the Year by Hazelight Studios, It Takes Two. Rockstar Games' parent company shared the concern over the similar name "Takes Two" and how Take-Two Interactive wants to ensure that no one shares a common name, which could impact ownership of their name. Due to the conflict, Hazelight Studios abandoned the "It Takes Two" name's ownership. Take-Two Interactive replicates its aggressive approach over the logo dispute against Remedy Entertainment. 

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Take-Two Interactive Takes Issue with Remedy's Use of the Letter "R" in their New Logo

In April 2023, Remedy Entertainment decided to revamp and give themselves a fresh look. As a result of the update, Remedy launched a new logo for the company with the letter "R", similar to what Rockstar Games had. Upon revealing their new logo in April 2023, Remedy Entertainment said:

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. 

While Remedy Entertainment had a different mindset behind redesigning its new logo, Take-Two Interactive isn't happy with the revamp. They feel that "there exists a likelihood of confusion on the part of the public" and continue to go against Remedy on this basis. It will be interesting to see Remedy's stance on Take-Two's concerns. Per Respawn First's report, Remedy Entertainment filed the logo trademark application in May 2023, revealing their new logo to the public a month later. 

Remedy Entertainment and Rockstar Games are both big names in the gaming industry. While Rockstar Games has already launched hit titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA 5, they are almost a year away from launching the highly anticipated game of the decade, GTA 6. Remedy Entertainment catered for their audience with rich titles like Max Payne and Max Payne 2 alongside the psychological thriller franchise Alan Wake. 

This is most puzzling as Remedy Entertainment and Rockstar Games have had a working relationship in the past, with Rockstar publishing the sequel to Max Payne as well as developing Max Payne 3. The studio is also working on the remakes for Max Payne & 2 with a development agreement with Rockstar Games, which would lead one to believe the studio still has a decent relationship with the publisher as well as the parent company.