Brutal Legend suit settled out of court

In the legal dispute over heavy metal action game Brutal Legend, Activision and Double Fine Productions have reportedly buried the hatchet. Or more appropriately, the ax.

A scheduled Los Angeles Superior Court hearing in which Activision was to argue for a judge to block the release of Brutal Legend was canceled Thursday, the Associated Press is reporting. The publisher's attorneys said a settlement was reached, negating the need for the hearing, a representative of the court told the AP.

No notice of settlement has been filed in the case, and there are no details as to the terms of the settlement. Representatives with Double Fine, Activision, and Electronic Arts (which is currently set to release the game through its EA Partners program) did not immediately return GameSpot's requests for comment.

Brutal Legend stars Jack Black as rock 'n' roll roadie Eddie Riggs, who must battle demons in hell.

The legal tiff over the game began at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June, when Activision filed a lawsuit to prevent the release of Brutal Legend. Activision claims that even though it declined to release Brutal Legend after merging with original publisher Vivendi Games, it never lost the rights to put the game out.

As a result, Double Fine wouldn't have been free to shop the game around and secure the help of EA Partners in preparing Brutal Legend for its currently scheduled October 13 launch.

Earlier this month, Double Fine countersued, accusing Activision of unlawful business practices and trying to prevent the game's release to thin out potential competition to the publisher's own Guitar Hero franchise. The countersuit mentioned an aborted attempt to make Brutal Legend an extension of the Guitar Hero franchise and said Double Fine's continued existence hinged on the game's successful release.

Brendan Sinclair reported for GameSpot.