Rune II publisher secures game assets and source code

Rune II publisher Ragnarok Game says it has acquired the source code and assets for the title after launching legal proceedings against its developer for allegedly withholding them.

The action RPG released for PC via the Epic Games store on November 12, 2019, a day before developer Human Head Studios announced its surprise closure after 22 years in operation.

Simultaneously, Bethesda Softworks revealed it had established Roundhouse Studios, a new Wisconsin studio staffed by developers who had worked at Human Head.

Ragnarok subsequently sued its former development partner for withholding the Rune II source code and assets, among other allegations, resulting in it being unable to “support, update, and execute future DLC” plans for the game. These now appear to have been returned, although the lawsuit has not been resolved.

“Late last week, we received a hard drive containing the RUNE II assets and source code,” Ragnarok said in a statement. “We have brought on engineers to check the thoroughness of materials and ensure the hard drive has all RUNE II files.

“Currently we have set up a build, test, and staging environment. Once we have confirmed that we are able to make a complete build of the current version of RUNE II (.12L), we are going to begin working on a patch to address the top critical issues, bugs, and optimizations that we have seen reported over the last month and a half. As always, thanks for sticking with us and being fans of RUNE II.”

A Ragnarok spokesperson told GamesIndustry.biz that its $100 million lawsuit against Human Head and three of its co-founders, which accuses them of fraud, breach of contract and unfair business practices, is ongoing.

Its “top priority is to support Rune II and evaluate whether all of Ragnarok’s property has been returned,” they said, adding, “nothing has been resolved on the legal front.”

Following a “successful” launch, the game’s new development team at Ragnarok has said it plans to update Rune II with fresh content “for months to come” and still intends to release the title on other PC platforms in 2020.