Eurogamer has reported that Hazelight, the studio headed up by everyone’s favourite The Game Awards stage-ranter Josef Fares, was hit with a trademark claim from publishing giant and Grand Theft Auto parent company Take-Two earlier this year.
The claim was laid against Hazelight’s then-unreleased It Takes Two, for the similarities to Take Two’s company name.
This led to Hazelight abandoning the trademark to the name It Takes Two, as evidenced by this notice of abandonment filed to the USPTO, but the developer wasn’t willing to comment further on the matter when asked by Eurogamer how else it might impact sales of the game or potential future sequels.
Eurogamer also reports that Take-Two had filed several similar complaints against businesses using names similar to its own operations or properties, such as an axe-throwing club named “Rockstar Axe Throwing” and a clothing brand called “Max Fayne”.
We gave It Takes Two a 7.5 in our review, saying “Although the story of Cody and May doesn’t meet the standards set by the game’s varied gameplay, It Takes Two sees the continued form of Josef Fares and his team at Hazelight in crafting wonderfully creative and engaging worlds for players to share and collaborate in.”
