Cryptozoic finds no merit in 'frivolous legal action' of Wizards' infringement suit

Cryptozoic Entertainment responded to Wizards of the Coast's lawsuit against the studio — which claims the former is infringing on the latter's Magic: The Gathering IP with its Hex: Shard of Fate trading card game — calling it a "frivolous legal action" that has no merit.

In a statement on the official website for Hex, the company stated it was aware of the suit but does not expect it to affect its digital card game in any way. The post calls Hex "fair competition" to Wizards' Magic: The Gathering.

"Although we take all pending litigation seriously, we do not find any merit to the allegations in the complaint," reads the post. "We do not expect this frivolous legal action to impact our efforts to deliver a compelling and entertaining game experience to our customers.

"As a small company, the daunting task of defending ourselves from the bullying of a much larger corporation is difficult, but we are committed to Hex: Shards of Fate and ultimately we will prevail," it adds.

Last week, Wizards filed a suit for copyright, patent and trade dress infringement against Hex's developers in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington. Wizards' suit alleges that Cryptozoic "copied the overall plot, elements, theme, mood, setting, pace, creatures and sequence" as well as the "cards, plot elements, circumstances, play sequence and flow" from Magic. 

"We respect intellectual property rights, but the right to make a TCG is not exclusive to [Wizards of the Coast]. Many TCGs can, and do, coexist consistent with any IP rights WOTC might have. While IP rights are important, so is fair competition. WOTC cannot snuff out fair competition with frivolous infringement assertions."

Hex: Shards of Fate was funded in June 2013 through Kickstarter, exceeding its $300,000 goal and pulling in $2,278,255. The game went into open alpha last fall.