So, way back in 2007 Vivendi subsidiary Sierra was working on a game called Brutal Legend. When Vivendi merged with Activision to create Activision Blizzard, Activision decided to drop the highly-anticipated metal/adventure game from its roster. Developer Double Fine didn't want to just stop making the game, so they asked EA to publish it instead.

Now it's 2009 and Brutal Legend is almost ready to hit stores. It's got a lot of media buzz behind it and it looks like it's going to make an embarrassing amount of money. Now that the game is almost done and the hype has reached a fever pitch, Activision wants its abandoned baby back. They're suing Double Fine in order to halt the release of the Brutal Legend.

Activision says that Vivendi spent 15 million dollars developing the game, and that since Vivendi is now a part of Activision they still have the rights to publish Brutal Legend. If this strikes you as a bit ridiculous, that's because it is. Activision gave up any rights they had to Brutal Legend when they dropped it from their roster and stopped funding it.

"That would be like a husband abandoning his family and then suing after his wife meets a better looking guy." said one EA employee.

Brutal Legend is currently slated for an October 2009 release. We have no word as of yet as to whether this latest development will effect that.