Mithis/SCi controversy continues

MGE Software has issued a statement alleging conspiracy between former employees at developer Mithis Entertainment and publisher SCi, adding further intrigue to the complex wrangle over software IP.

The issue began to escalate last week when both SCi and Dutch publishing company HD Publishing issued a statement denying of any wrongdoing, following allegations of theft and sabotage in relation to source code and intellectual property held at the Hungarian developer's offices.

MGE Software believes that source code, servers and software were illegally taken from Mithis' offices, and game projects including Joint Task Force, Battlestation: Midway and Nexus: The Juniper Incident were unlawfully deleted from the company's computers.

The statement alleges that former Mithis employees conspired to remove the software and hand it over to SCi, despite a development agreement signed in 2003 which specified that MGE remain the developer and sole owner of the source code.

"The question of questions that still remains unanswered by SCi - how and when did it get hold of the source code, which it admits that it has, and was this done in a legal manner?" MGE Software's statement reads.

"MGE will continue to take every possible measure according to the laws in order to protect its rights," the company concluded.

Both SCi and HD Publishing (owner of Most Wanted Entertainment, now developing Joint Task Force) have strenuously denied any wrongdoing, and neither company appears to have been approached by the Hungarian authorities in relation to the matter, adding further fuel to the mystery surrounding numerous titles formerly being developed by Mithis.