Cooking Mama: Cookstar Statement Addresses Unauthorized Release and Potential Legal Action
The Cooking Mama drama continues to heat up regarding Cooking Mama: Cookstar as the franchise’s [...]
The Cooking Mama drama continues to heat up regarding Cooking Mama: Cookstar as the franchise's IP holder, Office Create, has now released a statement addressing the tumultuous release of the new game while suggesting that legal action may be taken against the involved parties. Office Create's statement on Cooking Mama: Cookstar which was shared this week attempted to clarify the messy situation going on in relation to the game and when it was released as well as the question of whether it was supposed to even be released in the first place. No legal action is currently being taken, based on what was said in the statement, but the IP holder said it's evaluating its options.
Cooking Mama: Cookstar, for those who are just getting caught up on the situation, was released for the Nintendo Switch briefly before being pulled from the Nintendo eShop. According to Office Create, Planet Entertainment wasn't authorized to release the game due to "a wide range of deficiencies affecting the overall feel, quality and content of the game" that Office Create wanted fixed.
"Unfortunately, the quality of the game builds failed to meet the standards that our customers expect and deserve," Office Create said in a statement. "Office Create rejected a wide range of deficiencies affecting the overall feel, quality and content of the game. Yet, despite being contractually obligated to correct the identified deficiencies and resubmit the corrected game for Office Create's approval, Planet proceeded to release Cooking Mama: Cookstar without addressing all of the rejections and without Office Create's approval."
Important Notice re. Cooking Mama: Cookstarhttps://t.co/A6UZelL7kw
— CookingMama (@cookingmama_Eng) April 15, 2020
People who may not have cared much about the game before the controversy suddenly wanted a copy of the game, and some were even prepared for it to come to the PlayStation 4 as well. Office Create said it's not involved in any such PlayStation version despite that platform being advertised in Europe.
In March, Office Create said it terminated Planet Entertainment's license but said that the company still continued to sell the game. The result of this is now an evaluation of potential legal options on Office Create's part.
"Office Create is evaluating all legal action against Planet to protect our customers, intellectual property rights and the Cooking Mama series," the statement concluded. "In the meantime, we thank our customers and loyal Cooking Mama fans for their continued support and sincerely regret any confusion and disappointment that has been caused by Planet's conduct."
