The Walking Dead Creator Suing Video Game Company

Robert Kirkman’s hit series The Walking Dead is still going strong over at AMC, even despite the hit series ending in the comics last year. That said, Kirkman isn’t happy with every aspect of the Walking Dead franchise and has filed a lawsuit against Disruptor Beam inc. over money owed from their mobile game adaptation The Walking Dead: March To War. TMZ got ahold of the documents from the lawsuit, which states that Kirkman is seeking upwards of $690,000 from Disruptor Beam, money owed to him from their deal to adapt the Walking Dead universe. Kirkman says that Disruptor stopped making payments as of last month and was told by the company they would no longer be making payments.

The deal stipulated that Disruptor Beam would make payments annually of $500,000, and that would continue for four years after the release of the game. While the deal was struck in 2014, March to War didn’t release until 2017, so payments began then. In the documents, Kirkman says that payments were made initially, though they were at times late, but this month they stopped.

He also said he was told by Disruptor Beam that it would stop making payments “until further notice.” Kirkman didn’t specify why they said they would stop, so he might not know, but he is suing for the remainder of the funds owed, which equaled out to $190,000 for the rest of this year and $500,000 for next year.

Now, we might have an indication as to why they decided to stop payments for 2019, as Disruptor announced previously that March to War was being shut down starting at the beginning of 2019, specifically January 31st. They didn’t reveal why it was being shut down, but odds are it was not as profitable as it needed to be for continued development and support. You can read their official statement below (via Pocket Gamer)

“Many of you have made your mark in March to War for more than a year: hunting for resources, cutting down walkers and fighting for your communities. We appreciate your support for the game and thank you for the time you spent exploring – and surviving – the world of The Walking Dead with us. All good things must come to an end, however, and we will soon be reaching the conclusion of our apocalyptic journey. The Walking Dead: March to War is shutting down on January 31st 2019.”

We’ll keep you posted when more about this situation comes to light.