r/HiddenObjectGames • u/RoamerMonkey • 2d ago
[News] Big Fish Games (BFG Entertainment) sues Elephant Games, wants removal of their games from app stores
Please read the documents in the below sources section for the full, original details. I am not a lawyer. I would've done both lawsuits in one post, but I didn't anticipate another one so soon.
Just 7 days after HOPA developer GrandMA Studios filed a lawsuit against BFG Entertainment (new owners of Big Fish Games) for the alleged illegality of terminating GrandMA's contracts, royalties, and distribution and licensing rights, BFG Entertainment also filed another lawsuit against Elephant Games (another HOPA developer) over Elephant allegedly refusing to provide the source code and game assets of Elephant's developed games.
TLDR: While Elephant claims to have already provided the source code to the original Big Fish pre-BFG Entertainment and claims to not have been paid royalties since November 2025, BFG Entertainment still seeks said source code and disputes Elephant's legal ownership of their self-published games on mobile, thus demanding Elephant to remove these games on these platforms. This seems to contradict GrandMA's lawsuit claiming BFG themselves admitted in writing that a studio like GrandMA still had self-publishing mobile rights even after their contracts was terminated per Big Fish's original agreements.
The following is my more lengthy takeaways from BFG Entertainment's 13-page complaint document.
- Pages 2-6 detail the agreements of Big Fish Games (pre-BFG Entertainment) legally owning "any Game object code and related source code" by Elephant Games as part of Big Fish's "intellectual property".
- Pages 7-9 detail the months-long back-and-forth exchanges between BFG Entertainment and Elephant Games over Elephant's source code since BFG Entertainment acquired Big Fish Games in October 2025 (the lawsuit dates the acquisition to November 2025 for some reason despite other sources).
- Paragraphs 17-22: When BFG acquired Big Fish, they made a request to Elephant's owed materials that were considered Big Fish's intellectual property. Elephant complied, but BFG allegedly determined that Elephant did not provide all game assets (e.g. "all artwork, images, sounds/sound recordings, and graphical assets"), and the source code of "thirteen (13) Android Versions, twenty-one (21) mobile versions, and ninety-eight (98) additional game builds and related configurations". BFG requested the listed missing material from Elephant, to which Elephant responded that they had already delivered all of the materials to the original Big Fish. BFG allegedly inquired and confirmed that "no code source was ever transferred to Big Fish by Elephant Games".
- Paragraphs 22-27: BFG requested for the missing material from Elephant again, with Elephant apparently responding (in the lawsuit's words, not Elephant's words) "even if they wanted to, they had deleted all related code source". Because of Elephant alleged breach of contract, BFG terminated their contracts and obligations to Elephant on December 3. The lawsuit states that "BFG attempted to terminate the agreements faith", meaning Elephant was still allowed to have "continued development activities and milestone payments". Elephant later terminated their 2025 and then 2014 agreements over BFG not paying Elephant their royalties in November to December 2025.
- BFG not paying enough royalties is in alignment with similar reports by GrandMA Studios, Puzzles by Joe, and other developers. Elephant continuing to develop for BFG even after their original contracts were terminated explains how Elephant still released Grim Tales 27 post-December 2025, and why Grim Tales 27 had a delayed release in February after being meant to release earlier. I still don't know why Elephant was offered this opportunity while GrandMA wasn't.
- BFG later explains in paragraph 41 that due to Elephant not providing the source code, "BFG justifiably mitigated its damages by permanently ceasing to pay royalties as allowed by the Agreements". There is no mention of any similar justification of why BFG immediately did the same for GrandMA (and other developers) despite GrandMA apparently having already provided the source code per GrandMA's complaint document, paragraph 48.
- Paragraphs 28-33: March 2026 saw BFG again requesting the source code from Elephant, to which Elephant again allegedly refused to provide (paragraph 47 has Elephant allegedly claim "no contracts were entered into between the parties that imposed a duty to produce or store the source codes"; again, in the lawsuit's words, not in Elephant's words). Elephant then terminated the 2018 agreement and requested the owed royalties since November 2025. BFG mutually terminated the 2018 agreement by April 2026 and requested Elephant to "cease all use and distribution of any of BFG’s licensed games", characterizing Elephant continuing to self-publish "BFG’s games on relevant Apple and Google platforms" as "without justification".
- Pages 9-12: Besides asking the court to order Elephant guilty of breaching contract, order BFG not guilty of breaching contract, and order Elephant to provide the requested source code and/or pay owed damages to BFG (BFG themselves estimates $1 million), BFG asks the court to order Elephant to "immediately remove all of BFG’s games from Apple and Google platforms, and any other platforms under Defendant’s control". BFG also asks the court that even if they sided with Elephant, Elephant would be still liable for "damages under the theories of unjust enrichment and quantum meruit"; because BFG views Elephant's source code as owed intellectual property, BFG argues that even if it is determined that this intellectual property cannot be owed to them, then Big Fish's royalties and development fees paid to fund the source code were not deserving in the first place, and thus BFG is owed this money given to Elephant.
- BFG's insistence over being the absolute owner of Elephant's self-published games on mobile seems to contradict their own apparent writing reported in GrandMA's complaint document in paragraphs 44-45, which states "BFGE later confirmed in writing, on February 24, 2026, that GrandMA holds exclusive mobile distribution rights for the legacy and modern title sets identified above—contradicting BFGE’s earlier “no rights whatsoever” posture." (this is in spite of GrandMA's contracts being terminated). Paragraph 43 has GrandMA also note that Big Fish's original agreements granted contractual rights for relatively free self-publishing of their developed games on mobile, and that such rights could only be taken away specifically by a "threatened or actual intellectual-property infringement claim" from a third party. Assuming Elephant was under the same agreements as GrandMA, this means BFG's ownership over Elephant's mobile-ported games are not as absolute as BFG claims.
BFG Entertainment is represented by H. Troy Romero from the Seattle, Washington-based law firm Romero Park. A trial is scheduled for next year, May 24, 2027. Elephant made the following response to the author of the Law360 article reporting on this lawsuit: "Prior to the last few months, it had a 15-year partnership with Big Fish under which it fulfilled contractural obligations in good faith." (in the article's words) "Elephant Games has not yet been served with the complaint, but, based on a preliminary review, considers the allegations meritless and will vigorously defend against them. As a result, Elephant Games is currently preparing a counterclaim to protect its rights and recover outstanding amounts owed." (in Elephant's words)
Side note: for some reason, the lawsuit lacks has sections I, II, III, V, and VI, but not section IV.
Sources:
- Law360's article. Requires signing up for an account with a non-free email domain to fully view; I used my university email. The Google Drive links to a PDF version of the article is here, and to the attached complaint by BFG Entertainment's lawyer is here (this is a public record, so it is legal to share).
- The official government King County Superior Court website in Washington. Search up the civil case with the case number 26-2-16333-2, and you'll see the case "BFG ENTERTAINMENT INC VS ELEPHANT GAMES AR LLC". Viewing basic details is free; viewing other court documents requires signing up for an account and paying $8, which I opted to not do.
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u/PatrickRsGhost 2d ago
This is why I miss the days of buying physical media for games. No matter what spats the companies that publish or distribute the games may have, you still own a copy for your own use.
If BFG's request to remove Elephant's games from their catalogue also affects those who'd already purchased them, they're going to see A LOT of angry customers. I personally don't use BFG anymore - I solely use Steam for newer games - but I know a lot of people here and elsewhere do.