Remedy and Take-Two go to war over the 18th letter of the alphabet

Paul McNally / Last Updated: Jan 16, 2024 / Game / News
remedy logo

Game publishers Remedy and Take-Two are heading for the courts to sort out a trademark dispute over the former’s recent logo change and its use of the letter R. While you might expect Remedy would want to use an R in its logo, TT has taken umbrage with a similarity between it and Rockstar Games’ (a Take Two studio) famous R logo.

Presumably, this similarity is because, well they are both using the letter R. Remedy changed its logo last April to a more modern design that removed the bullet from the original, saying, “The bullet in the letter R in the old logo represented the era of Max Payne, but the Remedy of now is much bigger than a single game; we have a whole portfolio of games, new and old.” A portfolio that includes last year’s amazing Alan Wake 2, which almost scooped Game of the Year.

“It was time to update and redefine our visual identity to bring more consistency, showcase our evolution over the years, and better express our vision of today’s Remedy.”

The Finnish studio’s new R caught the attention of Take-Two who disputed the trademark in the UK according to RespawnFirst citing, “There exists a likelihood of confusion on the part of the public” as its grounds for opposing it.

These kinds of cases can rumble for years sometimes. Gucci and Guess battled it out for nine years over the letter G and the World Wildlife Fund and the World Wrestling Federation were at t for 13 years.

Take-Two spent a portion of 2021 battling to stop Hazelight Studios’ platformer It Takes Two forcing the devs to abandon the name according to Eurogamer.

So can you reserve the letter R for your sole use? We will have to let the courts decide that one.

If you wanted a little extra comedy to spice things up, Remedy has an agreement with Rockstar to remake both Max Payne 1 and 2, with the announcement saying, The game’s development budget will be financed by Rockstar Games, the size of which will be in line with a typical Remedy AAA-game production.“

Now, who let that elephant in the room?

Paul McNally

Gaming Editor

Paul McNally has been around consoles and computers since his parents bought him a Mattel Intellivision in 1980. He has been a prominent games journalist since the 1990s, spending over a decade as editor of popular print-based video games and computer magazines, including a market-leading PlayStation title published by IDG Media. Having spent time as Head of Communications at a professional sports club and working for high-profile charities such as the National Literacy Trust, he returned as Managing Editor in charge of large US-based technology websites in 2020. Paul has written high-end gaming content for GamePro, Official Australian PlayStation Magazine, PlayStation Pro, Amiga Action, Mega Action, ST Action, GQ, Loaded, and the The Mirror. He has also hosted panels at retro-gaming conventions and can regularly be found guesting on gaming podcasts and Twitch shows. He is obsessed with 3D printing and has worked with several major brands in the past to create content Believing that the reader deserves actually to enjoy what they are reading is a big part of Paul’s ethos when it comes to gaming journalism, elevating the sites he works on above the norm. Reach out on X.