Trendy Entertainment (Dungeon Defenders' development team) and Studio Wildcard (the outfit that is developing ARK: Survival Evolved) are involved in a lawsuit that it could have important repercussions on ARK's future and development.
The reason behind this legal affair lays in the fact that Trendy's former developer and game designer, Jeremy Stieglitz - who's been working with Studio Wildcard since 2014 - alledgedly violated a clause that hindered him from joining a competitor for a limited time, a typical clause in the gaming industry. To further complicate the situation, Susan Stieglitz, Jeremy's wife, is one of the co-founders of Studio Wildcard.
According to Kotaku, Trendy Entertainment's lawyers are confident that Stieglitz has been in breach of the clause and they accused Wildcard of having an active role in this matter, which in turn influenced the development of Dungeon Defenders 2.
Wildcard has denied an active role of Stieglitz at ARK: Survival Evolved's development, arguing that the developer has only played the role of a consultant at that time.
We have to wait until April 27 to find out how the court will rule on the motion proposed by Trendy Entertainment, which demands a stop to the development of ARK until the end of the lawsuit.
Given that effect this could have on ARK: Survival Evolved, it is reasonable to assume to Studio Wildcard would then be inclined to enter into somekind of agreement with Trendy, perhaps giving them a sum of money as a prolonged courtcase could be costly in more than one way for the studio.