Game publishers face lawsuits over fantasy sports patents

Five of the biggest names in gaming are being targeted by lawsuits involving patents for fantasy sports.

Gamespot reported that Texas-based Virtual Gaming Technologies LLC is going after game publishers in the recent weeks, alleging the companies made “substantially similar violations” regards its two patents.

Among the companies facing lawsuits are Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Take-Two, Zynga, and Konami, the gaming news outlet reported.

GameIndustry.biz was able to get ahold of copies of the complaints, in which Virtual Gaming claimed that “many of the most popular sports gaming franchises in the world are infringing on its patents covering interactive games that are based on events occurring in real time.” The company also alleged that trading fantasy sports players mid-game based on their real-world performance is also covered in one of its patents.