Square Enix files lawsuit to halt development of mecha game resembling ‘Front Mission’

Square Enix has been reviving its Front Mission mecha franchise with remakes of its early games, but announced an entirely new game, Front Mission 2089: Borderscape, in 2022. Developed by BlackJack Studio, the game never came to to be: In a new lawsuit filed on March 13 in a Seattle court, Square Enix terminated the licensing agreement and canceled the game in October 2022, months after the game was announced in April. But years later, in October 2024, BlackJack Studio (called HK Ten Tree in the lawsuit) released a game called Metal Storm (or Mecharashi) that Square Enix says was “developed using materials created pursuant” to its Front Mission licensing agreement, and made by the same people.

Essentially, Square Enix is accusing the studio of reusing stuff made specifically for the Front Mission game that was canceled to make this new game, Mecharashi. Mecharashi was released in China and Japan. On its Steam page, BlackJack Studio calls Mecharashi a “mecha-themed tactical turn-based game” that uses “a Front Mission-style combat system, where you can assemble mechas however you want, equip a wide selection of weapons, and choose your favorite pilots to engage in battle.” There’s no release date; it’s simply listed as “coming soon.”

Attached to the lawsuit are screenshots from the unreleased Front Mission 2089: Borderscape, which Square Enix uses to compare to Mecharashi. You can see an example of the comparisons below. There are 11-pages worth of screenshots.

Square Enix wants the court to force BlackJack Studio to remove infringing content — “game mechanics, visual designs, and other protected content.” Basically, the game can’t be released in its current state, Square Enix argues, because it’s based off its Front Mission intellectual property. It’s sent multiple DMCA takedown notices to get the game removed from storefronts; it was removed from Steam, but is back after a counter-claim was submitted. Square Enix said it also filed a lawsuit in Japanese court.

It addition to an injunction to remove copyrighted materials, Square Enix is looking for $150,000 per infringement.