8 Times Celebrities Spectacularly Failed At Suing The Gaming Industry

Hey... is that Lindsay Lohan?

Even at the best of times the gaming industry is a melting pot of passionately overcooked opinions and steaming vitriol thrown in all directions whenever anyone dares admit they don't like an otherwise popular franchise. Outside of that though, there's been a few instances over the years when celebrities and public figures have gotten involved, only to face the wrath of going up against one of the most creative mediums there is. It's always an uphill battle for any named figure out in the public eye to even attempt a tiptoe through the minefield of satire and parody that forms the bulletproof defence any artistically-minded company can always fall back on, but it's not stopped some celebrities of varying grades from at least giving it a pop - for the sake of headlines if nothing else. Chances are if you think on the topic just a second, there's a certain tabloid-bothering developer who springs to mind whenever these sorts of things are discussed - ten points if you correctly guessed Rockstar - and to be honest you'd be right. As is the case with their somewhat bad-boy image, they replicate the mentalities of South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone when it comes to celebrity parodies - but we wouldn't have them any other way.

8. Roger Hill Vs. Rockstar Games (The Warriors)

One of the coolest people on the planet (or he was back when The Warriors released in 1979), Rockstar's remake of his claim-to-fame action flick sadly didn't go down to well with the catchphrase-spouting actor. Instead Hill asked for a rather substantial $250,000 from Rockstar, based off the idea that it had generated $37 million in sales thanks to his character kicking off the events of the story. The GTA developer would defend the suit with flying colours, mentioning that although they had initially talked with Hill about his involvement, despite his denial they had purchased a "valid third-party license" for the character of Cyrus, and thus Hill's claims were all for nought. In the end The Warriors remains one of Rockstar's best games outside the GTA series, brimming with memorable characters, brutal combat, fuzzy drugged-out 80's vibes and a killer soundtrack to boot - it's just a shame Roger Hill couldn't dig it (sorry).
 
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Gaming Editor
Gaming Editor

WhatCulture's Head of Gaming.