Square Enix sue mech game developer for allegedly recycling parts from Front Mission

It’s been a billion years since I played a proper new Front Mission game, and I’m depressed to learn that Square Enix cancelled one in 2022. Titled Front Mission 2089: Borderscape and developed by BlackJack Studio, it was announced for release on iOS and Android but, who knows, might have clanked and rumbled onto PC, the place all good mobile games go when they die. Alas, Square Enix shut the project down a few months after reveal. Now, they’re suing BlackJack for releasing a new game that allegedly makes use of leftover parts from the Front Mission contract.

As reported by Polygon, BlackJack Studio released a game called Metal Storm, or Mecharashi, in October 2024. Square Enix claim that BlackJack (known in the lawsuit as HK Ten Tree) developed it “using materials created pursuant” to their old Front Mission licensing agreement for Borderscape.

Mecharashi was only ever released in China and Japan, but does have an English language Steam page, which describes it as 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.” The trailer certainly looks rather Front Missionary. Square Enix have sent a bunch of DMCA takedowns to get the game yanked from storefronts. It’s back on Steam as of this writing thanks to a counter-claim.

Square Enix’s lawsuit has been filed in both a US and a Japanese court, and includes side-by-side comparisons of Mecharashi and the unreleased Front Mission 2089: Borderscape – 11 pages of them. Find some examples below.

The Final Fantasy publishers argue that the game can’t be released in its current state because it makes use of “game mechanics, visual designs, and other protected content” from the abandoned Front Mission collaboration. They want BlackJack to both remove said infringing material and cough up $150,000 per infringement.

Being neither alleged infringer nor self-described infringed-upon, I will conclude only by saying that I think those mech designs are quite nice. Softer-looking and warmer of hue than I remember Front Mission being, though that’s me harkening back to the PS1 era when the science of video game anti-aliasing was in its infancy. It reminds me of Phantom Brigade. Ah, I hope we get another tactical mech game soon, once the lawyers have had their fun.