Cookstar: Cooking Mama legal case finally reaches a verdict

Overdone.

The long-running legal case regarding controversial Cooking Mama: Cookstar has finally drawn to its conclusion, with The International Court of Arbitration ruling that publisher Planet Entertainment did indeed infringe upon Office Create’s IP with the 2020 release.

Available for PS4 and Nintendo Switch, Cooking Mama: Cookstar fell into controversy immediately, with rumors swirling that it utilized the Nintendo Switch hardware to mine cryptocurrency. Though Planet Entertainment stated that this wasn’t the case, Cooking Mama IP owner Office Create filed suit against the publisher, stating that the company’s right to use the Cooking Mama brand had expired — the initial build of the comical cook sim having been submitted and rejected back in 2018.

“Unfortunately, the quality of the game builds failed to meet the standards that our customers expect and deserve,” said Office Create at the time. “Office Create rejected a wide range of deficiencies affecting the overall feel, quality, and content of the game.

“Yet, despite being contractually obligated to correct the identified deficiencies and resubmit the corrected game for Office Create’s approval, Planet proceeded to release Cooking Mama: Cookstar without addressing all of the rejections and without Office Create’s approval.”

Following this week’s legal ruling, Cooking Mama: Cookstar has been removed from the PSN Store and the Nintendo eShop, and all remaining physical copies must be removed from store shelves. To date, the most recent official Cooking Mama release was Apple Arcade title Cooking Mama: Cuisine! which launched in July of this year.

Court rules that Cooking Mama: Cookstar infringed upon Office Create’s IP [GamesIndustry.biz]