FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 05/09/2011

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I gave [Ms. Carter] 5 people name and suggested she still work when she finds new company and u are one of them. But those people should give her what she wants. . . 81. Around the same time Ms. Carter’s lawyer sent Mako’s lawyer an e-mail in which he listed the names of five game developers who had been working on Starpower: Beyoncé. Ms. Carter’s lawyer did not write a single other word in the e-mail – rather, he just identified five names. Her lawyer had been nearly as cryptic in the phone call that he made to Mako’s lawyer just before he sent the list. On the phone, Ms. Carter’s lawyer said that Ms. Carter wanted to know whether certain of the Starpower: Beyoncé developers were employees of Mako or Planet Moon. He did not explain why Ms. Carter was interested in the employment status of the people who had worked on Starpower: Beyoncé. Gate Five’s Injuries 82. Gate Five has lost many millions of dollars as a direct result of Ms. Carter’s breach of the Agreement. First and foremost, by repudiating the Agreement and refusing to complete or market the game, Ms. Carter caused Gate Five to lose all of the profits it would have earned from Starpower: Beyoncé. Because of Ms. Carter’s breach, it is impossible to know exactly how profitable the franchise would have been. Nonetheless, it is beyond reasonable contention that the games would have generated very substantial profits. 83. First, there can be no serious dispute that the game would have been completed and marketed absent Ms. Carter’s breach. At the time she purported to terminate the Agreement, (i) the development work was on track for a November <strong>2011</strong> release, (ii) Alcon had meticulously analyzed the game’s cost structure and finalized an agreement to fund 100% of the development costs, (iii) Gate Five had alternate sources of financing, (iv) the parties had completed a distribution agreement with Warner Brothers for the worldwide marketing and distribution of the game in six languages, and on all three major video game consoles (meaning the Wii, the Xbox PC Law # 15232 28
and the PlayStation), (v) Ms. Carter was contractually bound to actively promote the game and its sequels, and (vi) Gate Five had received an informal commitment from Wal-Mart’s senior buyer to make an initial order, for Wal-Mart alone, of at least 500,000 copies of the first game. Under these circumstances, the only question left to be answered was how many millions of copies would be sold. 84. Based on the sales of comparable games, that number would have been in the range of 15 to 30 million copies or more. To begin, it appears that comparable products have enjoyed sales in that range, as the popularity of interactive video games has soared over the past few years. The star-driven Guitar Hero franchise—music oriented games played with a guitar- shaped controlling device—has sold approximately 53 million copies. Another music themed game is the Rock Band series; with several editions released since 2007, Rock Band has sold approximately 21 million units worldwide. 85. Starpower: Beyoncé was intended to be marketed not just as a music and dance game, but also as a fitness game. This genre of games, like music and dance-based games, has also been extremely popular. Wii Fit, for example, is a fitness game released in 2008 on the Wii. Wii Fit was reported to have sold 23 million copies in approximately two years. A sequel, Wii Fit Plus, was released in 20<strong>09</strong>; on information and belief, this game sold 2.16 million copies within a single month, and 19 million as of the spring of 2010. 86. In the category of dance-themed video games, Just Dance is a franchise available only on the Wii; it has already sold approximately 13 million copies and is still selling strong. The early performance of two new dance games – Dance Central and Michael Jackson: The Experience – suggests that they will achieve similar success in the market. Michael Jackson: PC Law # 15232 29
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Page 3 and 4: only other companies with access to
Page 5 and 6: ad faith negotiation tactic. She ha
Page 7 and 8: Electronic Arts, MTV, Major League
Page 9 and 10: A screen shot depicting what the pl
Page 11 and 12: with the Kinect, and it was activel
Page 13 and 14: Those factors would have been enoug
Page 15 and 16: perfume, “Heat”—which became
Page 17 and 18: Mart. Starpower: Beyoncé featured
Page 19 and 20: game sold 7 million units (a conser
Page 21 and 22: 58. Two days later, her lawyer sent
Page 23 and 24: Ms. Carter Shocks Her Business Part
Page 25 and 26: that she was moving forward with th
Page 27: Nonetheless, even after her betraya
Page 31 and 32: 89. Second, Ms. Carter was contract
Page 33 and 34: and agreed to provide certain servi
Page 35: terminated it. 112. The Agreement i

FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 05/09/2011

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