Monster Energy is a ubiquitous energy drink brand now owned by the Coca-Cola Company, which targets game users as part of its marketing efforts. It appeared as an in-game item in Death Stranding (obviously removed in the Director's Cut version). But as much as the brand wants to appeal to gamers, it also has a reputation within the industry for being litigious. In the past, it has clashed with Ubisoft over "Immortals: Fenyx Rising" (originally called "Gods and Monsters").

Yes, another brand that thinks it owns the generic word it adopted. This time, however, they were the wrong target.

Coca-Cola and Monster Energy targeted indie developer Glowstick Entertainment for the cardinal sin of creating a game called Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals (thanks, TheGamer (opens in new tab)). Founder and CEO Vincent Livings has posted about this legal threat and the settlement offered by Monster. The settlement allows the studio to use its name in exchange for a number of meaningless restrictive conditions, including never using the word "Monster" or any variation of "monstrous" or "monstrous" in a game title again. [It is well known that Monster Energy is a notorious trademark troll. Unfortunately, they are at it again." For a company that likes to target gamers with their beverages, they also like to bully and try to bankrupt game studios with lengthy and expensive lawsuits. Monster Energy's lawyers are coming after us right now because "Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals" has the word "monsters" in it. They claim that our game is confusingly similar to their energy drink. Yes, that is their argument."

Monster Energy further claims that the game's logo is designed in such a way that people somehow think it is a Monster brand product. As if this were not enough, the settlement also prohibits Glowstick from ever using the green and white logo on a black background again on anything they manufacture. As Livings notes, "I mean, apparently they own the green and white colors too."

If you think this sounds ridiculous, the good news is that we all get a ringside seat to this. 'We're not going to roll over, we're going to fight this in court.

"We're going to share everything we've received from Monster Energy so that other game developers can see their tactics in case they try to put the word 'monster' in their game titles and then have to deal with Monster Energy as a result."

Livings posted the Monster Energy settlement, noting that companies like Monster "present a clean image to their base (athletes and gamers) while relying on them to keep their bullying secret. Showing their true faces publicly is the only way to stop them.

Livings will be doing a live stream (open in new tab) later this month to raise funds for the court battle. Whether this will be taken to court is another matter. Livings and Glostick are definitely victims, but if there's one thing image-sensitive brands don't like, it's being abused in public. I'm not a betting man, but if this doesn't end with a forelock-tugging apology from the monster posted on social media, I'll have a drink myself.