Hazlelight Studios, the developers behind the fantastic co-op game It Takes Two, has found themselves in legal hot water from Take-Two Interactive, who have forced them to abandon their trademark application for the game due to opposition from Take-Two's legal team.

According to Eurogamer, the trademark was applied for by Hazlelight in May last year but was abandoned just before the game's launch due to intervention from Take-Two. The studio refused to comment in the article, stating the dispute was ongoing, but that they were "hopeful it will be resolved." 

The good news is that the dispute is unlikely to cause any problems with the game itself or force a renaming. According to industry analyst Michael Flutter, "the trademark conflict means that Hazelight can't protect the name, not that they will be forced to change it."

Take-Two has sent a trademark claim to Hazelight because of It Takes Two, forcing Hazelight to abandon any ownership of the game's name

No details yet whether the game will be renamed or how this impacts its sales/marketinghttps://t.co/Os6XFdmxHH pic.twitter.com/5KMrB4Rxv0

— Nibel (@Nibellion) December 3, 2021

Take-Two haven't given any indication that they want the name of the game to be changed either, but instead, simply want to oppose the trademarking of a name so similar to their own. Arguably that claim is valid. 

According to lawyer Richard Hoeg, speaking on the Hoeg Law podcast, "Take-Two is delivering a message with this kind of action to other lawyers, to other folks that could potentially use the word Rockstar, or the letter R, or the name Dot or Dots or Two Dots, or, as it turns out, Take-Two itself, and saying, 'Go away. You don't even want to get into this because we will just make your lives miserable',"

We'll be sure to keep an eye on the situation and report any further developments as we learn them.