Perception announced a few days ago that it has begun legal proceedings in a Sydney, Australia court against Austrian publisher JoWooD, seeking compensation for damages in excess of EUR 8,000,000 ($11,878,759) it received during 2005’s very public breakdown in relations between the two companies over the mis-managed development of Stargate SG1. Though the license for the Stargate title has defaulted and reverted back to its original owners, both companies are still going at it apparently, with no end in sight. Interesting is that this time around the proceedings are taking place in Australia, it doesn’t look good for JoWooD, with Perception holding the home-field advantage. Can JoWooD survive losing this suit? My money is on no.

Press release after the jump..

Perception announces it has begun legal proceedings against JoWooD Productions AG, in Sydney, Australia
Sydney, Australia, November 19th, 2007: Perception Pty Ltd and associated parties wish to announce that they have instructed legal counsel to issue legal proceedings in the Australian Supreme Court against JoWooD Productions AG, an Austrian video games publisher, for damages in excess of EUR 8,000,000. These proceedings will be filed imminently.

“We are confident that the outcome of the trial will result in a satisfactory result for Perception. Legal advice received in Austria and Australia confirms that any judgement granted against JoWooD in an Australian court is enforceable in Austria ,” stated Perception’s CEO, Ben Lenzo

“Perception does not bring about this action lightly, as we know this will destroy shareholders’ equity. However, after negotiating with the Supervisory board and Management board for the last 2 years, they have shown no desire to protect shareholders.”

This civil action against JoWooD is completely separate from the criminal libel proceedings Perception issued against JoWooD CEO, Dr Albert Seidl in September 2005. That matter is still before the courts.

About Perception: Perception is a Media Entertainment Company working in the games, film and television space. The company and it partners are currently working on a licensed video game for the Wii, PS2, PC and Nintendo DS platforms as well as pre production on an animated television series & Sony PSP game, due to be announced in early 2008. The company is looking at taking advantage of modern distribution and development platforms such as downloadable content, 3G Mobile technology, iTunes type distribution systems and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV).