Now that the much awaited Fallout 4 is out, many players in the "modding" community have been actively releasing their own modifications to add spice to the newly released role-playing video game.
One of those mods featured the Boston Red Sox' star defensive hitter David Ortiz. In a video posted on YouTube a few days ago (which can be seen below) Ortiz is shown swinging a bloody, nail-spiked baseball toward opponents. While some gamers may be thrilled to see the slugger in Fallout 4, his appearance in the game has drawn the ire of Major League Baseball officials.
In an interview with the Boston Globe, a league spokesperson mentioned that "The use of these marks is an infringement of our rights. We plan to enforce those rights."
It is not clear what legal actions the MLB will initiate but the creator of the mod, a Texas resident named Richie Branson, said that he meant the free-to-download modification to add a "more authentic" feel to the game considering that it is set in the city of Boston.
Branson expressed his surprise to the league's reaction and said, "Basically, I think it was the only thing missing from the game. You've got Fenway Park, the Green Monster, and all of Boston, but there weren't any Red Sox jerseys. I'm not trying to sell this counterfeit Red Sox jersey. I'm putting a free Red Sox graphic into a game that already insinuates the Red Sox are in the game, at Fenway Park."
It is not established whether the mod creator backed down or the MLB talked to him regarding his work, but the said Fallout 4 mod featuring the Red Sox player is already unavailable at the time of this writing.
For those who follow the gaming and modding community, several trademarks, copyrighted items, and virtual versions of real-life people have frequently appeared in various mods without being taken down. According to Game Rant, D.C. Comics did not react when a Superman mod surfaced for Grand Theft Auto V. Similarly, Nintendo did not warn a modder when he created a Splatoon mod for Minecraft. On the other hand, the MLB's reaction may be rooted on the fact that a significant portion of its income comes from in-game licenses and related merchandise.
Fallout 4 is an open world, action role-playing video game developed and published by Bethesda Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks, respectively. It has been released worldwide on November 10 for the Windows PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One. Branson's Red Sox mod was only available on the PC version.
