Late last month, a copyright infringement claim was filed against a fan-made EverQuest emulation server called The Heroes’ Journey, and now, that lawsuit has gotten a bit messier.
The Daybreak Game Company is the rights holder and operating entity that controls everything EverQuest, and last month, Daybreak filed a massive lawsuit against The Heroes’ Journey for copyright infringement. In the original lawsuit, it was alleged that THJ’s operation engaged in “systematic and deliberate copyright infringement” by operating its server with the base EverQuest experience.
This lawsuit got messier this week (as reported by MMORPG), as it’s now come to light that Daybreak has filed for the courts to shut the server down entirely as the lawsuit moved forward, nuking the THJ fanmade server during litigation proceedings. Detailed in the lawsuit, the THJ legal team replied by insisting that Daybreak already knew about the server for years, arguing that permission was granted by Daybreak’s previous inaction towards the “now obsolete” servers THJ uses to run.
The reply from THJ alleges, “Daybreak knew in 2015—and has known for the past decade—that emulator servers, like THJ, have been and continue to be built using open source EQEmu code and operated with an obsolete EQ client,” insisting Daybreak messed up by “sleeping through” the supposed copyright infringement. THJ also alleged Daybreak had no issue with the emulation servers when it was giving EverQuest free press.
In the back and forth, Daybreak then says (as posted to a very public audience on Reddit) it’s only allowed two fan servers to run, and with major restrictions to remain authorized and live, and these restrictions were not put in place for THJ.
Daybreak Claims “The Future Of EverQuest” Is In Peril
In its latest response, Daybreak Games alleges THJ is attempting to cannibalize base EverQuest’s playerbase by allowing fans to get seriously overpowered very quickly, which ultimately “allows players to burn through content at an unhealthy pace.”
To that end, Daybreak also claims “without preliminary relief, Daybreak will be irreparably harmed,” citing poor results for its latest Fangbreaker content drop in June 2025 as one of the primary reasons THJ is now positioned as a competitor to the original EverQuest servers. Daybreak made its point by submitting the link to a YouTube video, “EverQuest 2025: Fangbreaker TLP vs. Heroes’ Journey – Which Server Should You Play?” where both experiences are pitted literally against each other.
The comments section on the YouTube video appears to make things look worse for THJ, as fans directly compare both experiences, and some even cite a “massive playerbase” for THJ and how the experience is better in some ways. This feels a lot like direct competition.
While the legal battle rages on, it remains to be seen if The Heroes’ Journey will end here, or if the legal battle will continue with THJ servers intact.
- Released
-
March 16, 1999
- ESRB
-
t
- Engine
-
True3D
- Multiplayer
-
Online Multiplayer
