When Tim Schafer said that Activision should have “put a ring on” Brütal Legend in response to the original publisher’s suit to block the game’s release, he was just going a little Beyoncé on them. However, things have escallated into Maury-ish “You ain’t my babydaddy!” territory at this point.

Double Fine has filed a countersuit against Activision, according to Joystiq earlier today. According to the motion, Double Fine alleges that Activision essentially axed the title to avoid conflicting with the publisher’s flagship Guitar Hero franchise. And to make matters even more shady, DF contends that this was after a failed attempt by Acti to convert Legend into a Guitar Hero spinoff. Oh, what a tangled web we weave…

The countersuit claims that Activision’s “purpose is not only to cancel Brütal Legend, but to kill it completely so that Guitar Hero would not have to face the competition”.

I don’t mean to play the “Activision is an evil money-hungry monster” card here, but personally speaking, I found it interesting that they didn’t bring this suit to bear when it was originally announced that Eddie Riggs had found a new home with EA. Instead, they waited until after E3, when the game had garnered massive positive buzz and somebody at corporate saw dollar bills with wings flying away that they didn’t grab when they had a chance.

Double Fine’s COO, Caroline Esmurdoc, essentially said the same thing in the following statement: “Now that we’ve found a publisher and the game is getting sensational coverage, they want to stop its release. Double Fine’s countersuit is a demonstration of our intention to fight for this game — Activision will not kill Brütal Legend.”

Perhaps Activision forgot that metal never dies… and it’s usually carrying a big-ass axe. The legal battle unfolds July 30. We’ll keep you posted.

[Yahoo News via Joystiq]