Daybreak Sues EverQuest Emulator The Heroes Journey Over IP Violations

Daybreak Game Company has filed a lawsuit against The Heroes Journey (THJ), an unlicensed EverQuest emulator server, and its developers Kristopher Takahashi and Alexander Taylor. 

According to Massively Overpowered, the studio is accusing them of violating copyrights and trademarks by distributing an unauthorized version of the MMORPG. This move is unusual, given Daybreak’s long tolerance of legacy content and fan-run servers in the EverQuest community. That being said, THJ is the largest of its kind —  reportedly reaching up to 4,500 concurrent players. 

The server’s popularity, custom content, and alleged exchange of in-game currency for “donations” may have crossed a line with Daybreak. Also, another emulator server — Quarm — has announced a temporary shutdown in light of the news too.

This legal filing became public after a forum post by user Reason revealed court documents showing Daybreak’s attempt to seal the case and identify anonymous parties. The court denied these requests. Daybreak claims the emulator is causing “immediate and irreparable harm” and is seeking relief under the DMCA. 

Open-source projects like EQEmulator remain untouched for now though — probably because they don’t monetize or use Daybreak’s actual code.