Ex Guitar Hero staffers slapped with game ban

Ex Red Octane staffers John Tam (executive producer on Guitar Hero II) and Corey Fong (brand manager) have been banned from creating instrument-based rhythm action games for a year.

Reported on GameSpot, it's part of the resulting agreement of a legal dispute between three former members of Red Octane and Activision, whom the publisher had sued over allegations that they'd used their knowledge of the Guitar Hero brand "improperly... to develop and shop around a demo for a competing game".

"Lodestone [a studio established by Fong and Tam] intended to target a confidential and proprietary Activision corporate opportunity for the Guitar Hero franchise involving a certain confidential third party that was known to Tam and Fong by virtue of their employment with Activision," a court injunction stated.

"Tam, working with Fong, directed an Activision employee and Activision independent contractors to develop, at Activision's expense, a demo of Defendents' game..."

In addition to being banned from developing instrument-based rhythm action games (in particular games that are (guitar-, drum- or synthesizer-based) for a year, under the agreement Fong and Tam are not allowed to distribute the mentioned demo or develop Xbox 360 peripherals for Guitar Hero II within six months of the sequel's release.

via cvg

this is a pretty standard close that u see in any job contrat in the game industry... however...this usually do not apply outside the country you ve signed the contract with...(even if the contract do not say so...)