Highly profitable Everquest emulator The Heroes' Journey (THJ) loses copyright suit, shuts down

Popular Everquest emulation server The Heroes' Journey (THJ) has been shut down following the judgment of a copyright infringement lawsuit.

2

Back in June, Everquest developer Daybreak Games filed a copyright lawsuit against the creators of The Heroes' Journey, a bit of software that emulates the classic MMORPG. In the lawsuit, Daybreak claimed that THJ creators were profiting from the unauthorized use of the Everquest intellectual property through a "thinly-disguised donation system."

Now the court has delivered its verdict. US District Judge Cynthia Bashant ruled in favor of Daybreak Games, revealing that THJ generated a whopping $100,000 in revenue per month from direct donations--proceeds that were made from another company's wholly-owned IP. Judge Bashant has ordered that all traces of THJ be removed and the defendants cease operations immediately.

As a result, all traces of The Heroes' Journey have been wiped off the internet. The client has been removed from download from all sources and the emulator's website has been taken down.

One thing to point out is that THJ may have been extremely profitable and could have generated nearly $1 million in total revenue. The emulator was announced and released in October 2024, and it's unclear how much money was made from THJ donations.

Comparatively, Daybreak Games made around $81 million in annual revenue throughout 2024, as per parent company financials.

Check below for a quick excerpt from the ruling, or view the entire document here:

In light of the foregoing, the Court GRANTS Daybreak's Supplemental Motion for Preliminary Injunction (ECF No. 38).

Accordingly, the Court ENJOINS Defendants, along with their officers, directors, agents, employees, and all persons or entities acting in active concert or participation with them, from:

developing, distributing, licensing, promoting, or otherwise making available THJ or any similar software that infringes Daybreak's copyrights;

operating the website heroesjourneyemu.com and any other websites used to promote or distribute THJ;

maintaining any public or private repositories containing code for THJ, including at github.com/The-Heroes-Journey-EQEMU or any other online repository;

operating any server emulation software that enables unauthorized access to Daybreak's EverQuest copyrighted works;

and using the EVERQUEST mark or any confusingly similar variations thereof.