Looks like Bethesday and Interplay's he-said-she-said regarding the development of Fallout Online has come to a conclusion. As reported at Duck and Cover, a Fallout fan community, both parties reached a settlement during a hearing recess earlier this week. Details of the deal won't be public until later this month, but for now you can consider the matter over for the most part.

Bethesda acquired the rights to the Fallout franchise in 2007 for $5.75 million. But Interplay, one of the series' original developers, retained the right to create an MMO based on the property with the stipulation that work on the game start by April 2009 with $30 million raised for development. Well, Bethesda claimed that never transpired and sued Interplay for breach of contract.

That's when Interplay said "nuh-uh" and counter-sued for $15 million, saying it should have received royalties from the sales of Fallout 3. Interplay was able to prove it started work on the MMO and won in district court, only for Bethesda to seek an appeal. The U.S. Court of Appeals denied Bethesda's request, which brings us to where we are now.

No word yet on what exactly this means for the Fallout MMO, but for now the official site remains online.