Trendy accused co-founder Jeremy Stieglitz of secretly starting the new company with employees recruited from his old company while under a noncompete agreement.

Trendy Entertainment co-founder Jeremy Stieglitz and his new video game company agreed to pay $40 million to settle a lawsuit from Trendy that accused him of secretly starting the new company with employees recruited from his old company while under a noncompete agreement.



Steiglitz and Studio Wildcard created the "Ark: Survival Evolved" video game that has grossed $160 million to $170 million in sales, Stieglitz said.



He revealed the terms this week after the lawsuit officially closed Monday following an April 13 settlement.



Stieglitz said he disagreed with exactly how much of a case Trendy had against him and Studio Wildcard, but that they decided to settle rather than fight endlessly in court with Trendy’s $15 billion venture capital firm, Insight Venture Management of New York City.



“They made it clear they were willing to go all the way to the very end with every last legal maneuver they possibly could and it was frankly making it impossible to get any work done,” he said.



A Trendy spokesperson issued the following statement: “Trendy is pleased that Studio Wildcard and Jeremy Stieglitz chose to quickly resolve the claims against them. Mr. Stieglitz and Studio Wildcard made very substantial restitution to the parties that invested in Trendy. Obviously Mr. Stieglitz and Studio Wildcard realized the very serious nature of these claims, and we are happy that this matter has now been appropriately resolved.”



Insight did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.



Stieglitz co-founded Trendy Entertainment in Gainesville in 2009. The game studio’s “Dungeon Defenders” became a million-seller.



He left the company in August 2014 after deciding he could no longer work with employees who complained to an online gamer site that he had an authoritarian management style.



Studio Wildcard started in October 2014 with Stieglitz as co-founder, a fact he only recently revealed, and in June 2015 the studio released the game “Ark: Survival Evolved.” The game has grossed $160 million to $170 million in sales, Stieglitz said.



Trendy sued in December 2015 and Insight filed a companion lawsuit in February seeking monetary damages and to stop Stieglitz and Wildcard from developing and distributing video games.



In its response, the defense argued that although Stieglitz’s noncompete expired in August 2015, Trendy did not sue until immediately after Studio Wildcard was bought by a Chinese company that December so Trendy could cash in on Wildcard’s success.



The defense also argued that “Ark” does not compete with “Dungeon Defenders” since it is rated for mature users instead of “E for everyone,” requires higher-end software and hardware, costs more and allows more users per game. The defense also denied that Stieglitz recruited away Trendy employees.



Stieglitz said that of the former Trendy employees at Studio Wildcard, some were recruited by other founders, others had already quit, and some left on their own after finding out about the new company. Wildcard has 25 employees in Seattle and 10 in Gainesville, he said.



He said he kept his involvement in Studio Wildcard private to avoid online “trolls” who publicly criticized him after the report about his management style came out and didn’t want that to be a factor in the early phases of a new company.



He also responded to the contention that he hid his involvement by having his wife “who makes cupcakes, not software,” serve as a manager, as the lawsuit put it.



“That was very bothersome because my wife actually did an amazing job of running this thing from a business standpoint,” he said. “There’s an element of sexism that they just can’t fathom this business owner had a role to play in a business.”



Susan Browning Stieglitz previously owned Sarkara Sweets cupcake shop and a clothing store in downtown Gainesville.



Jeremy Stieglitz said he is glad to be able to move on and focus on making video games.



“I wish those guys well,” he said of Trendy. “I have a lot of love for ‘Dungeon Defenders’ and I appreciate very much getting to work with all those people at Trendy. I hope they do just fine.”