The Scottish software developer Chris Sawyer is suing Atari Interactive for $4.8 million, which he says the computer games company owes him in unpaid royalties. Mr Sawyer, who created the popular PC game RollerCoaster Tycoon, alleges that the company miscalculated payments made to him between 1999 and 2003.

Atari’s revenue from Mr Sawyer’s games, including Transport Tycoon and three versions of RollerCoaster Tycoon, is estimated to be about $180 million. Mr Sawyer received about $30 million in royalties. He says that this figure falls short of what is due and lists 13 instances of payments that he says the company wrongly withheld or deducted from the sum he received.

Times Online contacted Atari, but the company declined to comment.

Lawyers acting for Atari wanted the court case to be heard in the United States, arguing that most of the witnesses and documents are in New York. But a British court ruled last week that the case should proceed in London. Mr Justice Lawrence Collins said he was satisfied that England was the "appropriate forum" for the case and said that Atari was playing "tactical games".

The dispute arose in May 2003 when Mr Sawyer attempted to audit Atari’s accounts, as he was entitled to do by his contract with the company. He instructed forensic accountants to examine the company’s books in order to establish the revenue produced by his games and therefore the amount of royalties he was due.

Mr Sawyer’s legal team claims that Atari failed to co-operate with the audit, forcing it to begin legal action earlier this year. In addition to the $4.8 million payment, Mr Sawyer is seeking permission to conduct a full audit of Atari’s accounts.

Guy Herbert, a commercial consultant for Marjacq Micro, the agency that represents Mr Sawyer, said that this case demonstrates that the games industry’s royalty payments system needs an overhaul.

"The relationship between publishers and developers is complex," he said. "It is unnecessarily risky on both sides without mutual trust. Intrinsic to that is that there is transparency after publication, in relation to royalties.

"If Chris proves his claim that Atari Interactive has failed to account properly and substantially underpaid, it could have major ramifications for the industry as well as the company."

No date has yet been set for the case.

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