I did say it wasn't my most coherent take.

But I think general public perception of a case like this is just as important (or more important) than the actual outcome, just like the McDonalds "Hot Coffee" lawsuit, which is treated in public perception as an example of a frivolous lawsuit, when it actually wasn't. The public perception that big companies will sue small indie studios into oblivion, or sue them to remove basic game mechanics from their games will harm the indy side of the industry, it'll harm the AAA industry as well, but more in a "people will grumble about it while buying the next Legend of Call of Assassin's Red Dead Grand Theft Kart" rather than actually boycotting the big brands or anything. Sure this is just two big companies going at it, if you want to look at it that way, but that doesn't mean it won't have direct effects on the indy market as well. What happens the next time an indy company is given the choice by a AAA company of "join us or be destroyed" and they know joining a big company will just result in a situation like this?