Beyoncé sued over aborted videogame deal

Beyoncé has been branded a grinch after she decided not to endorse a dance videogame, driving the developer to sack dozens of coders in the week before Christmas.

New York studio Gate Five is suing Beyoncé for "a bad faith breach of contract", alleging the curvacious chanteuse pulled out of the project on what "appeared to be a whim".

As a consequence, the company claims, it has incurred costs totalling more than $6m (£3.6m) and had to fire 70 staff, effectively destroying Gate Five's business.

Court documents state Jay-Z's wife, referred to as Ms. Carter, "made an extortionate demand for entirely new compensation terms she wanted". This, it is claimed, drove away the financial backer, who found her too "erratic" to do business with. Beyoncé soon quit the project too, claiming a breach of agreement.

During an interview with New York Magazine, Gate Five founder Greg Easley said: "In early December everything was still a go. And then the week of Christmas, she said that's it, I don't want to hear from you guys, go away, resulting in 70 people losing their jobs."

The dance title was to be developed for motion-sensor gaming and the company reckons it would have generated $100m (£60m) in sales. ®