We all expect the zombie apocalypse to be difficult, but The War Z has found the real world just as trying. Between being pulled from Steam, responding rudely to players, a forum hack, and, well, being widely slated, it's had a tough old time. Add another problem to the list: following "trademark issues", developer Hammerpoint Interactive has renamed the survive 'em up Infestation: Survivor Stories. I'd expect that's something to do with World War Z.

"This change has come about primarily as a result of some confusion and trademark issues with a similarly titled property," community manager 'Kewk' explained on the game's forums (via IGN).

"While we were reluctant to rename the game so long after launch, especially with nearly 1 million registered players, it was ultimately decided to be in the best interest of our existing community as well as future players in order to eliminate confusion."

And to avoid lawsuits, one imagines. Aside from the name change, all will carry on as before.

If it is World War Z, that'd hardly be surprising. The War Z was always a questionably similar name, dare I say hoping to catch a little extra attention from fans of the zombie novel. With Brad Pitt's movie adaptation launching on Friday, folks probably wanted to shut that down--partly to stop Hammerpoint profiting off the association, and also to stop potential players from thinking author Max Brooks or any of the involved movie companies were in any way responsible for the game.