Contract analysis

I. Purpose and Overview The purpose of this memorandum is to provide structured deposition preparation outlines for two key Redstone Gaming Corp. ("Redstone") fact witnesses whose depositions are scheduled for early August 2024. The witnesses are:

1. Jordan Kessler, Vice President of Creative Development, Redstone Gaming Corp. Mr. Kessler's deposition is scheduled for August 5, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

2. Seo-Yeon Park, Lead Character Artist for Ironclad Dominion, Redstone Gaming Corp. Ms. Park's deposition is scheduled for August 12, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both depositions will be taken by plaintiff's counsel. We anticipate that Daniel Hargrove of Hargrove, Tanaka & Whitmore LLP, lead counsel for Luminos Interactive LLC ("Luminos"), will conduct the primary examination. His associate, Megan Forsyth, may also

II. Key Themes for Both Witnesses The following overarching themes should be reinforced throughout the testimony of both Kessler and Park. These themes are consistent with Redstone's affirmative defenses of independent creation, scènes à faire, and absence of access, and they align with the expert analysis anticipated from Dr. Ingrid Lautner (Brindoval Forensic Consulting LLC). Each witness should internalize these t

III. Deposition Preparation Outline — Jordan Kessler A. Witness Background • Full Name: Jordan Kessler • Title: Vice President of Creative Development, Redstone Gaming Corp. • Location: Las Vegas, Nevada • Office Address: Redstone Gaming Corp., 4100 Obsidian Tower Boulevard, Suite 2200, Las Vegas, NV 89109 • Role: Mr. Kessler oversaw all creative development for Ironclad Dominion, including character design, environm

1. Development Origin and Timeline Kessler initiated the Ironclad Dominion project concept in late 2019. During this period, he developed the initial project pitch and circulated it among Redstone's senior leadership team for evaluation. Formal development was greenlit in Q1 2020, following approval from Marcus Hale and the Redstone executive committee. Mr. Kessler personally approved the project's foundational creat

2. Creative Direction — Mechanized-Steampunk Vision Mr. Kessler should describe the "mechanized-steampunk" aesthetic as the foundational creative pillar of Ironclad Dominion from its inception. This was not a direction that evolved during development or that was adopted after exposure to any other title. Rather, it was the original creative vision that Kessler brought to the project based on his longstanding interest

3. Art Pipeline and Internal Review Process Kessler should describe Redstone's formal art review process, which governed the creation of every visual asset in Ironclad Dominion. The pipeline proceeds through the following stages:

1. Concept: Initial idea exploration, rough sketches, and reference gathering.

2. Rough Sketch: Hand-drawn or digital rough sketches capturing the general form, proportions, and key design elements.

3. Refined Sketch: Detailed digital sketches with specific design elements, color notes, and mechanical details resolved. 4. 3D aboutout: Initial three-dimensional model created to establish proportions, silhouette, and spatial relationships.

5. Textured Model: Application of surface materials, colors, and detail textures to the 3D model.

6. Final Approval: Completed asset reviewed by art leads, Kessler (as VP of Creative Development), and in some cases external quality assurance teams. Each stage of this process was documented via commits to the ironclad-main repository and through Redstone's internal review tools (including Confluence pages, JIRA tickets, and internal review presentations). This means that the evolution of every challenged asset fro

4. Knowledge of *Shardfall Chronicles* A critical area of questioning will involve Kessler's knowledge of and exposure to Shardfall Chronicles. The following questions and anticipated answers should be reviewed with the witness during the preparation session: • When did Kessler first become aware of *Shardfall Chronicles*? Anticipated answer: Mr. Kessler was not aware of Shardfall Chronicles until after Luminos's cou

5. Revenue and Commercial Performance Plaintiff's counsel will likely explore the commercial performance of Ironclad Dominion in connection with Luminos's damages theory. Kessler should be prepared to provide the following factual context: • Ironclad Dominion generated $312 million in revenue in its first twelve months of release (November 2022 through November 2023). • Redstone Gaming Corp.'s overall FY 2023 revenue

5. Potential Impeachment with Tobias Crane / Elara Whitfield Deposition Testimony This is an area requiring careful preparation. During the completed depositions, both Crane and Whitfield provided testimony suggesting that a Redstone employee may have had some contact with Shardfall Chronicles prior to Ironclad Dominion's release: • Tobias Crane (July 22, 2024 deposition) testified that he believed Redstone personnel

6. Questions about Luminos's Damages Theory Luminos's complaint alleges damages of $28.5 million, calculated as $312 million (Ironclad Dominion's first-year revenue) multiplied by 9.13% — the percentage that Luminos's damages expert purportedly attributes to the commercial appeal of the 37 challenged assets. Kessler should not opine on damages directly. Damages quantification is the domain of Redstone's damages exper

1. Ironclad Dominion Creative Vision Document (the "vision doc") — the internal creative direction document approved by Kessler prior to February 2020. This is the foundational document establishing the mechanized-steampunk aesthetic.

2. First Commit Log from ironclad-main Repository — the commit dated February 12, 2020, including commit message, author information, and file manifest.

3. Internal Design Review Presentations — selected milestone documents from the 2020–2022 development period, including concept art phase review, prototype review, alpha milestone review, and beta milestone review. Focus on presentations that demonstrate the independent evolution of the 37 challenged assets.

4. Kessler's Internal Emails and Meridian Solutions/Messaging Communications — the subset of documents produced in discovery (within Bates Nos. RGC-000001 through RGC-042316) that are relevant to Kessler's testimony. These should be pre-flagged by topic: creative direction, asset approval, team communications, and any communications referencing competitor products.

5. Luminos Complaint — the complaint filed March 18, 2024, including all exhibits and the identification of the 37 challenged assets.

6. Redstone's Answer and Affirmative Defenses — filed April 22, 2024.

7. Exhibits Showing the 37 Challenged Assets Side by Side — plaintiff's comparison exhibits placing the corresponding assets from each game in adjacent panels. Kessler should be familiar with these exhibits and prepared to identify the differences between each pair.

8. Deposition Transcripts of Tobias Crane (July 22, 2024) and Elara Whitfield (July 29, 2024) — particularly passages regarding the alleged conference sighting, Crane's description of Luminos's creative process, Whitfield's testimony about "overall feel and impression" as the basis for her similarity claims, and any passages that may be used for impeachment or comparison. E. Prep Session Logistics • Preparation Sessi

IV. Deposition Preparation Outline — Seo-Yeon Park A. Witness Background • Full Name: Seo-Yeon Park • Title: Lead Character Artist, Ironclad Dominion, Redstone Gaming Corp. • Location: Las Vegas, Nevada • Role: Ms. Park led the character design and armor asset creation pipeline for Ironclad Dominion. She was directly responsible for the visual development of the character armor assets at the center of this dispute. H

1. Personal Creative Process and Independent Creation Ms. Park should walk the examiner through her personal design process for character armor assets in granular detail. The goal is to demonstrate that each asset is the product of a sustained, documented, iterative creative effort — not a hurried copy of someone else's work. The process proceeds as follows: • Initial Hand-Drawn Sketches: Park begins each character d

2. The 12 Character Armor Designs at Issue Ms. Park is the most critical witness regarding the 12 character armor designs included among the 37 challenged assets. These designs are the assets for which Luminos's substantial similarity argument is likely strongest, given that both games feature armored characters in a fantasy setting. Park's testimony must therefore be particularly thorough and well-prepared on this t

3. Art Pipeline and Version Control Park committed assets to the ironclad-main repository throughout the Ironclad Dominion development period. Her commits include concept sketches, digital iterations, texture files, and review notes. These commits create a comprehensive, timestamped record of her creative work. Brindoval Forensic Consulting LLC (Nathan Rourke, lead consultant) has verified the integrity and timestamp

4. Procedural Generation and Texturing Tools While Park's primary area of responsibility is character design, she may be asked about the broader art pipeline, particularly the environmental textures. Park should be prepared to describe Redstone's proprietary texturing and procedural generation tools, which were used to create both environmental textures (including the 9 challenged crystal textures) and certain charac

5. Knowledge of and Access to *Shardfall Chronicles* As with Kessler, Park's knowledge of and access to Shardfall Chronicles will be a central line of questioning. The following questions and anticipated answers should be reviewed with the witness: • Did Park play *Shardfall Chronicles*? Expected answer: No. • Did Park review, download, or otherwise access *Shardfall Chronicles* art assets? Expected answer: No. • Was

5. Impeachment Risks from Crane/Whitfield Depositions The same gaming conference issue identified in the Kessler preparation (Section III.C.5, above) applies to Park. We need to determine during the prep session whether Park attended the conference referenced by Crane and Whitfield. If she did attend, the same analysis applies: a brief viewing of a demo at a conference booth does not constitute legally sufficient acc

1. Park's Personal Commit Logs from the ironclad-main Repository — filtered to include only commits related to character art assets. These should be organized chronologically and cross-referenced with the 12 challenged character armor designs.

2. Concept Art Sketches and Iteration Files for each of the 12 challenged character armor designs — including initial hand-drawn sketches, digital concept iterations, 3D aboutout screenshots, and textured model renders. These should be organized by asset, showing the complete design evolution for each.

3. Internal Mood Boards and Reference Image Collections used during the Ironclad Dominion concept phase — demonstrating the historical, industrial, and steampunk sources that informed Park's designs.

4. Ironclad Dominion Creative Vision Document (the "vision doc") — the same foundational document reviewed with Kessler, establishing the mechanized-steampunk aesthetic and the design parameters within which Park operated.

5. Exhibits from the Complaint Showing the 37 Challenged Assets — with particular emphasis on the 12 character armor designs. Park should review the side-by-side comparison exhibits and be prepared to identify the differences between each pair of corresponding assets.

6. Brindoval Forensic Consulting's Metadata Verification Summary — the relevant portions of Nathan Rourke's forensic report that address the verification of Park's commits, including timestamp validation and hash integrity analysis.

7. Deposition Transcripts of Tobias Crane (July 22, 2024) and Elara Whitfield (July 29, 2024) — particularly passages regarding the alleged conference sighting, Whitfield's characterization of Luminos's designs as "wholly original," and Whitfield's admission that she could not identify pixel-for-pixel copies.

8. Redstone's IP Compliance Policy — the artist originality certification that Park would have executed, confirming that her work was original and not derived from external sources. E. Prep Session Logistics • Preparation Session Date: August 9, 2024 (three days prior to the deposition) • Location: Calderwood & Harkness LLP conference room (to be confirmed), or Redstone Gaming Corp. headquarters conference room, 4100

V. Observations from Completed Depositions (Crane and Whitfield) The following summarizes the key testimony and tactical observations from the two depositions completed to date in this matter. These observations inform the preparation strategies set forth in Sections III and IV and should be reviewed by all members of the defense team. A. Tobias Crane Deposition (July 22, 2024, Austin, TX) Witness: Tobias Crane, Foun