The game was originally announced as Ion Maiden. However, in May 2019, the holding company of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden filed a $2 million lawsuit against 3D Realms alleging that they were using a "virtually identical" imitation of their trademarks that was confusing fans who assumed Ion Maiden was another Iron Maiden tie-in game. The lawsuit cited the similar name and logo font, the logo's skull icon which they claimed was similar to Iron Maiden's mascot Eddie, and the name of the protagonist Shelly "Bombshell" Harrison appearing similar to the name of Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris (it should be noted that her character concept was originally conceived in 1997, and she and the skull icon previously appeared in Bombshell). While 3D Realms at first called the claims "frivolous" and "over the top", they relented and changed the name to Ion Fury in July because, according to then-CEO Mike Nielsen, "it would be a disservice to our loyal fanbase and the fantastic developers, to drag out a long lawsuit."