Thank you all for your support on the subject, and apologies for taking time to answer. We have actually finished the contract and the developer was paid fully, so I do not think there is any legal issues (my mistake for not pointing that out). From the developers point of view, the game is ready for launch but we see a lot of flaws in the animations, art and sounds. We have already contacted an amazing animator and he is working with us right now. The development company didn't like that we are outsourcing the animator, so they are making it hard for us to continue with a new contract and fix the problems. That is why we want to transfer the project to another team. Our question is do we only need the source files? will that be enough for the new company to start on fixing the project? or is it easier and more efficient to start from scratch?
Thanks again,
What kind of tools where they using to create the assets? What kind of engine, if any? Are you sure your contract will give you rights on everything used (Assets, tools, engine), or was the original developer using off the self products for tools and engine (3DS Max, Blender, Unity, Unreal, ...)?
If they were using proprietary tools and engines that they kept the rights to, you might have a difficult time getting access to that part of the work. Probably you will need to pay them something to license it, or start from scratch (though depending on how the compiled game is set up and what you need to change to fix it, you might get away without access to some tools or the engine source... it would be similar to how some mods work that just replace asset files in the unpacked game structure).
Don't know, you will need to check what you got handed over at the end of the last contract, or what your contract says you should get.
And I guess at some point, a lawyer should be involved when it comes to contracts.