• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Activision kills fan-made Kings Quest sequel

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
After successfully fighting a cease and desist order by Vivendi Universal five years ago, the unofficial continuation to the King's Quest series has been shut down for good. In 2005, fans successfully convinced Vivendi to allow the indie team behind The Silver Lining to continue development, thanks in part to a letter writing campaign. The original deal would see the game's authorized release as part of a non-commercial fan license; however, current King's Quest IP holder Activision has decided (after "talks and negotiations") it is not interested in entering a similar agreement with the indie team. In 2008, Activision said it didn't have any immediate plans to utilize the classic licenses (including King's Quest) it received in the infamous $18 billion merger with Vivendi.

What concludes is eight long years of development by a dedicated fan base. On the fan project's official site, a letter from the development team thanks fans for their continued support and shares its disappointment in the decision. It's always difficult when hard work goes unnoticed and we wish everyone involved the best of luck.



http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/28/activision-shuts-down-fan-made-kings-quest-sequel/



I love it when companies hold their own neglected and abandoned franchises hostage. I'd be scared to see what activision would do with old Sierra franchises though, so eh.
 

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Sierra was great pre-King's Quest VIII.

Activision Blizzard is the new Square Enix =/

Actually, isn't it like Square Enix is doing a Sierra? :p
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
Firestorm said:
Activision Blizzard is the new Square Enix =/
Blizzard is offended that you just called activision 'activision-blizzard'.
 
mattiewheels said:
I love it when companies hold their own neglected and abandoned franchises hostage. I'd be scared to see what activision would do with old Sierra franchises though, so eh.

Could you please link to the article you're quoting?
 

Ashodin

Member
One thing I hate when fan-games get shut down is when the group that was working on the 98% done copy of the game decides to NOT release their game anyway and hides it from the internet. It's supremely cockteasing.
 

Sciz

Member
Weak. I'm not exactly surprised that Activision is the one to finally kill this project for good, but it's hell of an anticlimax considering how much people have struggled to get it made over the years.
 
It sucks, but it has to be done. I don't understand why people don't try the tactic of naming their game something original, but saying it's influenced by something else. I mean shit, isn't that what From Software is doing with 3D Dot Game Heroes?
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
sorry, updated the first post with the link.


thechristoph said:
It sucks, but it has to be done. I don't understand why people don't try the tactic of naming their game something original, but saying it's influenced by something else. I mean shit, isn't that what From Software is doing with 3D Dot Game Heroes?

i think the psychology with a project like this is completely different, because the fans know the new IP holders will never attempt to make another game in the series, especially not in the classic vein that they hold so sacred. the series is so important to them that calling it 'lord's quest' or something wouldn't make sense since they're trying to continue the thread.
 

Chairman Yang

if he talks about books, you better damn well listen
thechristoph said:
It sucks, but it has to be done. I don't understand why people don't try the tactic of naming their game something original, but saying it's influenced by something else. I mean shit, isn't that what From Software is doing with 3D Dot Game Heroes?
Yeah, I don't see why the creators can't just do some judicious renaming and release a spiritual successor to King's Quest. They could even leak a mod later that restores the game to a more King's Quest-y state.
 

eggandI

Banned
Pwned


Seriously though, 8 years? How do you put that much work into something potentially illegal? Just make a spiritual successor or something god damn.
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
This is reminding me of those voice-acted VGA remakes of KQ 1 and 2. Not sure how they flew under the radar with those.
 

Sciz

Member
eggandI said:
Seriously though, 8 years? How do you put that much work into something potentially illegal? Just make a spiritual successor or something god damn.
In 2005, fans successfully convinced Vivendi to allow the indie team behind The Silver Lining to continue development, thanks in part to a letter writing campaign. The original deal would see the game's authorized release as part of a non-commercial fan license
Unlike just about every other fangame ever, they were in the clear.
 
I remember seeing the fan made Chrono remake and I almost wet my pants at how amazing it looked and sounded. I wasn't surprised when it got shut down. I just never understood wasting that much time and tallent working on someone else's IP. Had it been something original with the same quality, I would have still wet my pants just the same.
 

Metiphis

Member
This is why you give your indie game a fake name up until release day, then... SWITCH IT TO KING'S QUEST GOGOGOGO!!!
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
If some small team wants to make their own game then either finish the thing before announcing it or come up with their own god damned idea. There is no reason they couldn't have made their own fantasy themed adventure game without trying to infringe on someone else's property.

Yea yea Activision is evil, but at the end of the day King's Quest is their property and trying to use their property without permission is fucking retarded.
 

Aretak

Member
Sinatar said:
Yea yea Activision is evil, but at the end of the day King's Quest is their property and trying to use their property without permission is fucking retarded.
But it wasn't Activision's property when they started. And the company who did own it at the time was happy for them to make and release it. You can hardly criticise them for not being able to see into the future.
 

Kaeru

Banned
Dark Octave said:
I remember seeing the fan made Chrono remake and I almost wet my pants at how amazing it looked and sounded. I wasn't surprised when it got shut down. I just never understood wasting that much time and tallent working on someone else's IP. Had it been something original with the same quality, I would have still wet my pants just the same.

To be honest this has become a trend.
Im sure its this: They decide to make a game based on an IP they have no right to mess with. Everybody is superexcited and a lot of progress is being made in the beginning. After a while they realized that "shit this is gonna take a couple of years of hard work" and this disenfranchise many of them. Sporadic development is being made but the biggest news usually involved recruiting new staff since the one who was on board from the beginning dropped out, or the project got too big and they needed new people.
Slowly its kind of dying out.
Then suddenly a Cease end desist letter arrives. Everybody takes a deep breath of relief and they can now become another fan project that was stopped by the evil corporations.

Ok I might be wrong but seriously: you wanna make a game with an IP that you have no right to? Cool then dont make a website about it, dont tell anyone about it, release it under an anonymous name. Theres far too many examples of this kind of situation for people to NOT know the consequences.
 

Remfin

Member
Aretak said:
But it wasn't Activision's property when they started. And the company who did own it at the time was happy for them to make and release it. You can hardly criticise them for not being able to see into the future.
You can criticize them for working on a project 5-6 years, 2+ of them with a chance to release with a legit "license", and having never released anything. Why would any company want to dedicate any more time to a group that pissed away all that time?
 

Dead Man

Member
Sinatar said:
If some small team wants to make their own game then either finish the thing before announcing it or come up with their own god damned idea. There is no reason they couldn't have made their own fantasy themed adventure game without trying to infringe on someone else's property.

Yea yea Activision is evil, but at the end of the day King's Quest is their property and trying to use their property without permission is fucking retarded.
Didn't read the thread then?
Remfin said:
You can criticize them for working on a project 5-6 years, 2+ of them with a chance to release with a legit "license", and having never released anything. Why would any company want to dedicate any more time to a group that pissed away all that time?
So? It's not like Activision was paying them. It was fan made.
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
Aretak said:
But it wasn't Activision's property when they started. And the company who did own it at the time was happy for them to make and release it. You can hardly criticise them for not being able to see into the future.

When Activision acquired the license 2 years ago they should have contacted Activision instead of assuming it was still ok.

There is also absolutely nothing stopping them from removing any references to King's Quest in their game, renaming it, and finishing it. Pissing and moaning about this is stupid.

It's one thing to be naive but this is far from the first fan made project to get axed by the IP owner, they should have expected this.
 
vital said:
Activision is vile and despicable company. They should be thrown in prison the whole lot of them.

Nintendo pulls this same stuff with fan made games based on their IP. You ready to hate on Nintendo?

....
 
Remfin said:
You can criticize them for working on a project 5-6 years, 2+ of them with a chance to release with a legit "license", and having never released anything. Why would any company want to dedicate any more time to a group that pissed away all that time?

I'd imagine it takes awhile to get create a game when your not getting paid for it and doing everything in your spare time.
 

Firestorm

Member
ULTROS! said:
Actually, isn't it like Square Enix is doing a Sierra? :p
If Square Enix goes "oh ok, you guys can finish it" to the ones who were 99% done Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes, then sure.
 

GhaleonQ

Member
I figured, since it took so long, that the game wasn't the point. It just let people spend time with their favorite series in new ways. I'm sure the people who did it for that reason will continue the project privately.
 

udivision

Member
Count of Monte Sawed-Off said:
I'd imagine it takes awhile to get create a game when your not getting paid for it and doing everything in your spare time.

As someone with firsthand experience, I can tell you it really does. It's a hobby.
 

DarkJC

Member
SapientWolf said:
If they don't act to protect their IP they lose it. It's one of the little known facts of IP law.

More like one of the seemingly widely known made up facts of IP law, since I see everyone say this in these threads and it's not true at all.

This is true of trademark law...nothing else.
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
SapientWolf said:
If they don't act to protect their IP they lose it. It's one of the little known facts of IP law.
in a perfect world, a company would only be able to squash a fan-made sequel to a series by announcing an official sequel of their own :lol certainly not a perfect world we live in.
 

jman2050

Member
TheGreatGatsby said:
Nintendo pulls this same stuff with fan made games based on their IP.

Not really, no.

SapientWolf said:
If they don't act to protect their IP they lose it. It's one of the little known facts of IP law.

Why do people keep confusing trademark law with copyright law?
 

farnham

Banned
make it queens quest or something... if it was to be a sequel then it should be no problem to release it with some minor changes and a new name....


unlike chrono trigger resurrection :lol :lol
 
mattiewheels said:
in a perfect world, a company would only be able to squash a fan-made sequel to a series by announcing an official sequel of their own :lol certainly not a perfect world we live in.
Of course, in the worst-case world, Activision would announce a sequel to King's Quest... FROM THE DEVELOPERS OF LEISURE SUIT LARRY: BOX OFFICE BUST!!!
(Appropriate Reaction)
 

Sloane

Banned
Remfin said:
You can criticize them for working on a project 5-6 years, 2+ of them with a chance to release with a legit "license", and having never released anything. Why would any company want to dedicate any more time to a group that pissed away all that time?
You do realize it's a hobby project, right? Broken Sword 2.5 took eight years and that turned out pretty great for a fan-made game. Same for Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth, although they've only released a demo so far (and might never release the full game).
 
thechristoph said:
It sucks, but it has to be done. I don't understand why people don't try the tactic of naming their game something original, but saying it's influenced by something else. I mean shit, isn't that what From Software is doing with 3D Dot Game Heroes?

It has been renamed. It started out as King's Quest IX, but years ago they renamed it to The Silver Lining.

Fuck Activision, I've been looking forward to this game for what seems like eternity.
 
After successfully fighting a cease and desist order by Vivendi Universal five years ago, the unofficial continuation to the King's Quest series has been shut down for good. In 2005, fans successfully convinced Vivendi to allow the indie team behind The Silver Lining to continue development, thanks in part to a letter writing campaign. The original deal would see the game's authorized release as part of a non-commercial fan license; however, current King's Quest IP holder Activision has decided (after "talks and negotiations") it is not interested in entering a similar agreement with the indie team. In 2008, Activision said it didn't have any immediate plans to utilize the classic licenses (including King's Quest) it received in the infamous $18 billion merger with Vivendi.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the case "if you really like you should've put a ring on it"? They were in the clear, they had the agreement with Vivendi. Activision cannot say "tough shit, we are not Vivendi". I'm sure in the merger all the obligations of Vivendi and Activision were transffered to new company, so the agreement still holds.
 

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
While I do agree that fan games should really invest more of their effort in their own games (hell, I think towards that on Card Game Saga, and I still think it's crap), this one is very dickish, especially on Activision's part. :(
 
Activision are horrors, but... Can't the makers of this game just change the names? The design stuff was all stereotypical fairy-tale fantasy anyway, so just shed any real sense of continuity and release it. Bingo! A fanbase with a new game, smug in the knowledge that they got one over on Activision.
 

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
This is kinda what happens when you do stuff with somebody else's game IP.

This is not new, why is everyone always SHOCKED AND ENRAGED when a company shuts down a project like this? This stuff has been happening with project after project and company after company for maybe a decade or more. I'm not feeling sorry for anyone because unless you're a complete moron, you know as soon as you start one of these that the hammer may drop on you one day.
 

confused

Banned
People are geting outraged over a company protecting it's intelectual property ? Crazy.

If you want to make a game, either make something original or something inspired but not part of a franchise. People wanting to make Zelda games and now this are just plain fucking stupid. You do not own the copyrights, a massive corporation with lots of money does and they will win everytme.
 

Aretak

Member
Htown said:
This is kinda what happens when you do stuff with somebody else's game IP.

This is not new, why is everyone always SHOCKED AND ENRAGED when a company shuts down a project like this? This stuff has been happening with project after project and company after company for maybe a decade or more. I'm not feeling sorry for anyone because unless you're a complete moron, you know as soon as you start one of these that the hammer may drop on you one day.
confused said:
People are geting outraged over a company protecting it's intelectual property ? Crazy.

If you want to make a game, either make something original or something inspired but not part of a franchise. People wanting to make Zelda games and now this are just plain fucking stupid. You do not own the copyrights, a massive corporation with lots of money does and they will win everytme.
Jesus, read the damn thread before posting. This issue has been addressed enough to make your points completely irrelevant.
 
Top Bottom