Newly-established Phantasm Studios is looking to bring the legendary Arthur back from the dead with a fresh entry in the Ghosts 'N Goblins series. CEO and founder Monty Singleton has lifted the lid on a Kickstarter campaign to raise the necessary funds for development, but there's a catch: he doesn't have the permission of Capcom to use the brand at least not yet, anyway.
Singleton has confirmed that his fledgling studio has approached Capcom for the license to use the name, and that the Japanese company has agreed to review the application:
Capcom only promised to review our submission, and nothing more. We have only discussed a possibility of a developers license if the game is up to their standards. We do not currently have one and may not get one.
The game is not in development yet. We have only finished pre-production (concept art, strategy, story, physically modeling the characters). We are now at the expensive part, paying our veteran coders, designers, and artists (who have worked with Electronic Arts, Activision, Sega Japan) to build a game thats up to Capcoms high standards. We need your help so we can create a game so amazing, Capcom wont say no.
In 1980 Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo created a Popeye video game but couldnt get the rights from King Features. He transformed Popeye to Mario, Bluto to Donkey Kong, and Olive Oyl to the Princess. This was the birth of Donkey Kong. After the success of Donkey Kong, King Features changed their mind and allowed Nintendo to release a Popeye game. That is why the games are so similar. If we cant secure a developers license we will change King Arthur and the name of the game, but that is all. Thankfully werewolves, demons, skeletons, reapers, ghosts, goblins, etc. are all public domain. The modifications will be so minor, the changes will be easy and will not change our release schedule.
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...ts_n_goblins_with_or_without_capcoms_blessing
Kickstarter here
Planned for Xbox Live, PSN, and the Nintendo eShop releasing in April 2015. OUYA in October 2014.
I'd be down to play a new Ghouls and Goblins but I doubt Capcom is keen to let somebody use their IP.