Support NeoGAF

[Saty]

Update:

Um, maybe, maybe not: http://www.vg247.com/2012/05/18/report-ubisoft-abandons-trademarks-for-brothers-in-arms-furious-4/

---

Ubisoft has abandoned the trademarks it had on the game:
http://tarr.uspto.gov/tarr?regser=serial&entry=85338436&action=Request+Status
http://tarr.uspto.gov/tarr?regser=serial&entry=85337766&action=Request+Status

When asked if Furious 4 is still in development, has been delayed or will be shown in any way at E3 2012, Ubisoft responded with the following statement:

We don't have anything to share at this point in time.

http://kotaku.com/5911344/whats-going-on-with-that-crazy-over+the+top-brothers-in-arms-game
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-05-18-has-brothers-in-arms-furious-4-been-cancelled

Kotaku and Eurogamer have approached Gearbox for a a comment.

 

[Darklord]

Can't say I was too excited for it and to be honest, I'd totally forgot it even existed until I saw this.

 

[strafer]

Good.

Now make another Brothers in Arms war game.

 

[Respawn]

Good news to me.

 

[H3xum]

I was probably going to check it out with the same group of 3 friends I played borderlands with, but I'm not exactly bummed out by this news

 

[Izick]

Not really good news, just indifferent. They didn't show enough to make me feel anything really.

 

[The Grim Heaper]

It looked interesting back at E3 but that was the only bit of news on it we ever got, right? So... yeah, I don't know.

 

[Vinterbird]

It looked interesting back at E3 but that was the only bit of news on it we ever got, right? So... yeah, I don't know.

They showed gameplay to the press, so they must have had something. Weird they never showed it to the public.

 

[Baron_Calamity]

Crap. I liked the concept.

 

[volturnus]

Good riddance.

 

[The Antitype]

God willing, it has been.

 

[xion4360]

I am OK with this.

 

[Drkirby]

I thought the game looked interesting. Oh well.

 

[owlbeak]

Good, because everyone laughed at it during E3 because it looked like ass.

 

[AlexBasch]

Eh. I liked the concept. Sure, I liked the previous Brothers In Arms, but it sure looked interesting.

 

[zkylon]

I hope so. Would've been a terrible path for such a franchise. Hell's Highway was already a step back, hope they feel it's time to go back to its roots.

 

[Old Gimlet Eyes]

Thank God. This game looked horrible and just insulting to the BiA franchise. Continue the exploits of Baker and Hartsock please. Battle of the Bulge would be nice....

 

[The Return of]

Honestly, I forgot this game even existed.

 

[Apocryphon]

Meh. I enjoyed the previous BiA games but everything the've done since Hell's Highway has been complete ass and Colonial Marines looks awful. That and a don't care for Randy Pitchford. I'm not bothered by this news.

 

[Criminal Upper]

If they had to cancel it, and re-assign the staff to polish Aliens, I'm all for it.

 

[HyperBitHero]

I never saw anything besides the initial CGI trailer, so I don't feel anything substantial about this loss. Oh well!

 

[SCHUEY F1]

Good.

Now make another Brothers in Arms war game.

This.

 

[Kydd BlaZe]

Not too surprising, if true. Gearbox already has way too much on their plate, and the general reaction to the initial unveil wasn't exactly positive.

 

[SkyMasterson]

A vert smart move. More developers/publishers should have the foresight to do this more often. Then again they should have known that particular game was a bad idea.

It makes you wonder how much time and money was spent on the game up until this point.

 

[Vinterbird]

Not too surprising, if true. Gearbox already has way too much on their plate, and the general reaction to the initial unveil wasn't exactly positive.

I remember the press who saw the actual game was loving it. The public just saw the reveal video and a few screenshots resulting in a not so enthutiastic reaction since there was nothing to get excited about.

 

[Somnia]

Good, because everyone laughed at it during E3 because it looked like ass.

I assume you didn't get to see it on the show floor in their demo room because it most certainly didn't look like ass, was my surprise of the show for sur. The gameplay they showed us looked like a lot of fun.

 

[Kydd BlaZe]

I remember the press who saw the actual game was loving it. The public just saw the reveal video and a few screenshots resulting in a not so enthutiastic reaction since there was nothing to get excited about.

A lot of the original BiA fanbase felt bummed that Gearbox was veering off in such a ridiculous direction for the franchise. I actually really dug what I saw, however. An Inglorious Basterds meets Borderlands sounds like a lot of fucking fun, IMO, but the hardcore WWII/BiA enthusiasts didn't take to it so well.

 

[Vinterbird]

A lot of the original BiA fanbase felt bummed that Gearbox was veering off in such a ridiculous direction for the franchise. I actually really dug what I saw, however. An Inglorious Basterds meets Borderlands sounds like a lot of fucking fun, IMO, but the hardcore WWII/BiA enthusiasts didn't take to it so well.

Gearbox was very vocal in saying this was just a spin-off and them having a bit of fun. It's not like this was the death of the classic BiA experiece.

 

[BigTnaples]

Meh. I enjoyed the previous BiA games but everything the've done since Hell's Highway has been complete ass and Colonial Marines looks awful. That and a don't care for Randy Pitchford. I'm not bothered by this news.

Borderlands was ass? No.

And Colonial Marines looks great, spot on for what an Alien game should be.

Sounds like RP offended your honor at some point.

 

[Wthermans]

Glad to see it go. They just need to make another classic BiA game.

 

[Visualante2]

I think they should have just put it under a new brand/title

 

[kamspy]

Thank god.

Now make a proper Brother's in Arms for PC. thx Gearbox. Loved the first few games in the series. They were a staple in my go-to games.

 

[megamerican]

It looked fairly promising. I just had a sinking feeling that the tone would wind up more Bulletstorm than Inglorious Basterds.

 

[Proposed Law]

Well I wasn't sure on the art style, I was excited about a 4 player co-op set in WWII made by Gearbox.

 

[Vinterbird]

Well I wasn't sure on the art style, I was excited about a 4 player co-op set in WWII made by Gearbox.

It was far form the cartoony artstyle in the reveal trailer actually:

I do wonder if Gearbox ever wants to return to BiA again. There's not much room in the world for military shooters these days, but perhaps staying in WW2 would be a unique gimmick in a few years.

 

[lefantome]

I want a real new innovative Brothers in Arms not this ingloriuos basterds lookalike

 

[DaBuddaDa]

Between Borderlands 2, Aliens Colonial Marines and this, I thought it was odd Gearbox was working on so much at the same time. I'm not too saddened by this news; we never really got a chance to see much of it anyway.

 

[Raptomex]

I've only heard the name. Knew nothing about it. I enjoyed the first game in the series.

 

[SapientWolf]

I want a real new innovative Brothers in Arms not this ingloriuos basterds lookalike

Last one sold like ass so fat chance of that.

I actually liked the E3 video so I'm disappointed to see it go down like this.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Good.

Now make another Brothers in Arms war game.

This. I was very surprised when playing the last one on 360 at how good the story and characters were.

 

[KareBear]

I wonder what happened to the War Hero and Z-Day ips Gearbox trademarked a while back?

Last one sold like ass so fat chance of that.

I actually liked the E3 video so I'm disappointed to see it go down like this.

World War 2 shooters are so uncommon now.Another BiA game might not do so bad.

 

[Vinterbird]

I wonder what happened to the War Hero and Z-Day ips Gearbox trademarked a while back?

Gearbox is still working on a unannounced project, they currently have four games in development. Borderlands 2, Aliens, Furious 4 and something else. Could be one of those.

 

[Neuromancer]

Probably just as well. I'd rather them focus their efforts on other projects such as a new Duke Nukem game.

 

[NullPointer]

Good.

Now make another Brothers in Arms war game.

Yep. And this time don't look to GTA for control schemes and handling.

 

[Saty]

However, we contacted Ubisoft for clarification on the issue, and they've said that the lapsed trademarks were intentional.

"Initially, Ubisoft submitted the trademarks on behalf of Gearbox with Gearbox and Ubisoft as co-applicants," said Ubisoft's legal team according to a representative. "The [United States Patent and Trademark Office] rejected this approach (about 9 months ago), noting Gearbox's exclusive registrations for all Brothers in Arms trademarks. Given the USPTO choice between abandonment or continued administrative confusion on the matter, we simply opted for administrative abandonment until re-filing becomes necessary. To avoid confusion with the USPTO, Gearbox will be filing its future Brothers in Arms-related trademarks directly and individually."

However, Ubisoft stopped short of saying Furious 4 development is continuing normally. When we emailed with them, they only gave out information regarding the trademark issue, not about the rumors of Furious 4's cancellation or shelving. We're still contacting them for further information, and we'll update the story when we receive further information.

http://www.gamesradar.com/furious-4-trademarks-lapsed-intentionally-says-ubisoft/

 

[Manager]

The cut-scenes in Hell's Highway were cringe-worthy. It was like they tried to do a Band of Brothers but the technology simply wasn't there.

I remember all the dev docs of them talking about showing feelings. smh

 

[Evolved1]

I honestly didn't think the writers at Gearbox had it in them to have this be anything other than incredibly fucking offensive. This medium isn't ready for Inglorious Bastards.

Even the BiA work sometimes bordered on irreverent. And that is despite their clear efforts to be respectful... they just weren't always up to the task.

I hope this was canned in favor of a real BiA game. And one better than Hell's Highway... one of the biggest disappointments of my gaming memory.

 

[Atolm]

The cut-scenes in Hell's Highway were cringe-worthy. It was like they tried to do a Band of Brothers but the technology simply wasn't there.

I remember all the dev docs of them talking about showing feelings. smh

Yep, the series went downhill with Hell's Highway, imo. No one asked for that cover system, the awesome tactical 3D map was replaced by a simple aerial map, cutscenes were awful...

 

[Evolved1]

Yep, the series went downhill with Hell's Highway, imo. No one asked for that cover system, the awesome tactical 3D map was replaced by a simple aerial map, cutscenes were awful...

Also... the PS3 version of HH was a goddamn embarrassment. The PS2 versions were always terrible as well, but moving into a new gen, their work on PS3 was beyond shoddy... it was dreadful. It was a bug-filled clunky mess of a game.

 

[SapientWolf]

I wonder what happened to the War Hero and Z-Day ips Gearbox trademarked a while back?



World War 2 shooters are so uncommon now.Another BiA game might not do so bad.

They're uncommon because they stopped selling. Turns out that modern equipment is pretty fun to use.