Activision shuts down fan-made King's Quest game

Here.

Not really surprised, but I'm definately p.o.'d about this. Years of hard work, labor and love put into a project snuffed out in an instant by a company that couldn't care less about the franchise, other than the money it gets from re-releasing the anthology over and over again. Breaks the heart.

Wow, that's kind of a jerkish move even for Activision.

I wonder why they left AGDInteractive alone? They're the ones responsible for the free remakes of Kings Quest 1 and 2 plus Quest for Glory 2.

Don't really know what any of this is about, barely skimmed the article. But, who cares about what Activision says, they should just keep making the mod or whatever and then release it on a torrent or something.DasVolks

I was gonna post about this. It's kinda sad to hear the project ended like this. The license should return to Roberta and Ken.

Bu bu but The Silver Lining wasn't even using King's Quest trademark nor advertised as a King's Quest game to avoid this kind of problem! I hope they release it somehow, because it's unfair.

What I hope is that they will be able to salvage something out of their game. Perhaps they would be able to change the characters, the story, etc. Of course, this depends on how much the story is tied in with the previous games.

At the very least, I hope the development team starts working on a new project instead of going their seperate ways.

[QUOTE="jun_aka_pekto"]

I wonder why they left AGDInteractive alone? They're the ones responsible for the free remakes of Kings Quest 1 and 2 plus Quest for Glory 2.

grahamburger

Activision had said they would honor all of the old licenses and contracts with indie-developers working on remakes and fan-projects of their IPs, but that they weren't interested in making news ones so AGDI was allowed to finish their games they just can't make any new remakes.

However, then Activision negged on that decision and canned TSL so I guess we'll see what happens to AGDI (if anything).

There's an online petition that everyone should sign:http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/savetsl

This is like...the last straw for me as far as Activision is concerned. There's no way we, as consumers, should continue supporting such a jerkish company. I know a lot of us are psyched about Diablo III and Starcraft II and even WoW: Cataclysm, but despite that I think it's time to call for a boycott as well. With such anticipated titles coming out as well, I'm guessing a boycott now would not take long to get the message across.

Bu bu but The Silver Lining wasn't even using King's Quest trademark nor advertised as a King's Quest game to avoid this kind of problem! I hope they release it somehow, because it's unfair.

RyuRanVII

Indeed its the only thing they can do right now. Rewrite the story, change the characters and so on and they might be able to pass it in court.

But, who cares about what Activision says, they should just keep making the mod or whatever and then release it on a torrent or something.DasVolks

I guess the guys who would get sued as ZuluEcho14 pointed out. The team were very open about the fact that this game was based on Sierra (then VU Games, now Activision) owned IP. The only mitigation when sued for copyright/trademark infringement is to claim that you didn't know and it was an honest mistake. You will still lose and likely have to pay costs/damages but these are somewhat limited. If the IP owner sends you a C&D or you have already made clear (EG by posting on your website) that you know someone else owns the IP you can not make such a claim and the IP owner can sue you and get all your cash, you first born child and your whole collection of porno mags.

Activision are actually a bunch of p*****... Blizzard should never have sided with them. Is it just me, or are Activision using the 'embrace, extend and extinguish' tactic?

i have never heard of a pub stopping a mod before, this game will be released

anyways this urks me so i just called the coorporate office and left a really really nice voicemail. here the number people, voice your opinion!!!!

310-255-2000

i have never heard of a pub stopping a mod before,

ekultus

Then you haven't been paying much attention. Shutting down mods is sometimes refered to as "doing a Fox" because 20th C Fox have done it so often. So have Nintendo and many many other game publishers and IP owners.

i didn't know anything about this project but i feel for the developers. 8 years of effort down the drain...... the cruelty shown by Activision is disgusting.

Bah, but then again this doesn't surprise me at all. You can count on Activision being the most money grubbing corporation out there, plus if Activision wouldn't have bought out the game anyway due to the fact they can't milk it for all its worth.

"Getting mad at Activision for this kind of thing is like getting mad at an ape for throwing feces. It's just how the beast communicates." - http://twitter.com/TimofLegend

He was referring to the Infinity Ward debacle but I think it applies.

I don't get what right they have to shut it down though. They are not making a profit...?JigglyWiggly_

America LOL

They're protecting the IP. Maybe they do have plans, it would be a good series to milk on the downloadable market.

Not nice but business is business

I don't get what right they have to shut it down though. They are not making a profit...?JigglyWiggly_

Copyright has nothing to do with profit it is about the right to copy (and other rights). The IP creator/owner gets to decide who can copy, distribute, adapt or sell their IP. Creating something takes time, effort and money and the law allows you to protect that investment by granting/selling rights to others OR not granting them, if that is what you wish.