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General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: CT27 on January 27, 2017, 09:01:41 pm

Title: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: CT27 on January 27, 2017, 09:01:41 pm
A few months ago or so there was talk on here about Interplay selling some of its old IPs (including Freespace) I think.

Some on here even talked about the possibility of them entering a bid for the rights to Freespace (though they admitted it was a longshot).



How did the auction turn out?  Do we know who ended up with the rights to Freespace?
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: The E on January 27, 2017, 09:43:55 pm
The auction happened, but to the best of my knowledge, noone has announced the results. For what it's worth, the relevant info on FS2's steam page hasn't changed.
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: Black Wolf on January 27, 2017, 09:47:33 pm
Nobody made it public at the time, and, AFAIK, no announcements have been made since.

If a public company bought it, we should have seen the announcement pretty soon after it happened, so that suggests it went to a private game studio, which means we may not hear about it for awhile.

Look out for announcements of a new Earthworm Jim game, that's most likely what we'll see first from whoever bought them.
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: AdmiralRalwood on January 28, 2017, 12:00:36 am
It's entirely possible that nobody won the bid; Interplay may have been looking for a certain minimum that they failed to get. After all, their IP library is still making them money, so unless they got an offer good enough to offset that, they'd want to hold onto it.
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: Grizzly on January 28, 2017, 06:48:30 am
You could always release Blue Planet as standalone and find out the hard way  :nervous:
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: Novachen on January 28, 2017, 06:57:07 am
Most likely Nordic Games have them, because they buy every IP that is on the market.  :rolleyes:

But i hope not  :)
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: Spoon on January 28, 2017, 07:47:52 am
derek smart Derek Smart DEREK SMART hinted on his discord that the asking price for Freespace's IP was a pretty significant amount, but he refused to disclose what kind of range it was exactly.

So
It's entirely possible that nobody won the bid; Interplay may have been looking for a certain minimum that they failed to get. After all, their IP library is still making them money, so unless they got an offer good enough to offset that, they'd want to hold onto it.
may very well be true.
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: CT27 on January 28, 2017, 01:34:26 pm
Some said some IPs were bundled together.  Was that true or was Freespace's IP able to be bought separately (whether or not it was actually bought)?
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: AdmiralRalwood on January 28, 2017, 01:54:00 pm
AFAIK all the IPs were bundled together, but Interplay was playing things very close to the chest, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: General Battuta on January 28, 2017, 02:45:58 pm
You could always release Blue Planet as standalone and find out the hard way  :nervous:

That's the hope!
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: Luis Dias on January 28, 2017, 02:51:31 pm
Wait what? Are you willing to do that?
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: General Battuta on January 28, 2017, 03:07:53 pm
Always wanted to, with the modpack crippled so you couldn't play the FS2 campaign if someone gave you the mission files.
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: Luis Dias on January 28, 2017, 03:28:24 pm
I don't see how would that help in the slightest regarding the IP, tbh, although I do agree we would definitely become aware of who is in charge of it.
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: Spoon on November 27, 2017, 05:47:07 pm
I asked our favorite potential future FS3 developer, who is always right about things, about how much was asked for Freespace's IP. Since I don't remember anyone on hlp ever getting an actual number on this.
According to him:
(https://ibin.co/3imvhpDs7PwG.png)
(https://ibin.co/3imvae03AbFo.png)
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: Goober5000 on December 06, 2017, 06:40:27 pm
That is ridiculous.  Unless they're going with "the big ask".  I would counter with $10,000 and no profit sharing, then see what they say.

Props to Derek Smart for finding out, though.
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: JGZinv on December 07, 2017, 12:39:03 pm
Not that it makes a hill of difference for FS2, but Tachyon and all Novalogic's IPs were bought up by THQnordic.
Been trying to reach out to them for a while now.

It'd be funny to see both franchises under the same company.
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: Kon on December 28, 2017, 12:11:06 pm
If all of the IPs were bundled together, that would explain the $1 million + profit sharing quote.

If you managed to get out of profit sharing, it would be a steal for any publisher. There's no shortage of people who would be willing to Kickstart at least that much for MDK, Giants, Earthworm Jim, etc.

Descent alone has seen two competing spiritual sequels in the past few years.
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: Singh on December 30, 2017, 08:12:25 am
No idea. The bid I had put in was on the other of $10-15k just for Freespace. Was definitely turned down. When I inquired whom got the winning bit, they mentioned they could not tell whom was the winner due to it still being ongoing at the time. I will send a follow up email and see if they are willing to disclose it now.
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: Nyctaeus on December 30, 2017, 08:29:45 am
Not that it makes a hill of difference for FS2, but Tachyon and all Novalogic's IPs were bought up by THQnordic.
Been trying to reach out to them for a while now.

It'd be funny to see both franchises under the same company.
So far THQ Nordic is known from bringing old franchices back to life, with new Darksiders, new Titan Quest expansion with updated visuals, and of course SpellForce III. And their games are seriously good! Their marketing model is based on nostalgia.

I'm not saying anything but... Well, why not :P ?
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: Goober5000 on January 04, 2018, 07:32:00 pm
No idea. The bid I had put in was on the other of $10-15k just for Freespace. Was definitely turned down. When I inquired whom got the winning bit, they mentioned they could not tell whom was the winner due to it still being ongoing at the time. I will send a follow up email and see if they are willing to disclose it now.

Any response to this?  Whoops, missed the new thread (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=94326.0).
Title: Re: What became of the Freespace IP?
Post by: Selectah on January 19, 2018, 02:08:11 pm
Profit sharing was (is?) part of the agreement. All titles are inextricably bundled, and the asking price is ridiculous. (Edit: I see mr. Smart has already answered.)