Author Topic: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)  (Read 30955 times)

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Offline CT27

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
Goober5000 made an interesting point to me earlier.  He stated that if Deep Rising/Volition got a hold of this and did decide to make FS3 that it would be different than the FS3 they would have made back in 2000/2001 (assuming FS2 sold better then).

Do you think those games would be different.  Hypothetically if Volition did decide to make FS3 today how do you see it being different than a FS3 that would have been made back then (or would it have been much different)?

 

Offline NGTM-1R

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
A little less unrealistically: what could we achieve with a cooperative rights-holder willing to talk to the modders in some capacity?

We are an obvious source to raid for expertise on modeling, even to some extent mission design and ship handling. Nobody knows how to make it feel FreeSpace quite like we do.
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Offline Unknown Target

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
Gosh I hope they don't try and turn it into another Elite/Star Citizen/Independence War/Freelancer.

  

Offline karajorma

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
A little less unrealistically: what could we achieve with a cooperative rights-holder willing to talk to the modders in some capacity?

We are an obvious source to raid for expertise on modeling, even to some extent mission design and ship handling. Nobody knows how to make it feel FreeSpace quite like we do.

If the official BSG game makers were smart enough to realise that, I'd be ****ing disappointed if whoever bought the Freespace IP didn't consider it.


People. What Interplay is offloading is the IP, not the actual game. If the HLP community creates a campaign with the character Bosch it's a breach of IP rights/license; if the character is called something else, everything's fine and dandy. The IP consists of the characters, storyline, logos, created assets, names, concepts, and of course the name Freespace (read: anything that can be copyrighted). Use any of that and you're screwed; if your work doesn't contain any of it you're good.

Yeah this is ridiculous.
Word.


So you've basically just stated exactly what I, amongst others, were saying and then agreed with the one person who didn't seem to get it?
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Offline Luis Dias

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
We'll talk in a year to see who didn't "seem to get it".

 

Offline Singh

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
Gentlemen,

If we could focus: what news or information is present currently on the state of bidding, the process, etc? I read earlier int his thread it is being offered as a full bundle and not individually? Is this true? Is there a place where such information can be found?

This is of the utmost importance, as the current situation dictates consideration, facts and investigation of the bidding and sale process itself instead of conjecture on what happens after.
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Offline The E

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
If we could focus: what news or information is present currently on the state of bidding, the process, etc? I read earlier int his thread it is being offered as a full bundle and not individually? Is this true? Is there a place where such information can be found?

This is the PDF currently being sent out to people showing interest in the sale. You will note that there is no pricing information in there, it's just a general sort of overview over which licenses Interplay thinks can be converted into something usable in the mobile game space. There is, to my knowledge, no public information about the bidding process as a whole, but they have said that licenses will not be sold separately.

You will also note that they consider FS to be in the same tier of licenses as Descent, Earthworm Jim and MDK (I think those are probably the highest value ones in there for future development, but who even knows, maybe we'll all be playing Battle Chess next year).

Quote
This is of the utmost importance, as the current situation dictates consideration, facts and investigation of the bidding and sale process itself instead of conjecture on what happens after.

To start with, any bid entered by us would not be for the FS license, but for the whole package of licenses that they will bundle it with. Secondly, there is no public information about the valuation of any of these licenses; Presumably this includes ongoing revenue through GOG and Steam. To obtain more information, you will have to contact the agency organizing this whole thing (you can find this info on the internet).

That being said, I do not rate our chances of entering this very high. Even if we assume a low-ball estimate of 100k USD for the whole pack that would interest us, this would require us to raise somewhere in the region of 150k USD through kickstarter and the like (Including overhead costs incurred through kickstarter fees and the costs associated with hiring someone to act as our representative in these matters). I think that, as passionate as this community is, that's not really feasible.

(That being said, if we could create this campaign with the explicit goal of setting those licenses free, we could probably get support from others in this).

So, TL;DR: We don't have enough information to know whether or not a crowdfunding campaign could work, because Interplay and the people representing them haven't released them yet.
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Offline Singh

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
The E: Thank you, this is the information I was looking for.

I have contacted the organization representative from my personal email address on details of the bidding process and how to apply.

While I do not have the resources ready (or indeed, anything anywhere near in that league), it is something that I think can be taken further and we can rally around as more details come to light.

Assuming I get a reply from Joe Morgan (the fellow responsible for this sale), I will publish it and will p lan from there. I think we need a separate focused thread on acquisition information first and foremost.
"Blessed be the FREDder that knows his sexps."
"Cursed be the FREDder that trusts FRED2_Open."
Dreamed of much, accomplished little. :(

 

Offline Luis Dias

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
Battle Chess was awesome come on.

 

Offline The E

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
Battle Chess was awesome come on.

It was.

Kinda dubious whether a modern mobile game version of it would be though.
If I'm just aching this can't go on
I came from chasing dreams to feel alone
There must be changes, miss to feel strong
I really need lifе to touch me
--Evergrey, Where August Mourns

 

Offline JGZinv

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
Granted the value may have an opening bid, but it comes down to perceived value and who is out there looking to get those tier of titles that FS is with.
Just like any auction, if there aren't many bidders, or they have a limited range they can bid, it will still remain lower. There's a lot of negativity here, which I can
understand a realist approach, but how much are you going to be smashing your face into a wall if it ends up going for 3-20K and we didn't even try?

As for the other titles with FS as well, unless the contract in some way implies that you cannot remarket or resell the license, nothing says the new owner can't
offload those games via another auction or privately, kickstarter, whatever, after the fact, and everyone gets what they want.

and for the record, I played a lot of Battle Chess as a kid.
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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
This brochure is focused hard on selling these IPs to burn on mobile titles, that's probably not a good sign.
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Offline CT27

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)


1. The ip pack will be absolutely off grounds for HLP's finantial capabilities. Except if one of you is a hidden billionaire. So forget it already.


What if Donald Trump is secretly reading this forum? :p

 

Offline Cobra

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
This brochure is focused hard on selling these IPs to burn on mobile titles, that's probably not a good sign.

Windmills-like strategy game on mobile. :P
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Offline Mongoose

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
This brochure is focused hard on selling these IPs to burn on mobile titles, that's probably not a good sign.
The reasoning on profitability it's using also appears to be a few years behind the curve, which given that it's Interplay doesn't surprise me at all.

 

Offline Cobra

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)


1. The ip pack will be absolutely off grounds for HLP's finantial capabilities. Except if one of you is a hidden billionaire. So forget it already.


What if Donald Trump is secretly reading this forum? :p

FreeSpace is gonna be YUUGE?
To consider the Earth as the only populated world in infinite space is as absurd as to assert that in an entire field of millet, only one grain will grow. - Metrodorus of Chios
I wept. Mysterious forces beyond my ken had reached into my beautiful mission and energized its pilots with inhuman bomb-firing abilities. I could only imagine the GTVA warriors giving a mighty KIAAIIIIIII shout as they worked their triggers, their biceps bulging with sinew after years of Ivan Drago-esque steroid therapy and weight training. - General Battuta

 

Offline karajorma

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
As I said earlier, if the bundle that Freespace is being sold in also includes Earthworm Jim, then we haven't got a hope in hell of raising the money we'd need.

On its own, I think an estimate of 100k is in the right ballpark for FS2. That's completely beyond the abilities of HLP to raise. We could try raising the money with the idea to make the game freely available but we'd need to know what contract exists with Steam and GOG.
Karajorma's Freespace FAQ. It's almost like asking me yourself.

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
There's always the nuclear option in asking the overall gaming community to chip in, Kickstarter style. The frustration that people feel about IPs getting bought and 'ruined' or otherwise wasted should help in that. At least it would make an interesting situation of gamers vs. uncaring publisher.

I really don't look forward to the alternative though, seeing some half-hearted 'Freespace' phone game that's merely a bad clone of what is the biggest grossing/selling title on the market, full of stupid microtransactions and spending money to unlock better ships, or even a 'full' retail game where, despite taking all the hard work the community did or some proprietary engine, its basically cloning what's popular on the market today with all the 'modern writing', for lack of better terms. I'd like Freespace to be safe from all this IP milking behavior.
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Offline Luis Dias

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Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
I can see Earthworm Jim on the iPhone. Battle Chess likewise. Descent? Heck, Descent would do decently (ar ar ar) on many platforms.

I can't see FreeSpace on anything mobile. It just doesn't have enough name recognition to be leveraged into phones, so the idea of taking its name and making a stupid ass game for a 3.5 inch screen doesn't fly. There's enough **** as it is on the app stores.

The only platforms it could eventually go into is either the pc or consoles. The worst scenario is an arcade style KILL DA SHIVA fighter simulator with 4 keys to press. And I'd actually be ok with that stuff.

 
Re: Interplay IP being sold (including Freespace)
I'm not saying we're going to see Freespaceville, for the reasons Luis has laid out, but that the IP seems quite likely to end up in the hands of a mobile dev.
The good Christian should beware of mathematicians, and all those who make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that the mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine man in the bonds of Hell.