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Vivendi Shuts Down Indie King's Quest Title

Posted by Zonk on from the not-every-day-has-a-silver-lining dept.

edwardmolasses writes "An ambitious King's Quest fan game, in development since 2000 and nearing completion, has been shut down after a cease and desist letter from Vivendi Universal Games (formerly known as Sierra Entertainment). King's Quest IX: "Every Cloak Has A Silver Lining" was to be an alternative ending to the popular King's Quest series. The first chapter was to be released this winter. Some project stats: 40+ volunteer staff spread over five continents, 2000+ page script, 9 chapters, 450 characters, original theme music, and voice acting. Some screenshots can be seen here."

9 of 44 comments (clear)

  1. Transforme it by imr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Change all problematic art and release it.
    And dont forget to change the script to include some kind of parody of vivendi, like in shrek. You know, you need to hit them at the heart of their soul.
    But with retractable batons inside.

    1. Re:Transforme it by warmgun · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Change all problematic art and release it.

      That would seem like a daunting task. Judging from the screenshots of the first chapter, the game may take place in numerous settings from the older games (especially 6 "Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow", arguably the best one). The "art" in this case seems to be most of the 3d models and textures. Removing King's Quest from this project would remove any reason to make it, IMHO. I really hope this gets sorted out somehow. I loved the the King's Quest series and Vivendi's end to the series, King's Quest 8 Mask of Eternity, was a travesty. I seriously doubt Vivendi is going to make any profits from the King's Quest brandname, so why not let it go ahead? It's not like they were trying to make money. They don't even have ads on their site!

      Whilst writing this, I realized what's going on: http://www.gametap.com/. Sierra, aka Vivendi, has got some games on there it seems, but no adventure games of yore. So let's see how this plays out.

  2. This can hardly have come as a surprise... by Senjutsu · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They didn't honestly expect a big conglomerate to do the nice thing and not notice them, did they?

    That said, all they need to do is change the project name to Qing's Kuest and tweak the art-work.

  3. Ahh.. good ole King's Quest by Datamonstar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Man, that brings up some fond old memories. I remember saving my allowance for the collector's edition on CD-ROM and the happiness that ensued once I finally got it. Many a time imitating the narrator's voice: "Sir Grham eats the cookie..." And Roberta Williams is the first game developer I rememeber knowing by name. Part 3 was my favorite, although the lovely graphics in part 4 were breathtaking to me at the time. Man, I, for one, would have quickly bought a copy of the indie game had it stayed alive. Long live the king.

    --
    The eternal struggle of good vs. evil begins within one's self.
  4. Re:Too bad they were shut down by MachDelta · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They may have tried. Some companies won't respond to "fan mail" asking for permission to do something with their game/universe/whatever. Only after it becomes a definable entity (read: been worked on for years) do they step in with a C&D.

    Personally, I think any business that intentionally puts an end to FREE fan-created work, is shooting themselves in the foot. They should be embracing and nurturing their fans' love for said products, not trying to squash it! But hey, telling customers HOW they HAVE TO enjoy a product seems to be a popular trend these days. :\

  5. Who to Contact by koko_99_2001 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've sent an email to Vivendi's tech support. They told me to email: games.comments@vugames.com Guys, PLEASE send your complaints on what Vivendi did to the KQIX project to this email address! Hopefully, we'll let them know how much we all support this project and they'll be willing to come to an agreement with the team!

  6. Would be horrible if Pirates STOLE the source code by Confessed+Geek · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Wouldn't it be TERRIBLE if the source code was STOLEN by Software PIRATES and put on a P2P network! All those years of work Free to download for anyone without any control by the original authors...

    All those people out there using the software and the people who volunteered all their time for the love of the game wouldn't be able to do a thing about it! How tragic.

  7. Wow, what jerks by Drachasor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, Vivendi doesn't want KQ9 to be made. I can understand that. I might disagree, but I can see their corporate view. (Even though the popularity such a game generated might help Vivendi sell an official KQ game in the future).

    What amazes me is how vile a tactic Vivendi used. KQ9 was in development since 2000. 2000! That's 5 or 6 years of work done by 40-odd people. After all this work, when the group is almost finished, Vivendi then decides to tell them they can't release it. Thus essentially turning 5+ years of work into a waste of time. This just seems evil and cruel.

    For those that don't care about the immorality of this, it also is horrible from a marketing viewpoint.

    I didn't even know this project existed a day ago, but I'm going to avoid Vivendi products in the future after this.

    -Drachasor

    1. Re:Wow, what jerks by CFTM · · Score: 2, Insightful

      To be fair to Vivendi, you must take in to the account that most fan projects never make it as far as this one did. As a large corporation, it was probably on their radar but why pay the legal hounds when 9 out of 10 of these things end up folding on their own. I would have loved to see the game released but they paid for that intellectual property and they have to perserve the brand name. KQIX could have released and been a terrible product; no matter why Vivendi did their name would be tied to that product.

      It's easy to get angry at Vivendi but the people who worked on this project new the risk they were taking and Vivendi has all the power. If you want to call them vile, do so for how they treat customers/employees but not because they killed a project that could have adverse affects on their brand.