RTS Halo Mod Stopped by Microsoft

Headcase88 writes "Microsoft has officially asked the creators of Halogen to stop development at once. Halogen was an RTS mod being developed by Halo fans for the past three years. From the website: ' I was going to write a big sappy letter here, but what's the point. So..that's it then, I guess. The forums, site, and Moddb profile will all be shut down within the week. I can't say it hasn't been fun. It's a shame it has to end like this, but I suppose that's how it goes. Thanks, guys, for all the time you've spent supporting us. It's been a pleasure. We hate this as much as you do.' "

Comments

Too bad...

[SirTalon42]

Too bad Valve didn't do this with Counter Strike, if they did maybe they would still be in business now...

Re:Too bad...

[Schraegstrichpunkt]

I was thinking the same thing about id and Quake.

Re:Too bad...

[spauldo]

Someone once claimed that if copyright holders don't enforce their copyrights, they'll lose them.

That's trademarks. Copyright doesn't require enforcement - everyone could use your works and then you could sue Joe Bob 'cause you think he's ugly. As long as he doesn't have explicit permission to your works, you're in the right.

I put it down to lawyers being lawyers, and businesses being myopic in general. I'm sure they have their reasons, and I'm sure they're silly, but they take it seriously.

Re:Too bad...

[grumbel]

I was thinking the same thing about id and Quake.

There is however a big difference: They are modding Command&Conquer and not Halo.

C&C is EAs property, not Microsofts. So if this mod would have become successfull, it would mean more C&C copies sold and EA makes more money, not exactly in the interest of Microsoft, since they get zero out of it.

Re:Too bad...

[tambo]

C&C is EAs property, not Microsofts. So if this mod would have become successfull, it would mean more C&C copies sold and EA makes more money, not exactly in the interest of Microsoft, since they get zero out of it.

Not necessarily true.

First, Microsoft clearly loses nothing from this mod, since it's unlikely to displace their sales of their own properties.

Second, the goodwill generated by the Halo mod - nostalgia, fondness for the franchise, etc. - may well have sold more copies of Halo for it... without Microsoft having had to lift a finger.

(Then there's also the small bit about not pissing off all of the Halo fans who wanted to see the mod.)

So it seems kind of ridiculous for Microsoft to make this move. I'm guessing that its primary interest is in retaining control of the dogma surrounding the Halo universe. Doesn't seem sufficient justification to me, but at least there's a core of rationality here.

- David Stein

Wait...

[Enoxice]

I'm confused...is this a C&C mod taking place in the Halo universe? Yeah, I guess I can't blame MS for shutting them down. But what's stopping them from removing Halo references, changing the graphics/story a bit and reopening?

Re:Hmmm

[Aladrin]

Or maybe they just hadn't heard of it until now. I certainly hadn't.

RTS Halo Mod Stopped by Microsoft

[westlake]

Successful fan projects like the Star Trek films begin by reaching an understanding with the copyright owner. There are many advantages: access to talent, access to resources, assistance in distribution.

Why invest three years in a mod when you know the environment is hostile?

Re: RTS Halo Mod Stopped by Microsoft

[Osty]

Why invest three years in a mod when you know the environment is hostile?

That's a good question. Bungie (and Microsoft) have been historically non-hostile with regards to Halo properties (see Red vs. Blue, for example). However, in just about every case where Bungie/Microsoft have given implicit or explicit approval, the authors of such works came to them before-hand (or soon afterwards). So, given that Bungie is fan-friendly, and that there are probably more than a few Microsoft and Bungie employees who would love to play a Halo RTS, why didn't the Halogen guys talk to Microsoft three years ago?

oh the irony

[cortana]

Halo was originally going to be an RTS, back when its working title was Armor, I think. Then it became a third person shooter, then MS bought Bungie and fucked everything up.

Re:oh the irony

[Ponzicar]

Yes, damn them for making the most successful console fps ever!

Re:Microsoft is retarded

[amliebsch]

Except they weren't modding Halo, they were modifying a completely different game using Halo assets.

Re:Microsoft sucks

[Toby_Tyke]

This is just Microsoft being arrogant about the fact that a small, "unprofessional" team of people can create something that millions of people want and they, with all their billions and teams of "professionals" can't

That's right, because Halo and Halo 2 were both complete flops, weren't they? Hardly shifted a dozen units between them, right?

I say they reprogram the whole thing on a Quake 3 engine or something

I'm now fairly sure you never read the article, but, to give you the benifit of the doubt for a second and assume you did, could you explain what you mean by this comment? Because, as you are no doubt aware, this was a mod for Command and Conquer using Halo IP, not a mod for Halo. Could you explain (A) why microsoft would give a flying fuck which non-MS game these guys wrote a mod for and (B) exactly why you think it would be good idea for these guys to start over again with their RTS mod by dumping the RTS game they were trying to modify and attempting make an RTS using an FPS game engine? Just curious.

minus any actual mention of the word Halo of course.

And of course they're free to do that. As I have said eleswhere in this discussion, if these devs had just, I don't know, maybe come up with an original idea, instead of ripping off MS's IP, then maybe they wouldn't have just had to watch three years work disapear down the drain.

Oh I know, it's MS and they're evil and yes, they suck. But I just can't see what they've done wrong here. The Halo IP is a huge asset for MS, and the law of the land as currently written alows them to defend it. I cannot for the life of me see why anyone would expect them to do anything different. If you are making a game using someone elses IP then you are relying entirely on their good will. These devs never even asked permission. If I was about to embark on three years of hard work, I think I might ask the copyright holders permission first.