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Interplay selling its IPs

Severian Silk

Guest
Let's watch as Gearbox swoops in and nabs a couple of price IPs and fucks over everyone, especially the fans.
HWRM was genuinely better than HW2. Except for modders being unable to get the AI working with custom races.
 

Don Peste

Arcane
Joined
Sep 15, 2008
Messages
4,277
Location
||☆||
As you are aware, Interplay Entertainment Corp. has been exploring the possibility of selling their IP portfolio of digital assets. Given the tremendous response for individual titles, Interplay has decided to briefly open up discussions around the purchase of single and groups of assets.

Below is the list of all the titles that are available for purchase. Please indicate your interest in particular titles by replying to this email with your best and final bid in US Dollars. All bids are due by Thursday, November 10th 2016 at 5:00pm PST.

Best,
Sameer

1 Agent Armstrong
2 American Deer Hunting 2000
3 American Rodeo: Bull Rider 2000
4 Barbarian
5 Battle Chess
6 Battle Chess - Chinese Chess
7 Battle Chess 4000
8 Battle Chess II
9 Battle Chess: Game of Kings
10 Battle Storm
11 Blackjack (Caesar's Palace VIP series)
12 Boogerman
13 Boogerman: Official Game Secrets
14 The Brainies
15 Caesar's Palace Slots
16 Casper: Gameboy Color
17 Castles 1 & 2
18 Cauldron
19 ClayFighter
20 Clay Fighter 2: Judgment Clay
21 Clay Fighter 63 1/3
22 Conflict: Freespace the Great War
23 Conquer the Skies
24 Conquer the Universe
25 Conquest of the New World
26 Conquest of the New World II
27 Craps (Caesar's Palace VIP series)
28 Crazy Cars
29 Crime Does Not Pay
30 Cyberia 1 & 2
31 Dark Alliance
32 Dark Alliance II
33 Descent (TM only)
34 Descent 3 Mercenary
35 Descent Freespace the great war
36 Die by the sword
37 Down Force
38 Dragon Wars
39 Earthworm Jim (character)
40 Earthworm Jim (original game)
41 Earthworm Jim HD
42 Earthworm Jim 2
43 Earthworm Jim 3-D
44 Evolva
45 Exhibition of Speed
46 F/A-18 Super Hornet
47 Fire & Forget
48 Freespace 2
49 Freespace: video game
50 Galactic Conqueror
51 Giants: Citizen Kabuto
52 Ignition
53 Incantation
54 Invictus: In the Shadow of Olympus
55 Kao the Kangaroo
56 Kingdom: The Far Reaches
57 Kingpin: Life of Crime
58 Knight Force
59 Lexicross
60 Lionheart
61 Lost Eden
62 M1 Tank Platoon
63 M1 Tank Platoon II: the definitive simulation of modern ground warfare
64 MAX: Mechanized Assualt & Exploration
65 MAX 2: Mechanized Assualt & Exploration
66 MDK
67 MDK 2
68 MDK 2 "HD"
69 Messiah
70 Metal Rage
71 Off Shore Warrior
72 Poker Night with David Slansky
73 Pray for Death
74 Prehistorik/Prehistorik Man
75 R/C Stunt Copter
76 Renegade Racers
77 Roadsters
78 Run Like Hell
79 Sacrifice
80 Screamer
81 Shattered Steel
82 Solitaire Deluxe
83 Star Trek: 25th Anniversary
84 Star Trek: Judgment Rights
85 Star Trek: New Worlds
86 Star Trek: Star Fleet Academy
87 Star Trek: Star Fleet Command
88 Stellaluna
89 Stonekeep
90 Subwar 2050
91 Subwar 2050: the official strategy guide
92 Titan
93 Titus the Fox
94 Toonstruck
95 Video Poker (Caesar's Palace VIP Series)
96 Virtual Chess
97 VR Baseball 1997
98 VR Baseball 1999
99 VR Sports
100 VR Baseball 2000
101 Wild 9



--
Sameer Karim
Technology Investment Banking
Wedbush Securities
T: 415-273-7305
sameer.karim@wedbush.com
 

J1M

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
14,616
Would purchasing the Star Trek IP grant someone the ability to make a sequel, or would that still require NBC approval?
 

Don Peste

Arcane
Joined
Sep 15, 2008
Messages
4,277
Location
||☆||
How'd you get this, Don Peste?
It was supersimple. I emailed Wedbush on September asking for a game when they first announced they were selling everything. That was when they told me they were auctioning the whole batch (And I got that pdf). Yesterday they sent me this.

I would bet that some of these IPs are going to be sold very cheap (Who wants the exclusive rights to Subwar 2050: the official strategy guide??). Why don't we gather some bucks and bid for... Mmm... VR Baseball 1997? Then we can sell it on Steam and earn... Millions!!
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,236
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
I wonder if Brian Fargo will try to bid on the Sacrifice IP. He loves that game.
 
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
6,207
Location
The island of misfit mascots
Ooh! Ooh! Second thought!

Did Herve transfer any of his own, 'personal name' copyright into Interplay? Can we buy 'made by Herve Caen', or 'Herve Caen productions' with a Codex pass-the-hat-around, and then start flooding the place with advertisements for dog turds and goatse 'brought to you by Herve Caen'?
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
Reportedly they asked about 10 million dollars for the entire catalog, but potential buyers are not sure if they really have proper rights to some of its IPs.
 
Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
1,677
dtBO89I.png
Would you like to take a look at my IPs? I keep the proof of ownership in my office nearby.
 
Unwanted

Charles Eli Cheese

Neckbeard Shitlord
Edgy Shitposter
Joined
Dec 31, 2016
Messages
1,864,979
Location
Jewed by inanatron the crybaby faggot
The problem is there is no meet to their IPs whatsoever, except earthworm jim. Meaning that the characters etc. do not mean anything. So someone could just take the name and register a trademark like fargo anyway so who the fuck would pay for that?
 

The Dutch Ghost

Arbiter
Joined
May 26, 2016
Messages
681
There are Star Trek titles on that list, how could those be for sale?
I could understand if the contents that make up the games are for sale (code, art, etc), but the Star Trek brand is owned by CBS/Paramount

Even if someone bought these games, wouldn't they have to make a business deal with CBS/Viacom to actually be able to publish these games again?
 

pippin

Guest
Perhaps Interplay owned the right to make games with the Star Trek IP? Sometimes legal things can be very curious like that. And by curious I mean unecessarily complicated.
 
Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
1,677
Perhaps Interplay owned the right to make games with the Star Trek IP? Sometimes legal things can be very curious like that. And by curious I mean unecessarily complicated.

I'm not sure its not like that. Activision was making quite a few Star Trek games in the early 2000s and there was that one from Bethesda before the 10s.
 

Zed Duke of Banville

Dungeon Master
Patron
Joined
Oct 3, 2015
Messages
11,760
There are Star Trek titles on that list, how could those be for sale?
I could understand if the contents that make up the games are for sale (code, art, etc), but the Star Trek brand is owned by CBS/Paramount

Even if someone bought these games, wouldn't they have to make a business deal with CBS/Viacom to actually be able to publish these games again?
Wouldn't Interplay retain the right to sell any games it made using the Star Trek brand under license? It's certainly possible there are additional complications in whatever legal arrangement they reached at the time, such as the owners of the Star Trek IP having a veto power over further sale of these games, but this wouldn't necessarily be the case.
 

The Dutch Ghost

Arbiter
Joined
May 26, 2016
Messages
681
I'm not sure its not like that. Activision was making quite a few Star Trek games in the early 2000s and there was that one from Bethesda before the 10s.

I do know that the Activision Star Trek games can't be sold at the moment through digital services like Steam and Good Old Games despite there have been requests for titles like "Elite Force" and "Bridge Commander" for some time now. It has something to do with the legal rights both Activision and CBS/Paramount hold.

I don't know about the Bethesda Star Trek games (other than most of them were either average or terrible) but there is probably the same type of deal going on.

If just CBS/Paramount or the video game publishers owned the rights to the Star Trek games without the other party being involved it would perhaps have been easier to re release them.
 

felipepepe

Codex's Heretic
Patron
Joined
Feb 2, 2007
Messages
17,274
Location
Terra da Garoa
Remember that it was like that with D&D. They could do Baldur's Gate 3, but not a new D&D title.

IIRC, that's how we got Siege of Dragonspear as well - it's an expansion to BG1, not a new game. You might be able to do the same with Star Trek.
 

The Dutch Ghost

Arbiter
Joined
May 26, 2016
Messages
681
Remember that it was like that with D&D. They could do Baldur's Gate 3, but not a new D&D title.

IIRC, that's how we got Siege of Dragonspear as well - it's an expansion to BG1, not a new game. You might be able to do the same with Star Trek.

I definitely would not object against another Star Trek 25th Anniversary/Judgment Rites games, or an expansion to Starfleet Academy/Klingon Academy, it is just very unlikely to happen.
Probably not enough demand for or profit in such games.

For all the crap Activision has done over the years, they did manage to release several of the better remembered titles (Interplay and Microprose also of course). Trek gaming has been pretty much in decline after that. Bethesda's games were forgettable, there were a bunch of mobile and online browser games, Star Trek Online which got sold to some Chinese company and is mostly about micro transactions, and the abysmal Star Trek the Video Game.
I doubt that new VR game that Ubisoft will bring out this month will lite up the Star Trek gamer community.
 

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