Interplay blocks Descent remake

I know some people on this forums still remember the game "Descent" from the 90ies, this is why I am posting this here.

From 1994 to 1999, Interplay published a total of 3 versions of the game with a couple of add-ons and modifications. Despite the original games having been somewhat of a landmark in 3d FPS games, Interplay did not publish any sequel to the game and the series was discontinued. In 2013, a couple of enthusiasts started to work in their spare time on bringing the original Descent 6-degrees-of-freedom gameplay back onto PCs using the Unreal Engine 3 and founded the non-profit project Sol Contingency.

To get an impression about what they were planning to do, you can check out some gameplay footage (note the ship is still a placeholder there)

Some earlier gameplay footage is available too.

Just when the team announced they'd be able to release the first playable demo in October 2014, Interplay, the publisher of the original Descent games stepped in and issued a Cease and Desist order forbidding the project to use any "iconic" assets of the original games, such as ship and level design or content of the background story of the original games. For more information, check out the project's official statement about this on the web site. There is also a Petition being raised by a fan.

According to the developers, Interplay has been aware of the project from a very early stage on.

From a legal perspective, I'm not questioning that Interplay is entitled to forbid usage of protected trade marks and other intellectual property rights (including probably at least the ship design of the Pyro), though it could be questionable if they waived their rights by not using them. However, I don't intend this thread to be about the legal assessment of the situation, but rather to raise awareness about what is going on there between a publisher and a lot of people that, until then, were associating a lot of great moments with the name. In my opinion this is a sad but classical example of how NOT to deal with the people that have been, and would be, your customers.

Personally I am very sad about what happened here, especially since I always liked the Pyro as one of the best designed ships.

Just posting this here to share it with you.

Making a remake of someone else's work is always a risk. Its not too bad though, they just need to change it a bit and its a new product.
I didn't know interplay still exists. But, they don't do anything apart from selling 20 year old games.

Well they did nothing with their IP for like 15 years - and there have been discussions about cooperating in the beginning of the project, but apparently Interplay did not show any interest back then.

After 10 years it should be in public domain imho, at least if the owner doesn't do anything with the IP in that time. Ridicolous how thry can forbid similar design of maps and story.

I didn't know interplay still exists. But, they don't do anything apart from selling 20 year old games.

Well they did nothing with their IP for like 15 years.

Which is it? Does Interplay still sell 20-year old games or are they doing nothing with their Intellectual Property? Because if selling old games is all they still do then trying to get this remake from getting released makes perfect sense

I actually started developing a movement system around this gameplay style in Unreal Engine 4 (was planning on using it as a mini-game in one of my current projects)-- I should just build a full version of this... Wonder if the devs of this game are looking for a job. I have no intent to use similar assets or story elements though.

Would be fun to develop new weapon mechanics for a totally different movement style... I think there is missed potential in Descent and other such games with their weapon system and I have a few ideas on how to strengthen the weapon play...

It's a damn shame that Interplay, the publisher behind iconic games such as LOADED, Descent, and Fallout have decided to handle it in this fashion. If anything, a remake of Descent by the community would've just brought the original games to the attention of players that never heard of them before, and in the process earn them more money. One thing that the developers probably could've done though is to put the remake together as a "mod" by making it uninstallable if you don't have the original game on your hard drive. That's the approach the developers of Blood Omnicide took with their upgraded version of the first Legacy of Kain game which actually runs on DarkPlaces believe it or not. On a more positive note, the developer plans to take the project to Kickstarter, remove anything and everything related to Descent from it, and make an entirely new IP.

The saddest thing is that they waited for the project to be announced to come out and then they've decided to barge in. Sneaky play there. they could point that out to the devs in the start so they know what to do especially because they have known about it the whole time.

The saddest thing is that they waited for the project to be announced to come out and then they've decided to barge in. Sneaky play there. they could point that out to the devs in the start so they know what to do especially because they have known about it the whole time.

If they said anything earlier they dev would have had lots of time to change the assets of the game. Waiting till the end was to steam roll the dev's momentum and myabe make them quit.

That's why I all but said fuck it to the entertainment industry. I use to buy 100's of new cd's and dvd up to 5 years ago now I pirate it all unless the artist sell it themselves on their website. I dont mind that as all the money goes to the artits. I've bought 3 humble bundles too.

This story is real sad..... Interplay is a company that has made much good games.... but as it often happens, there may be assholes behind awesome things....

This story is real sad..... Interplay is a company that has made much good games.... but as it often happens, there may be assholes behind once awesome things....

Fixed, Interplay is merely a shadow of what it once was. They actually haven't had any relevance in the gaming industry for a very long time now and the fact that they still haven't closed up shop yet is shocking.

Thats the is sad part....