Thursday, June 12, 2008
Indie Adventure Game Rips Off Oblivion?
Important tip for aspiring indie and small game developers:
Want to make sure that you are never, ever able to get a publishing deal again? You want to ruin your career and business? Then just blatantly rip off content from a major mainstream game, call it your own, and let your publisher take the heat for it when a gaming website posts screenshots showing what would be pixel-perfect comparisons if only your rendering was better.
Bad, bad, bad idea.
Now, we don't know that Majestic Studios actually ripped off content from Oblivion and other games for their adventure game, Limbo of the Lost. There are allegations that content has also been ripped off from Thief: Deadly Shadows, Morrowind, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, Unreal Tournament, and even - Diablo II? That may be a bit of a stretch, but once that particular can of worms gets opened, things get crazy.
But we do know that publisher Tri Synergy, has offered the following press release:
Sharon, MA, May 11th, 2008Curious? GamePlasma.com was the first (as far as I know) to break the news, complete with screenshots:
Tri Synergy, Inc. (www.trisynergy.com) would like to publish an official comment regarding recent comparisons of level design and artwork between Majestic Studios' *Limbo of the Lost* and Bethesda's *The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion*/Eidos Interactive's *Thief: Deadly Shadows*.
Tri Synergy is just as shocked as everyone else is by the recent screenshot comparisons. At no point during our dealings with Majestic Studios up until the point that the comparison was first publicly made by a third party did we have any knowledge of these similarities. Additionally, Tri Synergy will discontinue distribution of *Limbo of the Lost* in both retail and online outlets.
We have contacted the developer, Majestic, and are anxiously awaiting their response. As soon as we know more on this matter we will issue another statement.
More information about Tri Synergy is available from www.trisynergy.com.
GamePlasma's Screen-By-Screen Comparison of Limbo of the Lost and Oblivion
While nothing has yet been proven or admitted yet, the comparisons are... ummm.... Well, unless those screenshots are a hoax by GamePlasma , it's pretty freaking obvious that content was ripped off from Oblivion. I don't know about Thief and the other games. But except for low-quality rendering, they are identical. An artist or level designer would have a very, very rough time TRYING to duplicate these areas that precisely.
So there's no kidding around here: It's the same content. So unless Majestic Studios legally licensed the content, there's some epic copyright / IP violation going on here.
And here's the extra sucky part: These guys, Majestic Studios, are / were - as far as I can tell - basically indies. I don't know how much (if at all) that Tri Synergy funded the game's development, but these guys have been working on this adventure game since the Amiga days, according to this JustAdventure Preview.
So who's to blame? Did Majestic Studios even know about the problem? Or did they get screwed over by a contractor? If the latter, I really, really hope they got a legal document from said contractor stating that it was his original work. Not that it will prevent Majestic from ceasing to exist, and possibly dragging Tri Synergy with it, but at least it might reduce the owners' liability should Eidos, Bethesda, and Tri Synergy get litigious. Which they might.
But it it might not stop there. Tri Synergy is not a major publisher. They are a second- or third-string publisher that gets tiny games like this to market, both at retail and online. This is potentially a pretty monstrous disaster from their perspective. Every publisher's nightmare, I expect. Or one of their nightmares. Hopefully not enough of one to sink the company, but definitely a bad, bad situation.
What sort of ripple effect might this cause among the small publishers and developers? The indies of the world looking for a publishing deal to take their game to retail? I'm foreseeing a lot more paperwork (and expense) going into due diligence, and publishers being a lot more gun-shy about signing on new studios that haven't been around long enough to establish a track record.
So to whomever is responsible: Gee, thanks for making the lives of all the tiny little game producers in the world a little bit harder. We really had it too easy trying to survive and put food on the table with our little niche titles.
Labels: Adventure Games, Biz
- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 12:05 AM (Permalink)
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I can't think why they thought it would succeed. As long as the game was bought by more than a handful of people, someone was going to notice. And if it wasn't, then 10 sales isn't going to make the whole thing worthwhile.
I don't know which is worse, this or the response in the gaming media. eg. Kotaku's comments section
I thought we had got to the point where gamers valued gameplay over looking like a AAA game. Apparently not.
I don't know which is worse, this or the response in the gaming media. eg. Kotaku's comments section
I thought we had got to the point where gamers valued gameplay over looking like a AAA game. Apparently not.
# posted by 
: June 12, 2008 3:27 AM
: June 12, 2008 3:27 AM
Aw, man, you ain't kiddin' about the comments.
I used to be a pretty hardcore gamer. I think I'm more ... uh... "modcore" now? (Actually, I think the term is just "core.") And I think I'm happy to be there. Some folks just don't get it. On any side of the equation.
Crazy times....
I used to be a pretty hardcore gamer. I think I'm more ... uh... "modcore" now? (Actually, I think the term is just "core.") And I think I'm happy to be there. Some folks just don't get it. On any side of the equation.
Crazy times....
Yeah, the comments are not exactly encouraging.
Judging from the screens, these guys are in a lot of trouble. And I agree that the indie game industry could feel a ripple effect from this. Hopefully not in the form of another RIAA witch hunt.
Judging from the screens, these guys are in a lot of trouble. And I agree that the indie game industry could feel a ripple effect from this. Hopefully not in the form of another RIAA witch hunt.
I hadn't considered any effects beyond the companies directly involved. You have a great point.
Individual designers putting their autograph on every object they design could save a company from lawsuits, but not from public opinion. There are ways to protect against this sort of fraud, but nothing certain. So any paperwork that's created will probably have less to do with prevention than with deciding who can be fired and sued/jailed when it happens.
Individual designers putting their autograph on every object they design could save a company from lawsuits, but not from public opinion. There are ways to protect against this sort of fraud, but nothing certain. So any paperwork that's created will probably have less to do with prevention than with deciding who can be fired and sued/jailed when it happens.
Rule #1 about lawsuits: Don't try to sue poor people. It won't get you very far.
I wouldn't expect major lawsuits taking place along any lines. Some out-of-court settlements and threats of lawsuits to enforce an informal Cease & Desist, sure. Tri Synergy may try and get what they can out of Majestic to recoup sunk costs and any token settlements they might have to pay.
What do I expect? Tri Synergy gets its wrists slapped by its big-brother / copyright holding brothers. Its damages come down to sunk costs on a product that is now absolutely worthless.
Majestic, on the other hand, is mud. The principles (all three of them) are pretty much hosed until this blows over, and may never be trusted as principles in a game company again. We'll see. The industry has a pretty short memory, in the end.
I wouldn't expect major lawsuits taking place along any lines. Some out-of-court settlements and threats of lawsuits to enforce an informal Cease & Desist, sure. Tri Synergy may try and get what they can out of Majestic to recoup sunk costs and any token settlements they might have to pay.
What do I expect? Tri Synergy gets its wrists slapped by its big-brother / copyright holding brothers. Its damages come down to sunk costs on a product that is now absolutely worthless.
Majestic, on the other hand, is mud. The principles (all three of them) are pretty much hosed until this blows over, and may never be trusted as principles in a game company again. We'll see. The industry has a pretty short memory, in the end.
fluffyamoeba: Thanks for directing me to the comments section on Kotaku. This one got a hearty chuckle from me:
This is no more stealing than when I formulate an entire essay based on what I copied, pasted, and rearranged from wikipedia.
I can't tell if it's supposed to be sarcastic or not. Awesome.
This is no more stealing than when I formulate an entire essay based on what I copied, pasted, and rearranged from wikipedia.
I can't tell if it's supposed to be sarcastic or not. Awesome.
I don't think Tri-Synergy have much to fear, as the game haven't been brought to the North-American market yet.
What literally everybody are forgetting is that the game has other publishers. G2 Games is the main publisher, and they _have_ released copies of this game into retail, both in Europe and in Asia. So they can (and probably will) be sued. Like the last time they had legal problems (as GMX Media), they'll probably file for bankrupcy and start a new company.
Then there's 1C, who apparently distributed the game in Russia and other Eastern European countries. And they are actually a pretty big company, with some 800 employees in their main offices alone. They might very well become the main target here, as they actually have enough resources to pay up should they be fined.
As for the developers - well, they're toast no matter what. Too bad for them, but they weren't working full-time on the game anyway, and will probably just go back to their regular lives unless things really blow up.
What literally everybody are forgetting is that the game has other publishers. G2 Games is the main publisher, and they _have_ released copies of this game into retail, both in Europe and in Asia. So they can (and probably will) be sued. Like the last time they had legal problems (as GMX Media), they'll probably file for bankrupcy and start a new company.
Then there's 1C, who apparently distributed the game in Russia and other Eastern European countries. And they are actually a pretty big company, with some 800 employees in their main offices alone. They might very well become the main target here, as they actually have enough resources to pay up should they be fined.
As for the developers - well, they're toast no matter what. Too bad for them, but they weren't working full-time on the game anyway, and will probably just go back to their regular lives unless things really blow up.
# posted by : June 15, 2008 2:44 PM
: June 15, 2008 2:44 PM
Regarding Thief material, there is a sound effect that plays on LoL website which is the undead templar's sound effect from Thief games.
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# posted by : June 16, 2008 10:43 AM
: June 16, 2008 10:43 AMLinks to this post:
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