Destructoid is reporting that the Halo RTS mod being workd on over at Halogen has been received shut-down orders courtesy of Microsoft. From Halogen's post:
Quote:
For the last three years, we’ve worked incessantly to bring you the best Halo mod that we could. There have been a lot of ups and downs, but somehow Halogen has always managed to come out kicking. The problem with using copyrighted intellectual property as a base for a fan project is that you’re very susceptible to legal action. We always figured that since Halogen was such a different take on the Halo franchise, we might manage to make it without incident. That changed today.
Hours ago, we finally recieved the words we’ve been dreading since the mod started to get noticed. Microsoft has decided that we are infringing on the intellectual property of Bungie Studios and has asked us to stop development on Halogen.
Yuck. I'm not going to say Microsoft's in the wrong here, exactly, but it's always sad to see these projects die after the people behind them have pumped so much hard work into them.
Update from the guys over at Halogen:
Quote:
1. Halogen was started back in 2003. Before Microsoft actually absorbed Bungie and took control of all property, IIRC
2. Halogen was based on the BOOKS, not the game. As far as I know, Microsoft only owns property related to the games. Since both share common material, that gets a little sticky.
3. Bungie has known about us for at least a year prior to this, and has ALWAYS approved of what we were doing. See Sketch's posts on the HBO forums for proof.
4. It was never for profit. EVER. It was just a fan project to be distributed for free.
Bullshit. I didn´t wan´t to post from brazil, but this pisses me off. I`ve been following this thing since the beginning. I didn`t think miçrosoft would do this.
I'd propose to anyone considering development of a project with the potential to be FOX'ed to do so as discretely as possible, having just one large release. In fact, I'm sure there are even ways for this particular team to continue production, perhaps through the use of newsgroups, torrents, and plain old anonymity.
I understand Microsoft protecting their trademarks and IP. However, there are better ways of doing this. King's Quest: The Silver Lining received a Fan License from Vivendi so they could continue to work on their Fan Project while still protecting the IP.
This is total BS. If they're not releasing it for profit, what's the problem? Don't things like this just serve to broaden awareness/appeal of a particular brand? Heck, if someone gets really into the RTS and wants more of the Halo world they may go out and buy the official games. As long as they're not trying to play it off as an official Halo project, I don't see how this could hurt Microsoft.
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Frankly, the idea of making a Halo RTS and saying "it's so far from" what Halo is, when Halos tarted out as an RTS is a bit silly. I could see if they were making a Halo racing game or a Halo collectible card game how they would be beyond attack, but an RTS was almost taunting MS.
Yuck. I'm not going to say Microsoft's in the wrong here, exactly, but it's always sad to see these projects die after the people behind them have pumped so much hard work into them.
Maybe they should of put all that hard work into working on something they own the right to. It makes no sense to do this anymore. You know you're going to get shut down. Why not just make the game based on something new?
Hey there is a simple answer to their problem simply stop using the Halo as the backbone and create your own damn IP.
I mean they can still somewhat copy Halo in certin aspects but put your own twist on the whole series with different enemies, worlds, charcter design. Is it really that hard be creative?
This is total BS. If they're not releasing it for profit, what's the problem? Don't things like this just serve to broaden awareness/appeal of a particular brand? Heck, if someone gets really into the RTS and wants more of the Halo world they may go out and buy the official games. As long as they're not trying to play it off as an official Halo project, I don't see how this could hurt Microsoft.
I think it's retarded that people keep making games like this with other people's ip.
if you're going to spend so much time and effort on something, why not do it with your own ideas?
People may want to experience their favorite universe in a different way or see it updated in some form. It's not any different from a lot of folk's obsession with, say, Star Wars fan fiction, videos, mods and whatnot.
Frankly, the idea of making a Halo RTS and saying "it's so far from" what Halo is, when Halos tarted out as an RTS is a bit silly. I could see if they were making a Halo racing game or a Halo collectible card game how they would be beyond attack, but an RTS was almost taunting MS.
Did the group ever say it's "so far" from what Halo is? And even if Halo started as an RTS, the final release was obviously nowhere near that.
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I think it's retarded that people keep making games like this with other people's ip.
if you're going to spend so much time and effort on something, why not do it with your own ideas? maybe make some money in the end too?
They are fans. FAAAAANS. FAN MADE. Not made for money, but for the simple enjoyment they get out of doing something fun with a universe they love. Do you understand?
