5 ms·

While I'm sure this makes business sense, I wish this didn't happen as often when it comes to game software companies. I've looked into ownership of old game I

While I'm sure this makes business sense, I wish this didn't happen as often when it comes to game software companies. I've looked into ownership of old game IP's, for either remake/running on modern systems to asking if they'll make them legally freeware, and finding who owns an old IP after years of buyouts, mergers, selloffs, bankruptcies, etc is difficult if not impossible in some cases.

disgruntledphd2 6y ago
I'm confused. All of Codemaster's IP will belong to Take 2 (well, 2k actually) after this move. To be fair to them, this is the company that re-released remastered X-Com games, along with the Mafia games. I wouldn't expect to see Dizzy happen again, but you never know...
- stevekemp 6y ago
  There were a couple of "recent" Dizzy releases, in 2015 & 2016, as noted on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Twins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Twins But yeah I have a lot of good memories of the Dizzy series, on the ZX Spectrum, along with their other cheap & cheerful releases.
- mysterydip 6y ago
  I was speaking more in general terms than this specific instance. Take for example Broderbund: - purchased by the learning company, which got bought by softkey - combined company was sold to mattel - mattel interactive was sold to gores technology group - gores sold some to ubisoft and some to riverdeep - products were published by encore under license from riverdeep - riverdeep merged with houghton mifflin and later acquired harcourt to become houghton mifflin harcourt - hmh went through two rounds of restructuring and a recapitalization - encore went through some buying/selling/bankruptcy themselves Who owns the IP? Did it survive all the way to hmh and stay through the restructurings? I've looked up some bankruptcy records for other smaller software companies, and they've had hundreds of debtors, some of which themselves have since went bankrupt.
  - user5994461 6y ago
    I'd say it belongs to hmh. encore is not relevant, riverdeep would have granted a one off license to create a game, not transferred ownership of the IP.
    - maccard 6y ago
      You can't say that and be sure. You don't know what the terms of those licenses are, nor do you know what the deal with ubi/riverdeep is. For all we know the ownership of the rights mightn't belong to any of the companies listed, and might belong to one of the people involved!
      - user5994461 6y ago
        Of course we can't be sure who owns the IP. Doesn't mean we can't make an educated guess. The OP is only trying to figure out whom to contact first about the IP. The worst that can happen is that a company replies it's not with them. A merging/acquisition will transfer all IP to the (new) parent company. A contracting company will grant a license to make one game, not reassign all its IP to the game studio.
        mysterydip 6y ago
        Actually, the worst has been no response. As companies get larger, getting to the people who might know gets more difficult.
        maccard 6y ago
        > Doesn't mean we can't make an educated guess. I don't think OPs guess is in any way educated. The whole point of this thread is that the rights for these games are complicated, and assuming that the most straightforward explanation is true is just wrong. > A merging/acquisition will transfer all IP to the (new) parent company. That's a bold statement that is definitely not always true. There are many reasons why it wouldn't happen, either the acquisition wasn't done properly, or maybe the IP might be kept to ensure any liability would fall on the acquired company. >. A contracting company will grant a license to make one game, not reassign all its IP to the game studio. Again, that's the most _likely_ explanation, but there are other very possible ones such as - the company who granted the rights to a contractor didn't have the rights to grant them in the first place, or they granted all rights to games of an IP (see EA and star wars), or some sort of right of first refusal.
- bane 6y ago
  > I wouldn't expect to see Dizzy happen again, but you never know... Then you might be interested to know https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/06/evercade_retro_system_to_receive_oliver_twins_collection_cartridge_all_profits_will_go_to_charity https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/06/evercade_retro_sys...

disgruntledphd2 6y ago

I'm confused. All of Codemaster's IP will belong to Take 2 (well, 2k actually) after this move. To be fair to them, this is the company that re-released remastered X-Com games, along with the Mafia games. I wouldn't expect to see Dizzy happen again, but you never know...

stevekemp 6y ago
There were a couple of "recent" Dizzy releases, in 2015 & 2016, as noted on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Twins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Twins But yeah I have a lot of good memories of the Dizzy series, on the ZX Spectrum, along with their other cheap & cheerful releases.
mysterydip 6y ago
I was speaking more in general terms than this specific instance. Take for example Broderbund: - purchased by the learning company, which got bought by softkey - combined company was sold to mattel - mattel interactive was sold to gores technology group - gores sold some to ubisoft and some to riverdeep - products were published by encore under license from riverdeep - riverdeep merged with houghton mifflin and later acquired harcourt to become houghton mifflin harcourt - hmh went through two rounds of restructuring and a recapitalization - encore went through some buying/selling/bankruptcy themselves Who owns the IP? Did it survive all the way to hmh and stay through the restructurings? I've looked up some bankruptcy records for other smaller software companies, and they've had hundreds of debtors, some of which themselves have since went bankrupt.
- user5994461 6y ago
  I'd say it belongs to hmh. encore is not relevant, riverdeep would have granted a one off license to create a game, not transferred ownership of the IP.
  - maccard 6y ago
    You can't say that and be sure. You don't know what the terms of those licenses are, nor do you know what the deal with ubi/riverdeep is. For all we know the ownership of the rights mightn't belong to any of the companies listed, and might belong to one of the people involved!
    - user5994461 6y ago
      Of course we can't be sure who owns the IP. Doesn't mean we can't make an educated guess. The OP is only trying to figure out whom to contact first about the IP. The worst that can happen is that a company replies it's not with them. A merging/acquisition will transfer all IP to the (new) parent company. A contracting company will grant a license to make one game, not reassign all its IP to the game studio.
      - mysterydip 6y ago
        Actually, the worst has been no response. As companies get larger, getting to the people who might know gets more difficult.
      - maccard 6y ago
        > Doesn't mean we can't make an educated guess. I don't think OPs guess is in any way educated. The whole point of this thread is that the rights for these games are complicated, and assuming that the most straightforward explanation is true is just wrong. > A merging/acquisition will transfer all IP to the (new) parent company. That's a bold statement that is definitely not always true. There are many reasons why it wouldn't happen, either the acquisition wasn't done properly, or maybe the IP might be kept to ensure any liability would fall on the acquired company. >. A contracting company will grant a license to make one game, not reassign all its IP to the game studio. Again, that's the most _likely_ explanation, but there are other very possible ones such as - the company who granted the rights to a contractor didn't have the rights to grant them in the first place, or they granted all rights to games of an IP (see EA and star wars), or some sort of right of first refusal.
bane 6y ago
> I wouldn't expect to see Dizzy happen again, but you never know... Then you might be interested to know https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/06/evercade_retro_system_to_receive_oliver_twins_collection_cartridge_all_profits_will_go_to_charity https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/06/evercade_retro_sys...