Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
Out of curiosity, who owns the rights to sell and manufacture the original two games now that Black Isle Studios / Interplay is under? Bethesda, Atari(infogrames)?
Interplay did own the rights, but I believe they sold them to Bethesda during the their budget crunch.
From Wikipedia:
Fallout 3 was initially under development by Black Isle Studios, a studio owned by Interplay Entertainment, under the working title Van Buren. Interplay Entertainment went bankrupt and closed down Black Isle Studios before the game could be completed, and the license to develop Fallout 3 was sold for a $1,175,000 minimum guaranteed advance against royalties to Bethesda Softworks, a studio primarily known as the developer of the The Elder Scrolls series.[6]. Bethesda's Fallout 3 however, was developed from scratch, using neither Van Buren code, nor any other materials created by Black Isle Studios. In May 2007, a playable technology demo of the cancelled project was released to public.[7]
[edit] Bethesda Softworks
Bethesda Softworks stated it would be working on Fallout 3 in July 2004,[8] but principal development did not begin until after The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was completed.[9] Bethesda Softworks has announced their intention to make Fallout 3 similar to the previous two games, focusing on non-linear gameplay, a good story, and black comedy. Bethesda has also stated the game will be rated M for mature, and will have the same sort of adult themes, violence, and depravity that are characteristic of the Fallout series. They have also decided to shy away from the self-referential gags of the 2 predecessors that broke the illusion that the world of Fallout is real. Fallout 3 will use a version of the same Gamebryo engine as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion,[1] and is being developed by the team responsible for that game.[10] Liam Neeson has been attached to the project as the voice of the player's father.[11]
In February 2007, Bethesda stated that the game was "a fairly good ways away" from release, but that detailed information and previews would be available later in the year.[10] Following a statement made by Pete Hines that the team wanted to make the game a "multiple platform title",[1] the game was announced by Game Informer to be in development for Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.[3] A teaser site for the game appeared on May 2, 2007, featuring music from the game and concept art, along with a timer counting down to June 5, 2007.[12] The concept art was commissioned before The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was released, and has been confirmed by the artist and developers that the images do not reveal anything from the actual game.[1][2] When the countdown finished, the site hosted the first teaser trailer for the game, and unveiled a release date of "Fall 2008".[13]
[edit] Reaction to the rights transfer
Leonard Boyarsky, art director of the original Fallout, when asked about Interplay Entertainment's sale of the rights to Bethesda Softworks, said that he felt as though "our ex wife had sold our children that she had legal custody of." [14]
In response, Bethesda Softworks has tried to convince fans of the series that they want to preserve the feel and quality of the Fallout franchise. In 2007, Vice President of Public Relations and Marketing Pete Hines stated, "Internally, we're a bunch of Fallout geeks. There is nobody [here] who hasn't played that game and enjoyed it. I have that game on my laptop, I take it with me and play it. But it's definitely different, because it's not really considered ours, the franchise. We didn't start it. There is a little bit of that sentiment out there that we have to prove that we're worthy to be the guys to make Fallout 3. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, because we have very high expectations for ourselves."[10].
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