- Apr 14, 2018
- 607
- 855
Honestly, for those on this site that have the time & aptitude to develop games, all these abandoned games could be a good opportunity for them, (if not monetarily, then at least in credit). For example, if they are developing their own game or considering doing so, Taking on all these abandoned games & finishing them would get them a lot of positive credit in this & other such communities, so when they go to announce, "Hey I'm doing my own game now", they would have a major boost & more people would be ready & willing to throw their support behind it because that dev would already have a good reputation as the guy that completed all those other games.
Now obviously, I know that a lot of people are hesitant to do so because of the possibility of the original dev going after them for "stealing" their IP, (intellectual property), though that's easily mitigated, especially when there is demonstrable evidence that the original creator abandoned the content, like here with BSS. They can't argue that the new dev was stealing anything or taking income away from them, since they willingly abandoned it. Additionally if the games were remade as "fan games" or "mods" that just add content to the original game, or were done for free, (meaning basically passion projects where no income was received directly for that game, hence why I positioned it as doing it for credit rather than monetary gain), then likewise, there is no real copyright violation argument, especially when considering things like fair use.
Look at Nergal's "Urban Demons" game. That was a remake of Wootch's abandoned "Urban X Life" game. No one remembers Wootch or his game, but many were BIG fan's of Nergal's remake & massive supporters of it. Frankly, this could be a great way for good active devs to give themselves a boost on their own projects. Maybe it could even start an "adopt an abandoned game" movement where devs could adopt & finish one or a few abandoned games, which would curry favor in these communities, which could easily translate to more Patrons for their own projects. Just something to consider.
Now obviously, I know that a lot of people are hesitant to do so because of the possibility of the original dev going after them for "stealing" their IP, (intellectual property), though that's easily mitigated, especially when there is demonstrable evidence that the original creator abandoned the content, like here with BSS. They can't argue that the new dev was stealing anything or taking income away from them, since they willingly abandoned it. Additionally if the games were remade as "fan games" or "mods" that just add content to the original game, or were done for free, (meaning basically passion projects where no income was received directly for that game, hence why I positioned it as doing it for credit rather than monetary gain), then likewise, there is no real copyright violation argument, especially when considering things like fair use.
Look at Nergal's "Urban Demons" game. That was a remake of Wootch's abandoned "Urban X Life" game. No one remembers Wootch or his game, but many were BIG fan's of Nergal's remake & massive supporters of it. Frankly, this could be a great way for good active devs to give themselves a boost on their own projects. Maybe it could even start an "adopt an abandoned game" movement where devs could adopt & finish one or a few abandoned games, which would curry favor in these communities, which could easily translate to more Patrons for their own projects. Just something to consider.