Whatever happened to the old Discworld games? Well, they pretty much ceased to be a thing around the late 90s. However, there is a glimmer of hope that the retro point-and-click adventure series may return, so long as it bypasses a small bit of red tape.
In a recent interview with Time Extension, developer Gregg Barnett – co-founder of the now-defunct Perfect Entertainment studio – suggests a rerelease of Discworld could happen. Now, this is a big “if” and it’s dependent on what the Crown has to say about it.
You see, thanks to a rather unusual law surrounding intellectual properties from UK outfits that are no longer in operation, King Charles III technically owns the rights to the games. Barnett says that “whenever something closes in the UK, intellectual property rights revert 50% to the original creator and 50% to the Crown.” In short: it sounds like he’d need to go ask the British head of state for permission before any rerelease can happen.
A blast from the royal past
For those who don’t know, the late Terry Pratchett’s famed fantasy series was adapted into a number of video games back in the day. Discworlds 1 and 2 released in 1995 and 1996, respectively, while Discworld: Noir came out in 1999. After that, we never saw hide nor her of them in digital format.
However, King Charles’ technical ownership of the franchise aside, we may get to see them live again at some point. Whether they’ll just be rereleases or full remasters can’t be said at this stage. Barnett says that it could potentially “advance to new versions.” However, it’s a “complicated process when you’re dealing with the Crown.” Ain’t that the truth…
If you want to learn more about intellectual property rights in the UK (and who doesn’t), you can read about it here. Big shoutout to our own Paula for sending that my way.
Published: Feb 9, 2024 10:16 am