Interplay is selling off Earthworm Jim, Freespace, and more

Massive IP and asset sale

When I think of Interplay, I think of the Earthworm Jim series, but that isn’t a thought I’ve had in a long while. There just isn’t much happening there unless you’re simply rebuying the original games, and the same could be said of most of the company’s catalog. Its dust is collecting dust.

That inactivity can and probably will change in the coming years, as Interplay is looking to offload its “library of video game assets and intellectual property.” In a press release this week, company president Eric Caen said that “With the proliferation of mobile, augmented reality, virtual reality and other new forms of consumption, we believe that consumers are ready to experience and interact with Interplay’s characters, stories, and gameplay in ways never possible before.”

The announcement serves as a nice memory-jogger, with specific mentions of Earthworm Jim, Freespace, Giants, Kingpin, Messiah, MDK, Run Like Hell, Sacrifice, Battle Chess, ClayFighter, Dark Alliance, and Descent, but the “expected sale represents 70 titles and dozens of characters.”

_{[Jim’s shrieks, man. They still send a jolt of despair down my spine.]}

Internally, a bunch of us chimed in for a quick word about this news. Try to guess who said what.

• “I think the FGC is ready for a return to the real fighting game franchise of the ’90s.”

• [From the press release:] “As game creators, we are proud of the entertainment these properties have provided over the years.”
  “I don’t know how anybody could be proud of Run Like Hell.”

• “Let’s buy Earthworm Jim and turn him gay and make him fight for gay rights.”

• “You’ll have to make a level where he worms his way into a dude.”

• “The mole levels in the sequel only with shit.”

• “These emails could be the post.”