Hi there. When I was 8 years old, I played a game called Folklore, and oh my god I freaking loved it. I really wanted the developers (Game Republic), to make a sequel and they planned on doing so before they became defunct. Since it's a very unknown and unpopular game, I figured they would sell the rights for a relatively low price, but I don't really know what happens to the rights of games that come from defunct companies. Is it gone for then? Is it impossible to get them? What's the situation on that. I know I'm only fifteen but this isn't something I plan on working on alone. - thanks
Awesome! You should definitely go for it if you can find out how to. From what I understand the closed company would likely have debts to pay. Whoever thy owe the debt to- the creditors would likely hold the rights to the game and all other of the companies assets. So if you can somehow track down who the companies creditors were you will probably find the games rights. :3 Though the creditors also have the right to sell it other companies so it may have already exchanged hands.
It depends on how they went defunct. If they just shut down, then the rights to the game likely are held by whomever owned the company. You could probably track down who the founders of the company are and email one of them. If they went bankrupt and another company (or companies) bought the remaining assets, that would likely have included rights to their intellectual property (games, etc) and then you have to try and get the rights from whomever acquired them... more complicated. I'd start with finding the owners of the company and emailing them to see what you find. Now... if you remember the details of the game, you could also do a clone-like game that's very similar, and as long as it's different enough, you wouldn't have to worry about rights and copyright unless you wanted to use the same name.
This is what I would advice you to do too. "Spiritual successors" is a term we are hearing more and more these days, precisely because people who see themselves in situations like yours decide to do an unofficial sequel of sorts to games that shaped their childhoods under a different name. Plus, this gives you more wiggle room to make changes and turn it into something more yours without the risk of upsetting an existing fanbase.
Thanks for that tid bit, I wasn't sure if you needed the rights or not for Spiritual Successors so thanks!
I also would recommend tracking down the company, or the lead developers of the game and sending them an email. Game devs are quite friendly (in my experience) and will no doubt be flattered that you enjoyed their game enough that you want to revive it. They might at least know the people you need to contact.
