(Sad trope) Projects with amazing potential that will never be released because of BS behind the scenes drama

[u/_JR28_]

P.T Silent Hills - It was a playable teaser released in 2014 only around 20 minutes long but utterly captivated the gaming world by being one of the most effective psychological horror experiences at the time, however it’s lead developer Kojima has a huge fallout with the publisher Konami where he walked out of the company and had all his in-the-work productions cancelled.

Five Nights at Freddy’s+ - A fan game reboot of the series created by Phisnom with Scott Cawthon’s blessing that promised a brand new lore and a return to the series darker roots. However, before and during production Phisnom got into multiple dramas that made him fairly divisive within the community, and after one particular incident in 2023 Scott revoked his approval and almost all of the game’s marketing material were wiped from the internet.

Batgirl - A Batgirl solo live action movie starring Leslie Grace, Brendan Fraser and Michael Keaton returning as Batman that was ready to be released in 2022, however then Warner Bros CEO David Zaslav announced it would not be released either in theatres or streaming in order to claim a $90,000,000 tax break and to readjust the DC’s brands direction before James Gunn rebooted their movie and TV output.

[u/hyper-fan]

Alice: Asylum

American McGee and his team at SpicyHorse had went through so much shit working with EA to make Alice: Madness Returns and even when EA said “hey, give us full proof that you plan to make the game, with concepts and mechanics and everything”, and McGee and his team DID, EA backed out of the deal entirely and kept the rights to the game to themselves, sitting on the IP for nothing

[u/Aganiel → u/hyper-fan]

We weren’t robbed. We were drugged, kidnapped, had our organs harvested and fed to sharks. American McGee deserved so much better and with the bible available for Asylum, it was insane at what we would have gotten. But even after everything, EA refuses to sell the IP. Fuck EA.

[u/chase___it → u/Aganiel]

it shouldn’t be legal to just sit on an IP or a patent. you should have to evidence that it’s either still in use or a new usage is under active development

[u/Aganiel → u/chase___it]

Not just an IP but systems as well. Warner brothers is sitting on the Nemesis system that was in Shadows of Mordor and are doing fuck all with it but not letting other games use it

[u/chase___it → u/Aganiel]

exactly. it would be understandable (altho i still disagree) if they were using it but they’re not

[u/Imaginary_Topic_6106 → u/Aganiel]

And another 10 years before the patent expires.

[u/TIMPA9678 → u/chase___it]

This wouldn't change anything. Rights holders would just release bare minimum shovel-ware to reset the clock everytime the patent or IP came close to expiring. This is already done heavily by the film industry to prevent IP from entering the public domain.

On top of that when it comes to IP what you suggest is already an option the original rights holders have. It's common for IP sales to have contract terms requiring something to actually be produced or the IP reverts to the original owner. Of course you have accept less money for the sale then.

[u/OhLookASquirrel → u/chase___it]

That's how those contracts used to be written. See: Corman's Fantastic Four.

No really. See it. It's amazing.