Fans of the classic King's Quest titles may have been eagerly following the lengthy development of the completely fan made sequel, The Silver Lining. Unfortunately, as of just a couple of days ago, the fan made title that has been in production for over eight years was given a final cease and desist by current King's Quest IP holder, Activision.
The game was originally called King's Quest IX: Every Cloak Has A Silver Lining but had to be changed after then IP holder, Vivendi Universal, issued their own cease and desist. As expected, this game would have continued the story of the series after the end of the last "officially" developed game. Fans of the game sent thousands of emails per day to Vivendi to try and get them to change their mind on their decision. Cooler heads prevailed and Vivendi granted the development team a "Fan License" that allowed development to continue.
Since then, the IP changed hands from Vivendi to Activision. Here is what the development team has to say about the current situation and what is expected of them from Activision.
As per Activision's request, the team's forums have also been largely gutted save for a few remaining areas. Feel free to express a few final words to the development team that was primed to release the first of three episodes this upcoming Spring.
The game was originally called King's Quest IX: Every Cloak Has A Silver Lining but had to be changed after then IP holder, Vivendi Universal, issued their own cease and desist. As expected, this game would have continued the story of the series after the end of the last "officially" developed game. Fans of the game sent thousands of emails per day to Vivendi to try and get them to change their mind on their decision. Cooler heads prevailed and Vivendi granted the development team a "Fan License" that allowed development to continue.
Since then, the IP changed hands from Vivendi to Activision. Here is what the development team has to say about the current situation and what is expected of them from Activision.
Recently, however, ownership of the Sierra IP changed hands and became the property of Activision. After talks and negotiations in the last few months between ourselves and Activision, they have reached the decision that they are not interested in granting a non-commercial license to The Silver Lining, and have asked that we cease production and take down all related materials on our website.
As before, we must and will comply with this decision, as much as we may wish we could do otherwise.
We cannot say enough how much we appreciate the support we have had over these years from our fans. Without you, we would never have gotten this far. There would be no game to develop, and no one to develop it for. You have been amazing and steadfast, and we will always remember that and appreciate it more than we can say.
As before, we must and will comply with this decision, as much as we may wish we could do otherwise.
We cannot say enough how much we appreciate the support we have had over these years from our fans. Without you, we would never have gotten this far. There would be no game to develop, and no one to develop it for. You have been amazing and steadfast, and we will always remember that and appreciate it more than we can say.
As per Activision's request, the team's forums have also been largely gutted save for a few remaining areas. Feel free to express a few final words to the development team that was primed to release the first of three episodes this upcoming Spring.
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