Sierra Could Lose Tolkien Licence
Well, this one doesn’t surprise me. Last year Sierra sacked the Tolkien-based Middle Earth MMORPG team and announced it was replacing them during a typically senseless round of corporate restructuring. Sierra has an unenviable record of diluting good games with cheesy production (Hellfire) and trivializing genres (latter Kings Quests, Leisure Suit Larry etc. etc.) - though to be fair the company has produced some gems too. The ME team had been right on the money with their game design, and Tolkien fans were horrified at the company’s apparent lack of understanding regarding the world of Middle Earth. At the time I suggested the Tolkien Estate should remove Sierra’s licence to create the game. Now it seems the Tolkien Estate agreed.
After months of silence and inaction following the sackings Sierra has admitted it is engaged in legal conflict with Tolkien licencers the Saul Zantz company who want to withdraw Sierra’s licence to create computer games based on Tolkien’s works. Not only that, but Saul Zantz has subpoenaed members of the sacked development team to provide depositions. Sierra is, of course, playing dumb about details of the case and any games it plans under the licence. The whole situation must be ironic and just a bit satisfying for the defunct development team.
RPG Vault, who have followed the ME saga from the beginning, recently cornered Sierra’s David Grenewetzki and tried to squeeze blood from the PR stone.
RPG Vault
posted by monty · at 2:09 am · filed under News