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EA's System Shock StoryIn 2006, a trio of rumors hinted that Electronic Arts was making System Shock 3. First came a trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Then came a couple of unconfirmed reports [...]But even if EA wanted to publish another System Shock, the company didn't have the rights to do so. Back when the original game was made, producer Warren Spector negotiated a deal in which EA got the trademark to the series, while the developers at Looking Glass Studios kept the rights. To create another System Shock game, you need both. "My thinking was it would force us to be married so it never would be that either party should be able to say we own that, we’re making the next game, screw you," Spector told the San Jose Mercury News last November.[...]the copyright to the series went into the hands of an insurance company. That left EA with only the System Shock name, but no actual development rights.In 2007, the System Shock trademark went dead, abandoned by EA. The Redwood Shores studio went on to develop Dead Space, [...]System Shock 3: A New HopeAs Spector had mentioned, an insurance company got the rights to System Shock after Looking Glass Studios shut down. I tracked down the insurer, Star Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Michigan-based Meadowbrook Insurance Group, Inc., and confirmed that the rights are available for sale.George Borkowski, an outside counsel for Meadowbrook, said the company would consider selling the rights to a game publisher or developer. "The idea would be to enter into some kind of arrangement where the game would be developed and that Meadowbrook would be compensated,” he said.It sounds to me like Meadowbrook wants a game company to share sales revenue, but Borkowski wouldn't talk about financial details. He did say that there have been inquiries about the rights, but elaborated no further.Even with development rights, EA's prior trademark could be an issue for potential buyers. Michael Cavaretta, an attorney who deals with trademarks and copyrights in the video game industry, believes a publisher wouldn't be able to create another System Shock without EA's blessing. Oddly enough, there are no records of EA applying for the System Shock trademark through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office until 2005, but EA likely has common law rights as a prior publisher, and could still revive its trademark from the dead, Cavaretta said. That could cause trouble for a publisher looking to bring back the series.“You'd probably get a rejection from the Patent and Trademark Office, and you'd probably have to demonstrate that the mark had been permanently abandoned or that you've gotten consent from the original applicant," Cavaretta said.
In other words, the future of System Shock is still quite dubious. One dream scenario: 2K Games buys the rights from Meadowbrook, and sets BioShock 4 in deep space, with SHODAN as the surprise antagonist. It would be System Shock System Shock Forever: Deep Bio Space minus the trademark, and it would be wonderful. You heard it here first.
We should buy them.
So instead, why not redo the whole game in a new engine, neatly sidestepping trademark and development rights holders? Keep the general plot and gameplay but change the setting to avoid infringing anything and ... Is it too soon to whisper Oscar?
They did that. It's called Bioshock.
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