The unofficial continuation of the King's Quest franchise is go. A recent post on the developer's blog indicates as much, explaining that after a measure of negotiation, Phoenix Online Studios and Activision have reached a deal allowing the indie dev to distribute The Silver Lining on a non-commercial basis.
"We've been working so hard and for so long on this game, and our goal all along has been releasing it so the fans can finally get to play it after waiting so patiently and after supporting us so completely," co-developer Katie Hallahan tells me via e-mail. "As well, we obviously have wanted to show the world the game we put so much into. The whole team is ecstatic that it's finally going to happen."
This news closes another shaky chapter in the game's eight-year life. Back in 2005, then-IP owner Vivendi shut down the production of the game, only to hash out an agreement in short order to keep the project going--until this February, at least, when new holder Activision blasted a cease and desist in a similar scenario. But once again, after some negotiation, the dev was able to hammer out an agreement.
== TEASER ==It seems like the crucial piece of said agreement was making it so Phoenix Online won't be able to make mad cash money from the project. The Silver Lining will be distributed for free starting on July 10 with the release of the first episode, What Is Decreed Must Be, of the long-awaited fan project.
The fact that Activision has been pummeled a bit by press and enthusiasts of late certainly didn't hurt negotiations to get The Silver Lining in the public's hands. But quality was a factor, too, according to Hallahan.
"We can only speculate as to all of the reasons, but I know that when we talked with Activision after the C&D, our goal was to show them that this was a quality game, that we wanted to work with them to make good things happen for both groups, that we could both help the other."
"And I think what they saw that there was indeed opportunity for all of us here--Activision has made strides and statements lately towards supporting indie game developers (they're running an Indie Game Contest, and Bobby Kotick's statements at DICE 2010, for example), and granting us a non-commercial license is clearly a step that supports this. They were great to work with, and we hugely appreciate that they reconsidered their decision and we were able to work this out with them."
From what I'm seeing (which is the same as what you're seeing), this non-official Hero's Quest is looking good. To be honest, I'm just pumped to write about a new King's Quest. It's like I'm in bizarro world right now.
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