Freespace IP Lands at Interplay

Explosions in Freespace 2!
Coming Home. Sort of…

Whoa, FINALLY we know where this beloved IP ends up (thanks to Polygon for the story). Apparently Interplay, the original publishers of the two Freespace games, just purchased the IP from THQ and Voition a couple of days ago for $7,500. Yup, that’s it. $7,500. What they’ll do with this IP is a dang mystery, but one can only freaking HOPE this leads to a Freespace 3 at some point.

Then again, Volition developed the two games, Interplay published them. If there WAS to be a Freespace 3, who would develop it? It’d be weird to see such a beloved property end up in someone else’s hands rather than the original developers, but it’s worked successfully before (SWAT 4 anyone?).

What do y’all think Interplay will do with the Freespace IP now they they got their paws on it for a song?

Author: Brian Rubin

22 thoughts on “Freespace IP Lands at Interplay

      1. Then they’re more alive than I’d known. The last time I heard the name “Interplay”, it was in a story about the vaporware Fallout MMO, and their legal wranglings with Bethesda.

        My guess is that no sequels will be forthcoming, but at least FS1&2 will stay on GoG.

  1. Dang! $7500 is chump change in the game industry. Even teensy indie companies can come up with that kind of cash.

    Hopefully, Interplay has a studio in their stable that’s appropriate to hand this job off to. I’ve lost track of who they work with anymore – studios and publishers fold and merge and spawn and die so fast these days I barely know what’s happened even to the big names of the recent decade, much less who has licenses and properties from the 90’s.

  2. Wow that was a bargain.

    I got FS1 &FS2 from GoG a while ago but never got around to playing them.

  3. Hopefully they 1. Actully make the game and 2. Make it well
    Freespace is one my most love games

  4. Personally I wish they paid more so they feel obliged to actually make an ROI on that.

    I wonder if that means they get a slice of every sale of the previous games?

    1. Yeah, but they just might hold the IP hostage until someone buys it from them. Especially since 7.5K is, in company terms, “a nickel I found of the floor”.

      Although they had recently been releasing HD remakes of older games (MDK 2 HD in 2011, Stonekeep for Wii in 2012) so I guess that’s what might happen to Freespace.

      1. Guh, holding it hostage would suck. My big worry is that they’ll impact the FSO project somehow. That’s their HD version. ;)

    2. That would make sense. They did raise the price on it on GoG some time back, so now they don’t have to share those profits, however slim they might be.

    1. I figured as much, but still, it feels weird to have the license in someone’s hands who isn’t Volition.

  5. Ahhh, “Freespace”, this brings back so many nice memories. I enjoyed every minute of these games and I sure hope they make something that has the same feel to it.

    1. It’s already been rereleased on GoG, so that makes little sense to me. :/

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