- Did the ScummVM team work with the publishers to convince them to release these games?
- What would it take for other publishers to do the same for other games?
- Could something like Kickstarter be used to raise money to buy the rights to an old game or two to release as freeware / open source?
Setting classic games free
Moderator: ScummVM Team
Setting classic games free
I am curious about the games that have been released as freeware for ScummVM.
Re: Setting classic games free
Yes, in all cases there has been extensive discussions with the respective copyright owners.Pat Hawks wrote: Did the ScummVM team work with the publishers to convince them to release these games?
Discussions, convincing that it's a good ideaPat Hawks wrote: What would it take for other publishers to do the same for other games?
Nice idea! It could work, yes, but I'm unsure if it'll be successful...Pat Hawks wrote:Could something like Kickstarter be used to raise money to buy the rights to an old game or two to release as freeware / open source?
- Strangerke
- ScummVM Developer
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- Location: Belgium
Depends on the game. You might find quite a few willing to give for Space Quest if for no other reason than to give rights for new SQ games from the Two Guys. Though I doubt that Activision would be willing to let it go for anything within range of a Kickstarter.Strangerke wrote:We already had some internal discussions about a kickstarter campaign, but it's not obvious. But it would be a solution: buying the rights to legal owners then freeing the games...
Now I agree with Digitall, I don't think so many people would pay for that.
- Strangerke
- ScummVM Developer
- Posts: 335
- Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:39 am
- Location: Belgium
ROFL... Well, for reference, my POV is that more freeware game releases would be good and are likely to be good for smaller studios to promote their newer games, by releasing the older ones in that way.
However, I tend to feel the blocker is not the money, but the desire to do so amongst their management ie. A kickstarter type would only work if the original rights holder starts it or has agreed to free the game for a set price prior to the start...
However, I tend to feel the blocker is not the money, but the desire to do so amongst their management ie. A kickstarter type would only work if the original rights holder starts it or has agreed to free the game for a set price prior to the start...
- CaptainJei
- Posts: 200
- Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2011 3:57 am
Agreed 100%, but I wonder if some smaller indies would be at all receptive to something like this.Collector wrote:Though I doubt that Activision would be willing to let it go for anything within range of a Kickstarter.
Yes, it would take a lot of coordination, paperwork, and persuasion.digitall wrote:A kickstarter type would only work if the original rights holder starts it or has agreed to free the game for a set price prior to the start...
Re: Setting classic games free
I’m assuming the conversation was initiated by somebody on the ScummVM team. Did the copyright holders take a lot of persuading? What was that like?md5 wrote:[…]in all cases there has been extensive discussions with the respective copyright owners.
I’m also assuming the copyright holders still own all rights to the game, and have just allowed them to be distributed for free on the ScummVM website, is that pretty much correct? What sort of license covers the freeware distribution? I can’t find any specifics.