What happened to Star Control: Kessari Quadrant?

[Joost]

I came across this:

https://steamcommunity.com/games/starcontrolkessari/announcements/detail/1465219105353333816

https://steamcommunity.com/app/358930

Which basically says that Star Control 3 is on Steam under a different name. Except that it seems broken/gone? I can't quite find anything online about what this is exactly. Did it get taken offline again? Does anyone know what happened here?

(For the record: I loved Star Control 3 back in the day and still cherish the original box. :) )

[IslandDog]

We have removed the games from Steam as a gesture until the legal issues are settled.

[Joost]

Okay, thanks for clarifying!

I hope you guys can settle the legal stuff in a nice way: I love Star Control Origins and would love to see more Star Control from you guys, and I would also love to see more Star Control from the original devs. I hope all of that can co-exist peacefully. :)

[Illudium]

That's unfortunate, I was just looking to find a copy of Ur-Quan Masters myself and came across this fresh topic. I'm fully aware of how long legal processes can sometimes take, but I hope you'll be able to resolve the issues relatively quickly and amicably for both sides.

[Final Plecostomus]

You know, I don't get what the modern day battle between Stardock and Toys For Bob is all about -- SC- KQ was produced without their input or consent and made full use of all trademarks, copyrights and soforth so on and so what? Nothing ever came of that.

So what's the big deal about this current situation, that they have to pick a fight NOW.

[tracksone]

It sounds like the original devs are butt hurt that they sold out years ago, and now they want to break the rules and get it back.

[Deadmeat Jones]

From reading all the info available, I'd say it's rather the opposite.

[Final Plecostomus]

The more you read into the story the more you see what really happend. They worked for months without pay on Star Control II and the experience soured them. When they asked for more money to work on Star Control 3 they were turned down. They basically refused to negotiate, they stated a price and said take it or leave it.

At that point everything Star Control was handed off to another development team and another studio. They lost control of everything right then and there at that point -- by the sounds of it Star Control was already out of their hands at that point.

They had from that point until Stardock announced Origins to fight the battle. They let it sit for years and did nothing with it -- by their own admission.

It wasn't a passion project, it was a paycheck. It was fun, but it wasn't a life-work project.

They walked away and refused to have anything to do with 3. They stood by while the property became abandonware and was reworked as Urquan Masters, which is ultimately freeware.

And yet they chose not to get involved or tell anyone to stop work on UM.

I say it's all rather sketchy to be honest. I think there is a lot more to the story on both sides we're only hearing the internet-version of things. Polished, spun and fluffed for maximum churn and burn.

I've enjoyed all four incarnations of Star Control now, and look forward to the future.

[BoomBerryFarms]

Originally posted by Final Plecostomus:

The more you read into the story the more you see what really happend. They worked for months without pay on Star Control II and the experience soured them. When they asked for more money to work on Star Control 3 they were turned down. They basically refused to negotiate, they stated a price and said take it or leave it.

At that point everything Star Control was handed off to another development team and another studio. They lost control of everything right then and there at that point -- by the sounds of it Star Control was already out of their hands at that point.

They had from that point until Stardock announced Origins to fight the battle. They let it sit for years and did nothing with it -- by their own admission.

It wasn't a passion project, it was a paycheck. It was fun, but it wasn't a life-work project.

They walked away and refused to have anything to do with 3. They stood by while the property became abandonware and was reworked as Urquan Masters, which is ultimately freeware.

And yet they chose not to get involved or tell anyone to stop work on UM.

I say it's all rather sketchy to be honest. I think there is a lot more to the story on both sides we're only hearing the internet-version of things. Polished, spun and fluffed for maximum churn and burn.

I've enjoyed all four incarnations of Star Control now, and look forward to the future.

Super old comment but I just wanted to revise something about this; Ford and Reiche owned Star Control I & II in their entirety, with Accolade as the publisher.

Accolade requested them to make a third game for the same budget, which they refused to work on other things; but Accolade licensed the IP to make SC3

In the Early 2000's the rights for SC1 & SC2 reverted back in their entirety for the IP back to Ford and Reiche; but the Star Control trademark did not. Which is why the UQM isn't referred to as Star Control.

Infogames bought the Star Control trademark from Accolade's bankruptcy, Atari merged with Infogames. Atari stated their publishing agreement had lapsed, and due to this the UQM was not infringing on their rights. Stardock bought the Star Control trademark and the Star Control 3 game from Atari.

Stardock publicly stated they would need to license the lore and IP from F&R if they wanted to continue the story or feature their content. Stardock attempted to license the content, which was refused by F&R as they wanted to make a sequel to UQM. Stardock began selling SC1 & SC2 prior to the release of SC:O, claiming they still had publishing rights, which Atari had previously stated they no longer had the rights to (so couldn't have been sold).

Gets really messy at this point, Stardock filing a copyright on the SC1 & 2 IP, including races and stories. Stardock sued F&R, F&R countersued. SC1, 2 get taken down, SC:O did as well at one point. SC:O was later restored based on Stardock indemnifying Steam and GOG from any lawsuit, taking the risk on themselves.

Finally, F&R reached out directly to the CEO of Stardock and a settlement was negotiated.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardock_Systems,_Inc._v._Reiche for more info, as many people have contributed to the outline with references about what happened.