Odds of an abandonware game ever coming to Steam?

[cazsim83]

Specifically I'm thinking of Tegel's Mercenaries, but any abandoned game would suffice for the purposes of this post.

Do you think an abandonware game like Tegel's Mercenaries would ever show up on Steam? It's probably 20 years old at this point and I don't see a lot of really old games on Steam.

[TwinEdgedBastard]

It's up to the people/companies who own the license. Which is unfortunate since I imagine a lot of companies have forgotten about their dead franchises.

Still waiting for Heretic 2 Activision.

[Kargor]

However, while "abandonware" is a term created to claim a "right" to pirate the game, it also works here: since the publisher doesn't really do anything with the game anymore, they also don't market it anymore. It also might not run properly on current systems, so they'd even have to bugfix it first.

[HeartoftheTiger]

Or if the IP is owned by more then one company, or might have. For example, "No One Lives Forever" and it's sequel. Someone tried to get the rights to it so the games can be re-released, updated for current systems. Turns it that it was "jointly" owned by 20th Century Fox, Activision and Warner Bros. Such diverse companies with their own competing interests. And I think at least one wasn't even certain that they still held legal ownership of the IP or if it had lapsed.

[SimicEngineer]

Originally posted by HeartoftheTiger:

Or if the IP is owned by more then one company, or might have. [...] And I think at least one wasn't even certain that they still held legal ownership of the IP or if it had lapsed.

The term that's more directly relevant to these problems is "orphan work". There was a push in the US a while back to allow publication of these under a statutory license, but I think it never made it to an actual Congressional vote. If I remember correctly, some artists and writers started circulating an odd conspiracy-theory-like intepretation of this and agitating for its defeat, though that might not have made a difference because it wasn't much of a political winner in the first place.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_work

[Alaskan Catfish Hike]

I would like to see a properly ported and working Oregon Trail 93 on Steam. I have a CD and I can get it to work on one computer and compatability mode doesn't help. I can't imagine it would be too difficult.

[Alaskan Catfish Hike]

If I recall correctly, and I make no assertion that I do, MECC actually folded.

Originally posted by Riedy:

I don't see an old game coming to the store now without being remastered and updated.

And there's really no need for it either. The game you're referring can be played on a website. I think a lot of those games are. And who would want money for them unless another company gets their hands on it? And nobody would make an effort to update it just to release it for free.

I would pay for it. I'm weird like that.

[HeartoftheTiger]

Originally posted by SimicEngineer:

Originally posted by HeartoftheTiger:

Or if the IP is owned by more then one company, or might have. [...] And I think at least one wasn't even certain that they still held legal ownership of the IP or if it had lapsed.

The term that's more directly relevant to these problems is "orphan work". There was a push in the US a while back to allow publication of these under a statutory license, but I think it never made it to an actual Congressional vote. If I remember correctly, some artists and writers started circulating an odd conspiracy-theory-like intepretation of this and agitating for its defeat, though that might not have made a difference because it wasn't much of a political winner in the first place.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_work

Interesting. Thanks! :-)