Ridgehand: Since you guys finally got Blizzard to open their vaults to you guys for titles like Warcraft I& 2, and original Diablo any chance that EA will let you guys taste the old Westwood Collection like Dune, Dune 2000, Or Dune Emporer?
Cadaver747: This is very easy for EA to publish those games:
Dune 2 > all EA have to do is to get permission from Virgin Interactive (it was sold to Titus Interactive which went bankrupt some years after) since they funded the development of Dune 2, then they probably need to get in touch with Brett W. Sperry, the original game producer from Westwood Studios (the developer), lastly they have to negotiate with Brian Herbert (the proud heir of Frank Herbert) through his The Herbert Limited Partnership and maybe, just maybe they need to also check on Dino De Laurentiis Company because the game was loosely based on film which in turn was copyrighted by that movie company.
Dune 2000 > same here but less parties involved
Dune > Cryo Interactive which was absolved by DreamCatcher Interactive and then bough out by Microïds.
Sorry, it is not that easy.
I think the rights to the Dune franchise haver reverted to the Herbert Estate. Most game licenses for bookd and movies are for a limited time, and once the licence expieres unless renewed, the company loses the rifhts to seel the games.
So Westwood needs the permission of the Herbert Estate to sell the games.
And with a new Dune movie in production, (from the director who did the BLade Runner sequel) the license value might have just skyrocketed. Don't expect the Dune games here. Same situation applies to the EA Middle Earth Games.
I think there is a much better chance to see the Command snf COnquer games here, since EA/Westwood owns the rights to that franchise.
Liceincing issues are what keep a lot of the games on the
most requested? list from being on GOG.
The thing to remember is that the licenses are for a limited time, and when they expire the owner of the franchise can move to another company if they want. The Star Trek franchise has been ownled by a number of different game companies.