Star Wars: Battlefront 3 Fan Remake Galaxy in Turmoil Gets Cease and Desist from Lucasfilm

[ffronw]

Star Wars: Battlefront 3 Fan Remake Galaxy in Turmoil Gets Cease and Desist from Lucasfilm

//cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/1339/1339740.jpgA fan remake of the never-released Star Wars: Battlefront 3 is changing course after a cease and desist from Lucasfilm and EA.

First shown off earlier this year, fan-made project Star Wars: Galaxy in Turmoil planned to make the Star Wars: Battlefront 3 that everyone wanted but was never released. Of course, since they were making a Star Wars game, it was almost inevitable that a cease and desist would be forthcoming, and now the project has been force to change direction after receiving one from Lucasfilm.

In a lengthy post on the project's official website [http://frontwirestudios.com/the-future-of-galaxy-in-turmoil/], Frontwire Studios President Tony Romanelli announced the news. It turns out that the studio actually received the C&D letter back in June, and have been working since to try and negotiate a way for the project to continue.

After meeting with Lucasfilm and proposing a number of options for the project to continue, Romanelli says that "Lucasfilm had already spoken with EA about Galaxy in Turmoil and that EA expressed no desire in letting our project continue. Their main concern was due to the possibility of Galaxy in Turmoil taking away attention from their Battlefront franchise."

Although Romanelli had previously said that he felt Galaxy in Turmoil would fall under fair use, he said in his post yesterday that he had, "No desire to get into any type of legal battle with Lucasfilm, and lose due to the sheer amount of money Lucasfilm has."

Rather than let this (admittedly large) setback scrap the entire project, Galaxy in Turmoil will go forward as a new IP. Romanelli wrote that "Our game will still have massive 64-player battles, ground-to-space combat, destructible capital ships, and a full single-player campaign. We will also still be releasing Galaxy in Turmoil on Steam as planned and it will remain a free game."

Frontwire has already secured a publishing agreement with Steam, and it plans to fund the game's development through crowdfunding, although Romanelli did express his desire to not end up as another crowdfunding failure. "We refuse to be another statistic," he said. "We will not crowdfund until we can release a fully playable demo consisting of a single player mission & at least two multiplayer maps with a single gamemode." He also eschewed the idea of microtransactions, saying, "We will not be adding any micro transactions or pay-to-win content."

Since the Star Wars content isn't going to be used, the studio released a few work-in-progress items that you can see below.

If you're interested in learning more about Galaxy in Turmoil, you can find plenty of info on the game's official site [http://git.frontwirestudios.com].

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[Barbas]

"Their main concern was due to the possibility of Galaxy in Turmoil taking away attention from their Battlefront franchise."

Whose fault is that? Suck it, EA. You published a shallow game.

 

[MiskWisk]

"Shit! Someone's making the game we should have but couldn't be bothered to do! Let's hit them with legal bullshit till they stop"
God damn it EA.

 

[jurnag12]

Their main concern was due to the possibility of Galaxy in Turmoil taking away attention from their Battlefront franchise."

On the bright side, that just destroyed the final shred of interest I had in ever picking up Battlefront.

 

[BabySinclair]

"What? Someone is making a free version the game that we knew Star Wars fans would have shelled out their firstborns for but we felt like half-assing? Quick, lawyers, stop them from competing with our inferior product!"

I kind of expected this would happen when I first heard about it. Lucasfilm is usually pretty decent about fair use and as a free game would have been covered buuuuut, EA's shitty exclusivity means they have no incentive to act like decent people.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Well that was entirely predictable.

They should have stayed away from the Steam publishing deal. Historically Star Wars mods have been left alone (check out the awesome Homeworld mods), but partnering up with Valve was far too official for the like of EA and Disney to ignore.

It's a shame.

 

[Nazulu]

Yeah, that's how copyright works. However, in this case, EA should be stripped of all rights to produce anything because they're controlled by a bunch of greedy incompetent morons. And Lucasfilm should get a big smack over the head for still giving it to them.

I hope Frontwire does make the perfect Battlefield game when EA releases their sequel. Seriously, Fuck EA!

 

[ffronw]

"What? Someone is making a free version the game that we knew Star Wars fans would have shelled out their firstborns for but we felt like half-assing? Quick, lawyers, stop them from competing with our inferior product!"

I kind of expected this would happen when I first heard about it. Lucasfilm is usually pretty decent about fair use and as a free game would have been covered buuuuut, EA's shitty exclusivity means they have no incentive to act like decent people.

It's worth noting that judging from the post the studio president wrote, Lucasfilm was pretty decent in this case too, but their hands were tied by the contract with EA.

 

[Ukomba]

The only surprising thing here is how long it took them to do it. Disney is the high lord of copy write law, and both they and EA are IP dominating black holes. Star Wars is now their cash cow to milk to death.

 

[Leg End]

Well, at least it'll be its own game. Count me in for being an investor when they get that shit up and running.

but partnering up with Valve was far too official for the like of EA and Disney to ignore.

The only surprising thing here is how long it took them to do it. Disney is the high lord of copy write law, and both they and EA are IP dominating black holes. Star Wars is now their cash cow to milk to death.

The funny thing here is that Disney seems to have no real issue with Galaxy in Turmoil and is solely protecting the deal it has with EA regarding the brand. This is one of the few cases where I think Disney isn't the one with a stick up their ass.

This isn't EA being cunts (for once).

Oh no, it's EA being cunts. Law or not, EA are just mad as fuck that they couldn't make a proper Battlefront 3 and are shutting down competition that wasn't going to charge a dime. Any studio without a stick wedged firmly inside of its rectum sideways would have let something similar continue.

But this is EA.

 

[Cap'nPipsqueak]

Well, at least it'll be its own game. Count me in for being an investor when they get that shit up and running.

but partnering up with Valve was far too official for the like of EA and Disney to ignore.

The only surprising thing here is how long it took them to do it. Disney is the high lord of copy write law, and both they and EA are IP dominating black holes. Star Wars is now their cash cow to milk to death.

The funny thing here is that Disney seems to have no real issue with Galaxy in Turmoil and is solely protecting the deal it has with EA regarding the brand. This is one of the few cases where I think Disney isn't the one with a stick up their ass.

This isn't EA being cunts (for once).

Oh no, it's EA being cunts. Law or not, EA are just mad as fuck that they couldn't make a proper Battlefront 3 and are shutting down competition that wasn't going to charge a dime. Any studio without a stick wedged firmly inside of its rectum sideways would have let something similar continue.

But this is EA.

Why don't they just make it a mod? I'm pretty sure EA couldn't touch them then.

 

[Leg End]

Why don't they just make it a mod? I'm pretty sure EA couldn't touch them then.

Varies but they usually still can but the issue is determining fair use in a court of law. Usually though, companies don't go to that level of dickishness and beyond.

But again, EA. If anyone would, they're on the list.

 

[Cap'nPipsqueak]

Why don't they just make it a mod? I'm pretty sure EA couldn't touch them then.

Varies but they usually still can but the issue is determining fair use in a court of law. Usually though, companies don't go to that level of dickishness and beyond.

But again, EA. If anyone would, they're on the list.

Why?

That's the equivalent of sending a lawyer after me because I paint my truck a different colour.

 

[Leg End]

No... No it isn't.

Fits their track record from here.

You do understand copyright laws, right? The 'fan remake' is a fully published game, but was stealing the likeness of EA's Battlefront series. This is the kind of shit that we see from Chinese companies making shitty rebranded ripoffs of popular franchises like Overwatch and League of Legends.

Yes, I do. The difference here is that no money was to change hands to my understanding which makes it very unlike your typical Chinese knockoff.

The dev should have done what he's doing now, and marketed the game as its own IP.

Pretty much. Would have guaranteed zero issues.

It's clear that the only reason he branded it as Starwars Battlefront was for free advertising when this shit eventually happened.

Possible to probable.

EA are literally doing nothing wrong in this scenario.

Legally you're right. In terms of fanmade content, you're dead wrong and this cements my hatred for the company even further.

Besides, the new Starwars Battlefront game isn't as bad as people like to pretend it is. Is it similar to, or as good as its predecessors? No. But does that make it a bad game? Definitely not. People are just angry that it's not close enough to Battlefront 2.

It's Battlefield 4 with a Star Wars skin and a severe lack of launch content that is objectively inferior to and unworthy of the name Battlefront. I mean fuck, the PSP games had space/planet transitions(at launch). The PSP!

The only thing I can say in its favor is that it is stupidly well optimized and I've seen it run on some systems that begin to qualify as lite-toasters.

 

[Leg End]

Why?

That's the equivalent of sending a lawyer after me because I paint my truck a different colour.

Welcome to Electronic Arts. Fallen from grace, they truly have..

 

[Leg End]

I'm not arguing that EA are a conduit of good. Honestly, they're one of my least favorite companies.

Shared feelings to the point that I've had a five year embargo on their products.

But in this case, I can't really fault them for shutting down the project. Battlefield is still a series. He was essentially siphoning from EA's series in order to promote his own game.

In retrospect I can see that as a potential action he was doing though my bias still seeps through.

Besides, it's not as if the project has been shut down completely. EA have only told him that he's not allowed to brand it as a Star Wars Battlefront game. That belongs to EA.

Fair enough. Luckily this isn't a case where the franchise isn't integral to the game.

It'd be fine if this were a mod for Battlefront 3. But it isn't. It's a complete game and separate entity that was being marketed as 'Star Wars Battlefront'.

Was it though? Every time I've heard it it seemed to be marketed as a fangame in the style of Battlefront and meant to continue that gameplay style.

Surely you can see the issue in this, right? Where do we draw the line? If I created my own game and tried marketing it as "Pokemon Sun and Moon", it's clear to see where the legal implications lie.

Very much so. The issue I primarily have is that I know EA's intentions behind it and laugh in their face. If it was most other companies, it would have been given a blind eye. I can't see a lot of good in a company going after a free fan game. Then again, I'm not running a company.

But dammit Lucasfilm(and by proxy Disney) seemed to have little issue with it and it could have liiiivvvveeeeeed! Daammnn it all to heeeeeeellllllllllllll.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Yep, pretty much what I expected would happen, particularly with the whole Steam publishing deal. Probably shouldn't have done that, though EA would have almost certainly shut them down anyway. This is EA we're talking about, after all.

Personally, if I were in charge of the project I would have developed the game in secret and released the final product with no prior announcement or fanfare. EA would still try to shut it down, but with the finished game already out "in the wild" they would be hard-pressed to contain it. Fewer people would know about it at first, but word-of-mouth would soon rectify that, particularly with the Star Wars name attached to it.