http://techraptor.net/content/relationships-indie-gaming-interview-allistair-pinsof-part-2
"You hear a lot of things when you become a journalist prominent enough to cover big exclusives but not popular enough to be initiated into the game media elite?s inner circle. One of the more interesting things I heard was a notable indie developer tell me that Phil Fish significantly stole from their code, projects and ideas to create Fez. When I questioned why they won?t sue, they said they were in fear of being ostracized by the IGF, media, and indie dev scene.
Let me roll back a little here. Degroot did music for Fez in 2007. He had a falling out with Fish which led to legal threats and drama which you can find in Indie Game: The Movie (which by coincidence was produced by Fish?s current partner, hmm). The film presents him as an ominous entity who exists to make Fish?s life hell, never was he given a chance to tell his side of the story, and ? a total slap in the face ? the film?s credits said he ?asked not to participate in the film? which was untrue. Degroot is a non-confrontational guy so McGrath took up his cause ? feeling sympathy since Fish stole from him too and backstabbed him ? and came to me with his story. So, let me get back to that.
The thing the public never knew ? that McGrath and Degroot held for leverage should the filmmakers & Fish not change the credits ? is that McGrath worked on Fez until the GDC trailer put out in October 2007, according to McGrath. At this point, McGrath had a second falling out and this time it was serious. McGrath told him they were done and Fish agreed to cancel the project. The agreement was that McGrath would take his original design (2D/3D rotating mechanic) and Fish would take his Trixel engine, according to McGrath. When McGrath saw the game appear at IGF 2008, he was furious and felt backstabbed. There?s been bad blood between them ever since. This behavior seems habit for Fish since the same thing happened to Degroot who designed the game?s original audio aesthetic via sound effects and a chiptune score, only to be cut and suddenly replaced with someone else who copied his style ? it?s an amazing soundtrack but Fish keeps bringing in new people to follow through on other people?s ideas.
I feel like this story embodies the indie game development scene as a whole. You have guys like Degroot and McGrath who are non-confrontational, good people who just want to make a great game. Then you have these megalomaniacs who use their influence to cheat their way into awards, take ideas and more from other developers, and depend on media, investor, and judge connections to keep their corruption away from the public?s eye."
An interview from 2007 supporting this: https://archive.today/9FYNy#selection-157.744-157.877
"You hear a lot of things when you become a journalist prominent enough to cover big exclusives but not popular enough to be initiated into the game media elite?s inner circle. One of the more interesting things I heard was a notable indie developer tell me that Phil Fish significantly stole from their code, projects and ideas to create Fez. When I questioned why they won?t sue, they said they were in fear of being ostracized by the IGF, media, and indie dev scene.
Let me roll back a little here. Degroot did music for Fez in 2007. He had a falling out with Fish which led to legal threats and drama which you can find in Indie Game: The Movie (which by coincidence was produced by Fish?s current partner, hmm). The film presents him as an ominous entity who exists to make Fish?s life hell, never was he given a chance to tell his side of the story, and ? a total slap in the face ? the film?s credits said he ?asked not to participate in the film? which was untrue. Degroot is a non-confrontational guy so McGrath took up his cause ? feeling sympathy since Fish stole from him too and backstabbed him ? and came to me with his story. So, let me get back to that.
The thing the public never knew ? that McGrath and Degroot held for leverage should the filmmakers & Fish not change the credits ? is that McGrath worked on Fez until the GDC trailer put out in October 2007, according to McGrath. At this point, McGrath had a second falling out and this time it was serious. McGrath told him they were done and Fish agreed to cancel the project. The agreement was that McGrath would take his original design (2D/3D rotating mechanic) and Fish would take his Trixel engine, according to McGrath. When McGrath saw the game appear at IGF 2008, he was furious and felt backstabbed. There?s been bad blood between them ever since. This behavior seems habit for Fish since the same thing happened to Degroot who designed the game?s original audio aesthetic via sound effects and a chiptune score, only to be cut and suddenly replaced with someone else who copied his style ? it?s an amazing soundtrack but Fish keeps bringing in new people to follow through on other people?s ideas.
I feel like this story embodies the indie game development scene as a whole. You have guys like Degroot and McGrath who are non-confrontational, good people who just want to make a great game. Then you have these megalomaniacs who use their influence to cheat their way into awards, take ideas and more from other developers, and depend on media, investor, and judge connections to keep their corruption away from the public?s eye."
An interview from 2007 supporting this: https://archive.today/9FYNy#selection-157.744-157.877
