Interplay sells off Earthworm Jim, Descent, Kingpin
Interplay is selling off the rights to several franchises, but most importantly: Interplay is selling off the rights to Earthworm Jim. If there is a God (there isn’t), and if it will respond to my wishes thanks to my supplicatory pyres of pubes, empty Dew bottles, and used underwear (it won’t), then the rights to Earthworm Jim will land at a talented developer. A talented developer that will resurrect a childhood favorite-series.
Don’t call it a comeback. Don’t call it, like, three comebacks. Interplay, once renowned as a house of PC ideas, has failed to get back off the ground across various attempts at resurrection, and it seems matters have gone no better for whoever is currently wearing the well-worn skinsuit. ‘Interplay’ has just announced a firesale of various intellectual properties. Which means that the likes of Descent, Freespace, Kingpin, Giants: Citizen Kabuto, MDK, Sacrifice and Earthworm bally Jim are now looking for new homes.
Oh God, come on, let’s do this. Let’s get the RPS community to club together to buy the rights to and make a new Kingpin game.
The shock sale does not specify exactly what is or isn’t being put out front of shop with a red sticker on it, but the announcement states that Interplay intends “to sell its library of video game assets and intellectual property. The expected sale represents some 70 titles and dozens of characters.” I.e., it sounds like everything is up for grabs.
There is, as you can see above, quite a few of the 1990s great and good, broadly left to die on the vine when Interplay died and was later replaced by an ‘Interplay.’ Us hoary old folk would give our right arms for a new Sacrifice or full-fat Descent, for instance, but I sadly suspect the wider gaming world does not care quite so much. Hence, sale time – presumably one of few options for ‘Interplay’ to make meaningful bank from its portfolio. It’s tried licensing some of its properties a couple of times, most notably withDescent: Underground, but hasn’t managed to set any worlds on fire as yet.
Perhaps I’m just too influenced by what happened with the death of THQ, but I find it hard to imagine that the likes of THQ Nordic and Sega aren’t having a sniff around this. Or perhaps Doug Tentpole wants Earthworm Jim back, or Descent’s original creators want to pin the name back onto their spiritual sequel.