NeverWinterNights Update
Seems that it will be a bit longer until NWN comes out. According to Desslock on Desslock's RPG News (a subsidary of GameSpot), Bioware Corp. terminated it's contract with Interplay and that Interplay would not publish NWN.
Desslock's Ramblings - The Future of Neverwinter Nights
"Merry Christmas to everyone, especially regular readers who have tolerated my wacky, ever-changing updating schedule. Again, these editorials will generally be weekly (every Friday or weekend)."
On November 30th, BioWare Corp. released a shocking press release to announce that the company had officially terminated its contract with Interplay, and that Interplay would no longer publish Neverwinter Nights. Here's the substance of the press release:
Canadian software developer BioWare Corp. terminated its contract with Interplay Entertainment Corp. to develop its latest computer game, Neverwinter Nights. BioWare announced that, though it has ended its association with Interplay on the project, it is looking forward to releasing Neverwinter Nights on schedule, early in 2002. Development at BioWare is continuing on both Neverwinter Nights and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic as well as on other as yet unannounced projects. BioWare had previously filed lawsuits against Interplay, alleging that Interplay has breached contracts with BioWare by sublicensing distribution of BioWare games to third parties without the knowledge or consent of BioWare. BioWare had also joined with Illinois software developer Parallax in a lawsuit against Interplay alleging that Interplay, British Distributor Virgin Interactive, and the French company, Titus Interactive, had failed to pay royalties due BioWare and Parallax games,BioWare's press release suggests (or specifically states) that Neverwinter Nights will be released on schedule, without delay, and without significant impact upon the game's development. While it's understandable why BioWare would want to publicly pitch the "nothing has changed" message, that message is very misleading: Everything has changed, and the future of Neverwinter Nights is definitely uncertain. Given the amount of work that's been done on Neverwinter Nights, it's unlikely that the game won't ultimately be released, but I also think it's extremely unlikely that the game will be released without BioWare reaching an agreement with Interplay (or its stakeholders). Here's a summary of the significant issues, and my views on how they will likely play out: 1. D&D Licence: Neverwinter Nights is, of course, intended to be a 3rd Edition D&D game. BioWare doesn't have the rights to produce a D&D licensed. As I've written in past editorials, the only parties that have licences to produce D&D games are Interplay, UbiSoft (which inherited the licence Mattel/SSI had for Pool of Radiance - Ruins of Myth Drannor), and Infogrames (which was acquired when it purchased various properties from Hasbro). Interplay and UbiSoft's licences are subject to some significant limitations, as Infogrames will now generally controls the franchise (and will, unless it sells the rights, for the next 15 years). So aside from any of the other issues discussed separately, BioWare will have great difficulty publishing Neverwinter Nights as a D&D game, unless: (a) BioWare reconciles/enters into a new agreement with Interplay, or (b) BioWare otherwise acquires the right to use a licence from Infogrames, or (c) if Ubisoft's licence has not already expired and the terms are malleable enough to publish a non-Pool of Radiance game, BioWare gains the use of that license. Although BioWare is on good terms with the Wizards of the Coast principals who generally control the D&D franchise, WotC has no ability to grant licences to produce D&D games - those rights were sold by WotC's parent company, Hasbro, to Infogrames, as I've described in several past editorials. BioWare could try to publish the game as a "D20 game", using WotC free D20 rules, which are really the core of the D&D system, but there are other restrictions on the use of the D20 system, which would make it difficult to produce a software version of a D20 game. Even if those restrictions could be addressed (and Infogrames didn't argue that software versions of any of Hasbro's games are covered by the terms of its licence, which it might), a D20 game couldn't use D&D character systems, or any of the D&D content (names, places, monsters, etc.) that gamers are naturally expecting from Neverwinter Nights. 2. Interplay's Contributions: Interplay, or Interplay's stakeholders (including majority shareholder Titus), will likely argue that BioWare cannot release Neverwinter Nights without compensating them for their contribution to the product. They may also argue that their contributions provide them with partial ownership of the game, notwithstanding (or in addition to) any rights specifically enumerated in BioWare's publishing contract with Interplay. For previous BioWare games that were published by Interplay (the Baldur's Gate series), BioWare did almost all of the development, while Interplay provided music, sound effects, some QA and design veting, in addition to the actual publishing and marketing. Interplay's contributions were likely less to Neverwinter Nights, since some elements such as music/sound may have not been incorporated into the builds of the game currently available, but Interplay (or its stakeholders) will likely still claim ownership and/or compensation because (they'll argue) that they significantly contributed to the marketing of the game, provided input during the development of the game, etc., even if BioWare generally developed the game independently. Until those claims are litigated or settled, BioWare will be unable to release the game, even if another publisher can be found (preferably one able to provide a D&D licence, as discussed in the previous point). 3. BioWare/Interplay Litigation: Obviously, the litigation between the companies played a key role in BioWare's recent announcement that Interplay would no longer publish Neverwinter Nights. BioWare is claiming compensation for Interplay's alleged breaches of BioWare's publishing contract with Interplay (apparently, allegedly, arising as a result of Interplay's agreement with Vivendi that permits that latter company to publish Interplay's games in certain jurisdictions). It's likely because of those claims that BioWare felt comfortable terminating its agreement with Interplay (since BioWare is alleging that Interplay materially breached the terms of that contract), and the fact that BioWare didn't terminate the agreement immediately upon commencing the lawsuit suggests that the contract had some sort of "cure period", or grace period, that allowed Interplay to remedy its alleged breaches before BioWare was entitled to terminate the contract. That period probably expired on the date of, or shortly prior to, the date of BioWare's press release. The ongoing litigation, as well as any other counterclaims or related claims that Interplay or its stakeholders could initiate as a result of the matters I discussed in my second point above, will undoubtedly discourage any other publisher from picking up the publishing rights to Neverwinter Nights. Even alternative distribution channels such as Electronics Boutique (see my last ramblings), will likely be wary of becoming entangled in the litigation. Conclusion: This development is terrible news for RPG fans, since it puts the future of one of the most anticipated RPGs in doubt. The only way that the game will be released, as scheduled, will be if BioWare and Interplay reconcile or come to some form of accommodation that permits another publisher to freely produce the game. If Interplay doesn't publish the game, the only other viable publisher is Infogrames (or a company authorized by Infogrames), and no publisher is likely to want to enter into such an agreement while Interplay and its stakeholders have unresolved litigation or potential rights (and there are already rumours of a counterclaim filed, or to be filed by Titus against BioWare). It's bad news for RPG fans that the creators which have collectively produced the best RPGs for the past four years (1997-2000, since that streak ended this year, in my opinion) have had their relationship with each other deteriorate. It creates uncertainty concerning the future of Neverwinter Nights (and if the parties can't reach agreement without litigation, this matter could take many months or even years to resolve), as well as other games in development that haven't been officially announced (such as Icewind Dale 2, which Interplay was developing by licensing BioWare's Infinity Engine). Interplay's Black Isle Studios, as of right now, has no publicly revealed PC games in development, and its only console game is the PS/2 game Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (BioWare had nothing to do with its development, notwithstanding the name of the title). The best gamers can hope for is that Interplay and BioWare will reconcile, or that Interplay and its stakeholders will accept the terms that permit another publisher to produce the game (likely after receiving acceptable compensation). There's no chance that Neverwinter Nights will appear, "as scheduled", as the BioWare press release suggests, unless these matters are resolved. Merry X-mas, in any event, Desslock P.S. - usual legal caveat for editorials of this type: nothing expressed in this editorial should be construed, in any way, as a legal opinion, and any reliance upon or reproduction of any part of this editorial is expressly prohibited. The views expressed in this editorial are solely my own, and do not, in any way represent the views of my host, GameSpot, or any of its affiliates or their respective representatives.