Activision shuts down The Silver Lining

By Robert Purchese Published 1 March, 2010

King's Quest fan project terminated.

King's Quest fan project The Silver Lining is being wiped from the face of the internet at the insistence of Activision's lawyers.

Years ago, King's Quest rights owner Vivendi/Sierra granted a non-commercial licence to the project following a brief legal spat. Vivendi/Sierra is now Activision Blizzard, however, and the new owner apparently won't extend the favour.

"After talks and negotiations in the last few months between ourselves and Activision, they have reached the decision that they are not interested in granting a non-commercial license to The Silver Lining, and have asked that we cease production and take down all related materials on our website," read a statement on The Silver Lining website.

"As before, we must and will comply with this decision, as much as we may wish we could do otherwise."

The Silver Lining team had been on track to release the first of five episodes in spring this year.

"We cannot say enough how much we appreciate the support we have had over these years from our fans. Without you, we would never have gotten this far. There would be no game to develop, and no one to develop it for. You have been amazing and steadfast, and we will always remember that and appreciate it more than we can say," continued the post.

"Sadly, after eight years of dedicated work and even more dedicated fans, The Silver Lining project is closing down."

The game's forums have been closed, as were Activision's wishes, but a new area has been created for TSL friends to keep in touch and chat in.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (42) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • tachometer #1 2 years ago

    Yeah, that's just nasty. Completely unnecessary

  • Retroid #2 2 years ago

    What an excellent way to treat such dedicated fans.

    :/

  • Poorandugly #3 2 years ago

    christ, that's cold.

  • gjgjg #4 2 years ago

    the beast's rampage continues

  • altitude2k #5 2 years ago

    Yet another example of how Activision are a bunch of c**ts.

  • Aretak #6 2 years ago

    Hilariously, there are no shortage of people over on NeoGAF defending Activision over it.

  • Shrike #7 2 years ago

    "bunch of c**ts"

    Beat me to it.

    I mean, if they thought the project was a threat to revenue they could have hired them.

  • Freek #8 2 years ago

    Why even go so far? They aren't making money on it, merely free advertising and support for the brand. Makes no sense to shut it down.

  • matrim83 #9 2 years ago

    Not even surprising. You kinda expect this kind of cunt behavior from Acti.

  • Hantheman #10 2 years ago

    They were probably enjoying making the game. That's a big no-no. Apparently.

  • menage #11 2 years ago

    Same story as the Chrono or FF remakes stuff.

    It's cruel, but I think people who start up shit like this are informed enough to see they are walking a thin line.

    Still, Acti is probably going to sit on their license stuff and never look at it again. Fuck them if that's the case.

  • gav_and_the_gavster #12 2 years ago

    A clever, forward-thinking company could have come up with some PR that really supports a project like this and makes it beneficial to all parties so everyone is happy and gamers like us (who don't know ALL the ins and outs) think "Oh what a lovely thing to do, I quite like company X now."

  • Freek #13 2 years ago

    With Square it is to be expected, they have a tendency to remake and re-release their own stuff. On Virtual Console, PSN or DS.
    But Kings Quest? Especially after they got a non-commercial license?

  • WinterSnowblind #14 2 years ago

    EA at least realised that they were becoming widely hated and actively went about trying to change their image.. which they mostly suceeded in doing. Activision on the other hand seem to be trying to make people hate them.

  • Sunyavadin #15 2 years ago

    Utter idiocy. Instead of free advertising and revitalised sales for the game without them having to lift a finger, they end up looking a right bunck of twats.

    Nice going, Actiblizz.

  • Fab4 #16 2 years ago

    Pob isnt scary...but Activision is.

  • insincere_dave #17 2 years ago

    Ah well, every cloud...

  • jellyhead #18 2 years ago

    Boooo! Shame, Acti, shame!

  • hiddenranbir #19 2 years ago

    Double edged sword maybe? Acti saw Good Old Games a way to milk money with old games and don't want a free, newer game to cannibalize on the King Quest name.


    Does suck though. Hell, you'd think Activision would support this project by maybe making it an official game? That's what the dickhead CEO was trying to imply at the DICE Summit, that they nurture talent...typical BS.

  • crazyhorse174 #20 2 years ago

    Cant they just change the name of the game and release it anyway?

  • munki83 #21 2 years ago

    I feel sorry for the team making Silver Lining. It was a project I was interested in or heard about but I imagine there could of been some new talent for the games industry in there and they are crushed by Activision. I hope they find a way to change the project enough so it can be released.

  • butler` #22 2 years ago

    feel bad for these guys

  • dacicus #23 2 years ago

    And another old Sierra Adventures IP it's going to sit in a dusty corner. Even worse, it might get the same treatment as Larry. Sierra had some of the finest adventure games ever produced, the only rival being Lucas Arts. But if LA managed to noticed that many people are still interested in their old adventure games and relaunched (with the help of Telltale games) Sam and Max and Monkey island, Acti is just the same old corporation unable to adapt to the demands of their customers. They've sold great IP from Sierra's portofolio and they continue to destroy whatever is left from the old Sierra. It's like they want to erase the name Sierra from everyone's memories.

    What, can i say " thank you, mr kotick" (and, yes, it's on an ironic tone).

  • darkmorgado #24 2 years ago

    The worst thing is, that an utter CUNT like Bobby Kotick won't even care that people hate him, as long as he makes money.

    This is the guy that said he wants to take all the fun out of gaming, remember.

  • Duchessprozac #25 2 years ago

    I swear Activision are aiming for a place in the Guinness world records for most evil company. I wouldn't be surpised if their next accessory based game is Fred West Hero and comes supplied with a baby killing machine.


    When a company make EA look good then you know they're evil.

  • reality_cheque #26 2 years ago

    Oh well I don't think there was anything Acti were releasing that I wanted to buy new anyway. I'll just get any of their games from CEX from now on!

  • Masarin #27 2 years ago

    I think I can remember doing a survey a month or two back at Telltale Games where I got to answer if I was interested in playing remakes of old games. Among these where definitely Space Quest and maybe Kings Quest. That could be a possibility... IIRC.

  • poopmonster #28 2 years ago

    What a bunch of selfish tossers. What harm were they doing? Looking at what they'd achieved, that's a lot of heart and soul down the drain.

    The games industry is turning into a right run-by-wankers charade.

  • Flabio #29 2 years ago

    While it's harsh to wait so long before doing this, the comedy that is copyright law means that if you don't wade in and shut down everyone violating your copyright you can actually *lose it altogether*. Just going after the dudes making knock-off tshirts etc... and leaving fan projects alone is, bizarrely, considered by law to be allowing the trademarks to become public domain.

    I think if you're part of a dedicated team making a fan game, and you knowingly use someone elses copyright without permission, then you have to be prepared to be shut down. It's not like its rare for them to be shut down is it? Being naive isn't really much of a defence.

  • ignatiusjreilly #30 2 years ago

    It's not like its rare for them to be shut down is it?

    It's not like it's rare to let them go either, and I don't know of anyone who lost their copyright that way.

    But you're right - now Activision and games in general are "big business", and they will act ruthlessly. Safest to just let the lawyers make the decision and shut it down.

  • Xeopuppy #31 2 years ago

    The Empire Strikes Back...

  • AphoticCosmos #32 2 years ago

    There was literally no good reason to do this at all. Does Bobby Kodick just completely not understand the gaming community, or is he simply an enormous dick?

    Sierra made some awesome games back in the day. I remember Earthsiege II . . . ahhhh . . . good times!
    Edited by 1 at 01/03/10 @ 18:49

  • the_mtfr #33 2 years ago

    Blizzard being part of Activision now I expect they start suing every fan who has drawings featured as fan art on the World of Warcraft official web site. That makes so much sense that I bet Kodick is pondering it.

  • netsirk #34 2 years ago

    There is a petition available for fans and supporters of The Silver Lining over at http://ww w.petitionspot.com/petitions/sa...

  • FooAtari #35 2 years ago

    @Flabio
    "I think if you're part of a dedicated team making a fan game, and you knowingly use someone elses copyright without permission, then you have to be prepared to be shut down."

    Thing is though, they got a non-commercial license from Vivendi, so they did get permission eventually. Would have killed Acti to honor it? Guarantee they do bugger all with King Quest anyway...

  • GiarcYekrub #36 2 years ago

    Whats Kings quest?

  • TheTingler #37 2 years ago

    In case anyone missed it in the Eurogamer article, these guys were actually officially allowed by original publishers Vivendi/Sierra to carry on with the project. I hope they're regretting letting Activision merge with them.

  • FooAtari #38 2 years ago

    @Giarc
    "Whats Kings quest?"

    Really? Well Google is your friend, plenty info about it.

  • chukcyQ #39 2 years ago

    Well, don't steal others' IP.

  • oceanclub #40 2 years ago

    Incredible, since they actually originally got permission for it. Then again, what can be expected of a company run by Bobby Kotick, the poster boy for all that is bad about capitalism over art?

  • FooAtari #41 2 years ago

    @ChuckyQ
    "Well, don't steal others' IP. "

    They didn't, they had permission from Vivendi, then tried to get the same deal from Acti.

    But well, Acti are a shower of tossers. This really wouldn't have done them any harm.

  • KayTannee #42 2 years ago

    Bollocks to it, I'm not buying another Activision game. Not over this perticularly. Its just the straw that broke the camels back. I believe companies should support amature game developers and mod teams, not crap on them. (Marry me Valve)

    I'm just glad they no longer publish the mechwarrior series. Microsoft are mean't to be a big 'evil' company, and they now own the rights, are making Mechwarrior 5, and have given permission to the Mech Warrior : Living Legends (Which is amazing BTW) team to use the IP.

    I used to like Activision back in the day when the 486 was king, now I can't stand them.