When it comes to the big gaming companies, they can often be seen as faceless conglomerates who are very protective of their intellectual properties, often seeming untouchable. Sometimes they even file lawsuits against other big companies. Just last year, Ubisoft filed a lawsuit against Apple and Google for copyright infringement. It seems that the Assassin's Creed publisher is at it again, only this time the target is a fan of Goldeneye 64.
Earlier yesterday, a tweet was posted which showed that user Krollywood had been issued with an email from Ubisoft saying that MGM had taken down fan made Goldeneye maps which had been created in Far Cry 5. The post claims that because the custom levels of the classic 1997 game had become more popular due to exposure, it seems as though Ubisoft and MGM caught wind of the creation and took efforts to remove the content, citing copyright infringement.
Even though the creator has said they've managed to keep hold of the save files, they are understandably sad that it has come to this. Krollywood spent three years tirelessly recreating the entirety of Goldeneye 64 in the Dunia engine, which brought all 18 of the spy-based FPS levels into the modern gaming era, with just the two secret missions not added. The maps were originally uploaded to the PSN but are no longer available for download.
This is also not the first time this has happened to Goldeneye fans, either. Back in August last year, MGM issued a cease and desist to a user who had recreated the game using Unreal Engine 4, updating the visuals to, once again, bring a much-loved classic into the 21st century. It seems as though the big, powerful studios are not keen on gamers tinkering with an adaptation that's nearly a quarter of a century old at this point.
Such takedowns seem harsh, even by big tech standards. As the report states, Krollywood remade the 24-year-old levels in Far Cry 5's in-built level editing software and did not intend to sell them on for profit. Level creation and map editing is a long-time pursuit of many gamers. In fact, level making is so popular that Nintendo developed Super Mario Maker to allow fans to let their creativity run wild for fun, although Mario Maker users can only use elements from the official games licensed by Nintendo. Ubisoft is a huge company, and them taking down the creation of someone who wanted to showcase their love of both Far Cry and the James Bond franchise will likely not sit right with many gamers.
Goldeneye 007 is available for the Nintendo 64.
Source: Eurogamer