Blizzard Entertainment has stated that it will not intervene on a mod development of its space-based MMO, Starcraft II, by an ardent fan.
Currently named World of Starcraft, the mod developed by Ryan Winzen has gained the developer's support after initial misgivings. Blizzard has said in a statement that:
"It was never our intention to stop development on the mod or discourage the community from expressing their creativity through the StarCraft II editor."
"As always, we actively encourage development of custom maps and mods for StarCraft II, as we’ve done with our strategy games in the past."
The MMORPG developer added that it is looking forward to how development of the mod will progress and has even invited Winzen onto its company campus to have a meeting with the game's team.
Initially, however, things were looking a bit worse for Winzen. Blizzard had videos of the mod pulled down from YouTube, claiming copyright infringement. However, Winzen noted in his forum last night:
"The Deputy General Council from Blizzard contacted me last night to discuss the details of the 'World of Starcraft' project. We talked for a while and apparently some people from Blizz were concerned I was developing the game somehow outside of SC2.
"Anyways I explained the details of the project to him and made it clear this mod was to be developed within SC2. After that was clear he obviously wanted the name to be changed... I'm trying to work with him to get the name Starcraft Universe (Currently in holding by Mille25) or Starcraft Chronicles. I am fully respectful of Blizzard's Intellectual property, and they DO in fact own a copyright on "World of Starcraft" and have EVERY RIGHT to do what they did. If I want to continue this project I'm at the mercy of Blizzard's good graces since they OWN it all."
Furthermore, Winzen has been approached by Riot Games to apply for a position at their studio.
Are you a modder? And do you see it as a potentially viable (albeit unintentional) way into the industry such as Mr Winzen? Any thoughts, feel free to post them in the Comments section below.
Source: Gamasutra
Currently named World of Starcraft, the mod developed by Ryan Winzen has gained the developer's support after initial misgivings. Blizzard has said in a statement that:
"It was never our intention to stop development on the mod or discourage the community from expressing their creativity through the StarCraft II editor."
"As always, we actively encourage development of custom maps and mods for StarCraft II, as we’ve done with our strategy games in the past."
The MMORPG developer added that it is looking forward to how development of the mod will progress and has even invited Winzen onto its company campus to have a meeting with the game's team.
Initially, however, things were looking a bit worse for Winzen. Blizzard had videos of the mod pulled down from YouTube, claiming copyright infringement. However, Winzen noted in his forum last night:
"The Deputy General Council from Blizzard contacted me last night to discuss the details of the 'World of Starcraft' project. We talked for a while and apparently some people from Blizz were concerned I was developing the game somehow outside of SC2.
"Anyways I explained the details of the project to him and made it clear this mod was to be developed within SC2. After that was clear he obviously wanted the name to be changed... I'm trying to work with him to get the name Starcraft Universe (Currently in holding by Mille25) or Starcraft Chronicles. I am fully respectful of Blizzard's Intellectual property, and they DO in fact own a copyright on "World of Starcraft" and have EVERY RIGHT to do what they did. If I want to continue this project I'm at the mercy of Blizzard's good graces since they OWN it all."
Furthermore, Winzen has been approached by Riot Games to apply for a position at their studio.
Are you a modder? And do you see it as a potentially viable (albeit unintentional) way into the industry such as Mr Winzen? Any thoughts, feel free to post them in the Comments section below.
Source: Gamasutra
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