Currently the only golf sim you can get on a PC is Tiger Woods PGA. Five years ago, the links series had the best golf sim on the market, hands down. The series was first created in the 80's by Access Software. Later, Access was bought by Microsoft. Microsoft sold it to Take Two Interactive, who renamed themselves to Indie Built. Indie Built shut down in 2006. So because of the corporate buyouts, this series just died. Links 2003 is still better than any Tiger Woods game, but it's 5 years old now, so there's not a huge community to support it. Can anyone tell me what can I do to try to approach other game developers to find out how to get the rights to the game and pitch a company to bring it back? I've e-mailed 2K games (they used to own Take Two Interactive) several times, but they purposely ignore my e-mails. Any help would be appreciated, and thank you for reading my long winded history of the best golf sim ever.

Franchises still have value, and just because the original development studio is gone, the IP guaranteed still belongs to one or other of their owners along the way (it's pretty common to strip out choice IP before selling the studio on).

They're unlikely to give it to an untested amateur because you're unlikely to add any benefit to their brand, and are quite likely to fluff it up; they want to retain the option of going back and reviving the brand sometime later (which happens regularly)

On the happier side, all that really stops you from making a golf game with the same FEEL as Links is your own skill and dedication. You can't CALL it Links, and you have to be careful about brands in the game (so no Tiger Woods teeing off beside you), but if you make a game called Golfer's Paradise game with similar gameplay, you're fine.

As an added bonus, you don't need to spend the remainder off your life with T2's lawyers breathing down your back.

Allan

Quote: Original post by Rudy190
Can anyone tell me what can I do to try to approach other game developers to find out how to get the rights to the game and pitch a company to bring it back?

Reveal your plans and make an offer to buy the rights. Seriously, why would they just give you the rights or give you a license to use the name? You can't even be sure who has the rights. Just because a company developed a game, doesn't mean the hold the rights to it's name, characters etc. Rights, like many company assets, change hands all the time.

Quote: I've e-mailed 2K games (they used to own Take Two Interactive) several times, but they purposely ignore my e-mails.

I haven't seen the emails, I don't know to who you send it, but even then they have no obligation to respond. I'm sure Blizzard has received thousands of request in the past to make a sequel to Starcraft, but it has taken a decade before one was made. Making games is a business, how cool the game was or could be to certain fans is not enough to go into production.

Quote: Links 2003 is still better than any Tiger Woods game, but it's 5 years old now, so there's not a huge community to support it.

Really? You are entitled to your own opinion, naturally, even if it contradicts both the hardcore players, the PGA licensing boards, and the press.


The core people who wrote Links at Access left after Microsoft purchased and started trashing the series. They formed Headgate studios and put out a much better golf sim, as noted by the public and the press. The company was later purchased by Sierra and released PGA Championship Golf. Observe that the PGA licensed them specifically over Links , who had been trying to get a license.

Later when Sierra struggled financially, the group managed to buy themselves back from Sierra. They published through EA. They later managed to get a license from Tiger Woods' corporate licensing, making it Tiger Woods PGA Tour.



The very same people who started developing it over a decade ago have been working on it until this year, when EA decided to move it to Florida and have the most excellent team work on something else. (Please ignore my name in the game credits. The team really is most excellent and our upcoming projects are incredibly great.)





Ownership over Links brands, artwork, models, and its code includes many license agreements, and it would cost you several million dollars to get it unencumbered.

Quote: Original post by Rudy190
Can anyone tell me what can I do to try to approach other game developers to find out how to get the rights to the game and pitch a company to bring it back?

You don't need to approach other developers, you need to approach the publisher that owns the rights and make them a business proposal.

Big publishers have large overheads to pay which means that any deal they do must earn a lot of money. Plus they also have expensive lawyers. The legal fees for a licensing deal of this type would be in excess of $20,000 (for each party) and the total may well go into six figures if it is particularly complex. That means that the offer you make to the owner of the intellectual property rights would need to start in $250,000 range and rise possibly into the millions.

Quote: I've e-mailed 2K games (they used to own Take Two Interactive) several times, but they purposely ignore my e-mails.

1. Did you say something worth responding to? "I want to remake your game what do I do" shows that you don't know enough for it to be worth their while even to respond. Unless you sent them a serious business proposal they aren't going to treat you like a serious business person.
2. Who exactly did you send it to? Was it the person in the lagal dept responsible for licensing or just "info@publisher.com"?
3. Email is easy to ignore... you should phone.

As others have said, if you want to make a golf game then make a golf game. Having the Links name would cost too much and wouldn't make the game any better.