Telltale no longer have the rights to make further Bone games

[jp-30]

http://www.mixnmojo.com/php/news/showfile.php?id=3708&category=telltale

DEN: What about some of the other franchises, I know you have announced the next Sam and Max, but what about future installments of Bone, or Strong Bad?

Dave Grossman::( There won’t be any more Bone games, our agreement ended...

No surprise, but it's nice to have a definitive statement.

[MoonlightMorrison]

Oh well. It's not like it was my #1 choice for a Telltale Game anyways. There be other things to be focused on.

[Udvarnoky]

Considering how many years have passed, it's not surprising that whatever original agreement they entered into has now expired. The question is, was allowing that agreement to lapse necessarily involuntary? Jeff Smith was apparently quite happy with the handling of his source material, and Telltale seems to be working on a new project all the time. It would surprise me to learn that Smith would somehow be restricting Telltale from making more games if they were inclined to do so, and as far as I know he and his wife essentially are Cartoon Books. I'm sure I could be simplifying a thorny legal situation, but I'm speculating that this decision was Telltale's, for better or worse.

[Icedhope]

Their agreement ended when warner bros bought the rights with the film deal.

[Lena_P]

Their agreement ended when warner bros bought the rights with the film deal.

Well that sucks then. Not the film deal, but the thought there's going to be a Bone tie-in platformer is a little depressing. (I'm guessing that's what Warner Bros. would do with the license, anyway.)

[The Highway]

Considering how many years have passed, it's not surprising that whatever original agreement they entered into has now expired. The question is, was allowing that agreement to lapse necessarily involuntary? Jeff Smith was apparently quite happy with the handling of his source material, and Telltale seems to be working on a new project all the time. It would surprise me to learn that Smith would somehow be restricting Telltale from making more games if they were inclined to do so, and as far as I know he and his wife essentially are Cartoon Books. I'm sure I could be simplifying a thorny legal situation, but I'm speculating that this decision was Telltale's, for better or worse.

I don't know if this was intentional or not, but its interesting.

[Icedhope]

Well that sucks then. Not the film deal, but the thought there's going to be a Bone tie-in platformer is a little depressing. (I'm guessing that's what Warner Bros. would do with the license, anyway.)

With the sucess of Scribblenauts and Arkham Asylum, I don't see where they could go wrong with it.

I've enjoyed there recent titles.

[Marduk]

No surprise, but it's nice to have a definitive statement. It would have been nicer to have a definitive statement from TTG staff made through their web site rather than in some interview.

[Magic Emperor]

Haha! Pardon me; I'm not laughing at the subject. But I have to say, I found the interview article's title quite clever.

[guitarsareboring]

With the sucess of Scribblenauts and Arkham Asylum, I don't see where they could go wrong with it.

I've enjoyed there recent titles.

I'm hoping it's a bizarre mix of the two gameplay styles.

[Tramb]

Well that sucks then. Not the film deal, but the thought there's going to be a Bone tie-in platformer is a little depressing. (I'm guessing that's what Warner Bros. would do with the license, anyway.)

It's not like TTG stuck to their guns with this license, it deserves to go back to the owners...
If I was Jeff Smith, I would be quite disapointed.
Won't you when Monkey Island and S&M will be stopped because there is an Avatar/Call of duty adventure game?

[Irishmile]

I mean no offense to those that really want another bone game but im glad TTG will not be making more I would rather them set their sites on other things.

[Sarendor]

That's a shame, as this is one of the best game series I ever played. I guess this is never going to happen, but I really wish Telltale will get the rights back...

[Nintendo Boy1]

Looks like they...

*Puts on sunglasses*

...Got boned

Oh wow, that sucked!

[StrongBrush1]

Aw, man! This sucks.

[nomecopies]

:( No cool, man.

[taumel]

But they could steal them, right?!

Or they just move to some omnious country where they give a §%& about rights.

How about a TTG moonbase? The people of earth would get a whole new meaning. From there they broadcast into space and in order to work for TTG you of course need a crater card. If you puzzle your way to the moon on your own, you're in as well.

I go to bed now.

[RMJ1984]

Its kinda sad, although i never enjoyed Bone that much, compared to Sam & Max, Tales of Monkey Island, I always think bone kinda deserved another shot, i mean imagine all they learned from Sam & Max, Tomi, applied to Bone. :-/

[nomecopies]

I read the comic books and it REALLY deserves to go on. Maybe not as a Telltale Season but it could be some kind of mini-series. They could make an episode between other Seasons...

[taumel]

Its kinda sad, although i never enjoyed Bone that much, compared to Sam & Max, Tales of Monkey Island, I always think bone kinda deserved another shot, i mean imagine all they learned from Sam & Max, Tomi, applied to Bone. :-/
Bone 2 already was very good. I wouldn't like to see it enhanced with stuff which doesn't add to the gaming experience. Continuing it, the way it was done before, would be just perfect for me.

[splash1]

Well whoever makes Bone 3, I won't be surprised when it won't be as fun, clever and charming as Telltale made it.

[Owen256]

I don't get it... is Jeff Smith not going to let the TT people not make any more "Bone Games"?

[Tor]

I don't get it... is Jeff Smith not going to let the TT people not make any more "Bone Games"?
I'm guessing that the original contract was probably time-limited, maybe five years or something. Now that the contract has expired, Telltale won't be able to make more Bone games without signing a new contract with Smith. As previous posters pointed out; if the Bone movie gets made, the game rights will probably go to the same people.

[Eiden]

Intrestingly a company call UClick who were releasing the bone comic as iphone apps stopped at almost the same place as the Telltale games with no explanation why. I now presume it's the same issue with loss of rights when they were sold to the film company :(

I bought the books when it looked like they were taking a long time to release the next part, though I would love to see them further developed into games by Telltale. They did such a fantastic job on the great cow race, it could only get better!