Earlier this week we reported that a group of modders were using StarCraft II's extensive editing tools to create an impressive World of StarCraft MMO mod. Since then, Activision has pulled out the copyright guns, Blizzard has issued a statement, and job offers have been made. Read on for the details.
Within 24 hours of modder Ryan Winzen's 'pre-alpha' World of StarCraft video hitting YouTube, the video was pulled due to a claim of copyright infringement by Activision. Blizzard have finally released a statement explaining their motivation, revealing that it's the actual name that's causing difficulties, not the content: "With the name so closely resembling that of World of Warcraft, we wanted to discuss the title of the mod with the developer, and as part of our routine procedure, we contacted YouTube to request the video be removed while that discussion took place" said Blizzard. "It was never our intention to stop development on the mod or discourage the community from expressing their creativity through the StarCraft II editor." In fact, it actually appears that Activision/Blizzard have a copyright on the name World of StarCraft.
Meanwhile, at the mod's forum , Wizen posted "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." He also explained that he's looking to change the name of the mod to either StarCraft Universe or StarCraft Chronicles.
And if the news that the mod still lives wasn't good enough, Wizen has also been contacted by Riot Games - the studio behind League of Legends - with a job offer. Tom Cadwell, Design Director at Riot posted on the League of Legends forum : "When I see a modder with a lot of drive that has done something cool, I tend to contact them. I shot him an email recently asking if he was interested in exploring an opportunity here. As to what comes of that, who knows -- that depends on the mutual fit and his own goals."
[via The Escapist ]
