GoldenEye 25, a fanmade remake of the classic 1997 Nintendo 64 video game GoldenEye 007, has shut down due to a cease and desist letter from James Bond IP holders MGM and Danjaq, according to the developers. As we first noted back when we reported on GoldenEye 25 in 2018, this was always a possibility, and the folks behind it seem to also have been aware that this could happen. But all does not seem lost just yet.
Videos by ComicBook.com
In the video above, the project’s composer Yannick “GoldenZen” Zenhäusern breaks down what happened and what the next steps are for the team — which is basically just using what they can to make something else. After the video was posted, the official social media accounts for the new project, stripped of all James Bond-centric elements, went up as “Spies Don’t Die.” While the spiritual successor will need to scrub all mentions of James Bond or 007 and anything that could get it into trouble again, a bunch of the basic components created from scratch by GoldenEye 25 creator Ben Colcough and company will be reused.
No doubt you’re wondering what’s happened. We’re not allowed to continue using the name GoldenEye or the James Bond characters. We’ll take what we’ve made and create an original game. Unfortunate, but at least we can be on Steam now and console ports are possibilities.
— Spies Don’t Die (@spiesdontdie) August 11, 2020
So many notifications it’s breaking Twitter, so sorry if I miss some questions/comments!
Some things we can still use:
— Spies Don’t Die (@spiesdontdie) August 11, 2020
🔹The watch menu
🔹Weapons and the ammo system
🔹Portions of levels
🔹Game code
🔹A large library of 3D models and textures.
🔹Sound effects pic.twitter.com/g5fd3lEKk0
The original GoldenEye 007 released for Nintendo 64 back in 1997. GoldenEye 25 was intended to release, for free, in 2022 to celebrate the game’s 25th anniversary. It is unclear when, exactly, the new Spies Don’t Die might come out, but scrubbing it of all previously released IP and changing around various elements could mean that the team might be able to release it as a commercial product.
What do you think about the new GoldenEye 25 developments? Are you excited to see what the team does after this? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!
[H/T GamesIndustry.biz]
