I always thought Atari because http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_Software was bought by them, but then again apparently they only published it in the EU.

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help bring bethesda and id to gog

Amazing Studios developed the game and was founded by Éric Chahi. I assumed that if Éric Chahi owned the rights himself that it would be getting or have gotten a re-release by now. I think the game might be in legal limbo preventing it from becoming available. If that is the case then it all points to one or both of the publishers (Interplay and Ocean) being the issue.

Did you contact Éric Chahi via the contact given on his website?

I did, but at the time the message came back saying that the email address was invalid. I just checked again and it seems that the email address is working now so I just sent a new email. :)
Edit: Nope, it came back again:
"I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses.
This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.

<anotherworld.fr-aw.contact@anotherworld.fr>:
user is over quota"

GAH! People and their emails!
So aw.contact@anotherworld.fr causes that error?
http://www.anotherworld.fr/contact.htm

OK, thanks for that information! I'll see if I can dig up something.

Okay, good luck!

Probably means that the users mailbox has a storage size limit and he's exceeded him

I tried to email Eric through the anotherworld.fr email a couple of days ago and got the same response. It just bounced back to me in error... so this is looking to be a dead end currently.

Would like to see Heart of Darkness gain more recognition, but that would be impossible without a re-release. Given the added popularity from both Another World Anniversary Editions; I think that Heart of Darkness would do just as well if not better if given the chance. Sadly I think that the original release of Heart of Darkness was overshadowed by Oddworld (which is a great game too) and was mostly passed up by the community.

Haven't had any luck finding additional contact info for Eric Chahi. So like I stated before, this is looking to be a dead end currently. If we could findout who actually owns the publishing right it would at the very least be a sign of progress being made.

Have you tried his address @free.fr, from the reply you just quoted? It seems to be valid, but I didn't receive a reply (I wrote to him there in February).
I just found this information about the company:
http://www.societe.com/societe/amazing-studio-397983156.html
It seems it was active until 2010, my guess is this Mr. Jacques Geandaud bought the company after it went bankrupt. It's the same address and date of incorporation as the Amazing Studio that made Heart of Darkness, so I think this is the same company. It's definitely an interesting lead to pursue.

I haven't tried the alt address, but I guess it is worth a shot. I get the feeling that Eric Chahi doesn't check any of the emails attributed to the Another World website. However, I will give it a try later tonight.

If Amazing Studios was sold, then Eric most likely no longer holds the publishing rights. Hopefully someone can get into contact with Mr. Jacques Geandaud and check with him concerning the rights to Heart of Darkness. Unfortunately, that might be the only option available at this current time.

Still kinda weary that it might be a game in legal limbo due to the publishers involved. Can anyone site a case where either Ocean or Interplay published a game that would of been a limited publishing contract where they did not hold onto the rights afterwards? Another World is the only game that I can think of, but that was a special case due to Delphine being involved. Rage of Mages is another... Interplay published in North America and by different companies elsewhere, which is certainly in legal limbo due to licensing issues.

Based on my experience with hosting services it means his e-mail box is full :)

Jacques Geandaud was the Amazing Studio Manager during the production of Heart of Darkness. I have yet to find any contact info for him or any of the game production staff.

Other games that Ocean Software published but are now creator-owned include Worms United and World Rally Fever, so it's definitely not unprecedented.
Looking further, Mr. Geandaud now runs a consultancy firm JG Conseils:
http://www.societe.com/societe/jg-conseils-510062888.html
Strangely, I'm still having a hard time finding any kind of contact information. But as ex-manager of Amazing Studio, he ought to know what happened to the rights to Heart of Darkness. Just finding some contact information will be the first step.
Edit: More info:
"Jugement prononçant la liquidation judiciaire, date de cessation des paiements le 27 janvier 2009 désignant liquidateur Selarl Mb en la personne de me Corre bernard 58 boulevard de Sebastopol 75003 Paris. Les déclarations de créances sont à déposer au liquidateur dans les deux mois de la présente publication."
Essentially, the liquidation of Amazing Studio was handled by Mr. Bernard Corre. A search for his name and company gives this email address: bcorre (at) emj-mandataires.com