A little bit of necro, but this is one of the most inspiring thread on gog, and I always wanted to do something in this matter.

So I sent some e-mails lately, regarding some old games that we're still missing here (and in other places).

Right now I have not much to report.

1) Return of the Phantom. It's the game that was created by Microprose/MPS Labs, just like Rex Nebular and Dragonsphere. So it should be already here, but it's like everyone forgot about it.

I received the answer from Tommo/Retroism that they don't have rights to Return of the Phantom.

It wasn't a part of bankruptcy sale. http://docs.bmcgroup.com/Atari/nysb_1-13-bk-10176_313.pdf

Recently I noticed that on Atari page on wikipedia there's a whole part about the games that Atari still have rights to. "As of 2018, Atari, SA own the rights to the following games and game franchises. The majority of these are original works by Atari, Hasbro Interactive or Infogrames, however the most notable outside of these are a large number of intellectual properties formerly belonging to Ocean Software, which Atari never lost the rights. " Some of those games are now on GOG through Ziggurat Interactive - for example soem games from Legend Entertainment.

It's possible that Atari still have rights to Return of the Phantom, as they were not a part of bankruptcy sale.

But reading through the Purchase Agreement between Atari, Inc. and Rebellion Developments, Stardock & Tommo provides some more info.

First of all, some games were marked as: "The following are Microprose titles which do not appear on the Hasbro acquisition schedule. However, it is possible that these titles did not appear on the schedule because they do not have corresponding copyright registrations, and as a result may have inadvertently been left off the schedule"

It could mean that some Microprose games were not Atari asset before the bankruptcy sale and so Return of the Phantom could be still somewhere else, but that remark was also added to 7th Legion, which is already on GOG.

I haven't read any documents other than Purchase Agreement between Atari, Inc. and Rebellion Developments, Stardock & Tommo so it's rather a guess from my side, but I think there's a chance that Return of the Phantom was omitted by mistake during bankruptcy sale, and the rights are still with Atari. There's no logical reason that this game could have shared a different fate than Rex Nebular or Dragonsphere.

I'm going to write to Atari about that.

And by the way, if wikipedia is right about Atari rights regarding Legend Entertainment games, then Atari still have rights to Gateway and The Wheel of Time. These two games are based on 3rd party IP, Frederik Pohl and Robert Jordan respectively, both deceased, so it's very possible that the release of these games would require the agreement to IP holders (I think that RObert Jordan's IP belongs to his wife, she asked Brandon Sanderson to finish The Wheel of Time series). We had Death Gate from Legend Entertainent on GOG for a moment but it disappeard quickly because of the rights, so it's possible that Atari has rights to those games but cannot sell them anymore (same for Companions of Xanth and Shannara). In the end I think GOG would have to approach IP holders and ask them to make a deal the way they did with Blade Runner - that has to be a three party deal.

Oh, and I know that someone is in talks with GOG to bring their old games here. I won't share who before/if they will show up, but that will be very nice addition to the catalogue.

Now we hope it is brought here as well :)

I think it's pretty sure, Ziggurat release their game here on a regular basis.

ok, so it's time to speculate a little bit more.

2) Les Manley 2 Lost in L.A and Les Manley in Search for the King

Some time ago Piko Interactive put a photo on their twitter:
https://twitter.com/Pikointeractive/status/1192839300150448128

Most of those games appeared on GOG, but not Les Manley games. AFAIR Dethkarz and Hexplore at the beggining were released under Piko, but now they are under Ziggurat and Throwback. It may be the case why Les Manley games are not here. I wrote to Piko about that, but I got no answer from them.

3) Igor: Objective Uikokahonia

This was developed by Pendulo Studios, which have their game availabe on GOG (Runaway series). I sent them an e-mail some time ago, but no answer. The game was published by DROsoft which was later acquired by Electronic Arts, so this might be the case. But GOG should be able to talk to both parties. Or Pendulo should be able to give us the answer.

4) Horde. (I loved this game, and I'd really like to see it here)
Developed by Toys for Bob, released by Crystal Dynamics. Which leads us to Squenix, and that should make it easy for GOG, because another Toys for Bob/Crystal Dynamis game is already here (Pandemonium). Toys for Bob als made Star Control, which, as we all remember, was released by them on GOG, and then they had a fight with Stardock, they made up and now they have an agreement. So it looks like there are people at Toys for Bob to talk about, but for some reason The Horde is still not here. As with other cases, I wrote them an email, and got no answer.

5) Access Software games (I'm interested in Crime Wave, Countdown and Amazon Guardians of Eden)
Access Software developed Tex Murphy series, which is released by Word Play LLC on GOG, so I wrote to Word Play about those games, I did that today morning so no answer yet. It's not that easy though, because Access Software was, according to wiki, "acquired by Microsoft in April 1999, transitioning in name twice before being acquired by Take-Two Interactive". There's a hope that their fate is similar to Tex Murphy series, but if not, rights might be with Microsoft ot Take Two Interactive. I hope we will get the answer.

That's all for tonight folks.

ps.
6) Conspiracy - KGB
Not really a search, but since I want this game on GOG (to buy it), I want to make a nte for myself - this one is owned by Microids, who bought Cryo assets - this game is available to buy on another store.

blows off dust
Okay time to re-open this old thread!

I have something that actually might be worthwhile if there's an interest from the involved parties.

Let me present to you... Discworld Noir. Not no the original Discworld or its sequel Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!?, but the third game. The final game that Perfect Entertainment developed before closing its doors not long after its release. This made it hard for them to fix any bugs and compatability issues the game had on Windows XP.

So Perfect Entertainment (and the two studios that merged to create it) developed the Discworld games in the mid 90s, backed by Sony (in form of the studio Psygnosis). However there was some legal issues with Sony, and Perfect Entertainment eventually decided to go with GT Interactive as the publisher for its third Discworld game (due to their big US presence). Issue is that GT Interactive soon folded as well, after the release.

GT Interactive and its assets (including Discworld Noir) was bought by Infograme, today known as Atari SA, and became the American branch Atari Inc. And what did Atari do recently? They bought Nightdive Studios, a studio known to remaster and preserve old classics... you'd figure that this game would be available to get their hands on?

All they need is an OK from the estate of the late Terry Terry Pratchett, which is held by his daughter, and they should be good to go. Right?

I don't necessarily want to ask for this thread to be locked, but I'd suggest creating a "V2" (or something) instead of bumping this thread, for concern about stuff getting "buried"/"lost" amongst the pages. Maybe even a thread focused on Discworld Noir.

I actually tweeted Rhianna at some point (it may have been after Terry's passing but I believe it was tastefully after), and iirc she responded that she was trying but there were complications. This was probably 8+ years ago though, so if somebody else wants to politely try, that might be worthwhile. My basic guess is it's just quite a bit more complex than meets the eye.