Despite GOG’s best efforts this classic Dune RTS is trapped in 5-way licensing hell
By (Image credit: MobyGames)
Westwood Studios’ 1992 masterpiece Dune 2: The Construction of a Dynasty – alternatively referred to as Battle for Arrakis based on the edition – is one of the most significant games ever created. It established the groundwork for the entire real-time strategy category, influencing everything from Blizzard’s Warcraft to Westwood’s own Command & Conquer.
So why hasn’t it received a contemporary re-release? As it appears, crafting a game derived from a film based on a novel that has since been transformed into a different film with a different associated game creates a bit of an intellectual property nightmare. Marcin Paczynski, senior business development and partnerships manager at GOG, has been attempting to unravel this chaos for quite a while.
“This is one of the holy grails,” Paczynski shares with GamesRadar+. “It’s at the top of my list, my personal one, because this is a game I hold a great deal of nostalgia for. The scenario serves as a great illustration of how complicated things can become with the licensing issues surrounding a game.”
Dune 2 was created by Westwood Studios, which was ultimately acquired by EA. “So presently, Electronic Arts possesses the game code, the assets, all the rights to those elements, and all the materials linked to the game,” Paczynski clarifies. “However, they do not actually own the intellectual property. The issue with the IP is that it isn’t solely possessed by the Herbert Foundation, as the games were not based on the literature; they were ultimately derived from the 1984 film. That film was produced by Universal Pictures, and the principal producer for that film was [Dino De Laurentiis]. The complication arises because he also retains part of that film license. Yet he passed away 15 years ago.”
Thus, “whoever is the heir” to De Laurentiis’ rights “holds a fraction of them,” Paczynski states. “You have Universal Pictures, Electronic Arts, and the successor for the original rights holder of the movie IP. Additionally, you have the Herbert Foundation that maintains the rights to the entire IP,
