Free Stars: Children of Infinity

Last updated
Free Stars: Children of Infinity
Developer(s) Fred Ford
Paul Reiche III
Dan Gerstein
Ken Ford
Publisher(s) Pistol Shrimp Games
Series Star Control / Free Stars
Engine Godot Engine, Simple
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, Linux, MAC OS, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation
ReleasePlanning August 2025
Genre(s) Adventure, shoot 'em up, action
Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer

Free Stars: Children of Infinity is an open world space game, and the upcoming sequel to The Ur-Quan Masters (also known as Star Control II or Free Stars: The Ur-Quan Masters ). [1] The game began development in 2021 under Pistol Shrimp, [2] a new studio co-founded by Star Control creators Fred Ford, Paul Reiche, Ken Ford and Dan Gerstein. [3] As the copyright holders in the original story, Reiche and Ford intend to continue the saga from the previous games' events. [1] It is planned for release in 2025. [2]

Contents

Development

Intellectual property rights

Free Stars: Children of Infinity is a sequel to The Ur-Quan Masters (aka Free Stars: The Ur-Quan Masters), the open source remake of Star Control II. [4] Created by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford at their studio Toys for Bob, the first Star Control was released in 1990, and its sequel followed in 1992. [5] Both games received numerous awards, [6] where Star Control was hailed as one of the best games of all time, [7] while Star Control II earned even more "best game" rankings through the 1990s, [8] 2000s, [9] and 2010s. [10]

In the early 2000s, the copyright to the first two Star Control games reverted to Reiche and Ford, [11] [12] but not the Trademark to the name Star Control. [4] [13] This led Reiche and Ford to remake Star Control II as The Ur-Quan Masters , [14] which they released in 2002 as a free download under an open source copyright license. [15] Meanwhile, the trademark in the Star Control name passed between a series of companies, after original publisher Accolade was in acquired by Infogrames Entertainment, [14] [16] which was re-structured and re-branded as Atari, [17] [18] who later sold the trademark to Stardock in a 2013 bankruptcy sale. [19] The respective parties agreed that Reiche and Ford owned the copyright in the games Star Control and Star Control II, while Stardock held the rights to the Star Control name through trademark. [20] [21] [17] After a lawsuit, the parties agreed on the same separation of rights, with Stardock using the Star Control name, while Reiche and Ford maintain the rights to continue the story under an alternate title. [13] [22] As part of the lawsuit settlement, Reiche and Ford agreed to a mandated quiet period. [22]

New studio and game

In 2021, Fred Ford, Paul Reiche III, Ken Ford and Dan Gerstein co-founded a new game studio called Pistol Shrimp Games, [2] allowing them to begin development on a sequel to The Ur-Quan Masters. [3] [23] and continue the story from Star Control II. [13] [24] In April 2024, they announced that this sequel would be called Free Stars: Children of Infinity, [23] shortly after re-releasing The Ur-Quan Masters under the name Free Stars: The Ur-Quan Masters on February 19, 2024. [25] The debut trailer for Children of Infinity launched on April 4, 2024 on GameSpot, [23] leading to a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter on April 16, 2024, which has ended on May 18, 2024, collecting more than 650 000$. [1] [26] The game reached its crowdfunding target in less than four hours. [27] Since the game continues the story from Star Control II as envisioned by the original creators, some journalists have called the game "the real Star Control 3”. [13]

During the course of development, Fred Ford created a game development tool called Simple, which was integrated into the open source game engine Godot. [28] In summer 2023, Paul Reiche and Ken Ford departed the project and ceased their involvement. [29] The release of the game is planned for August 2025. [2] [30]

Related Research Articles

<i>Star Control</i> 1990 video game

Star Control: Famous Battles of the Ur-Quan Conflict, Volume IV is an action-strategy video game developed by Toys for Bob and published by Accolade. It was originally released for MS-DOS and Amiga in 1990, followed by ports for the Sega Genesis and additional platforms in 1991. The story is set during an interstellar war between two space alien factions, with humanity joining the Alliance of Free Stars to defeat the invading Ur-Quan Hierarchy. Players can choose to play as either faction, each with seven different alien starships which are used during the game's combat and strategy sections.

<i>Star Control II</i> 1992 video game

Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters is a 1992 video game, the sequel to Star Control. It was developed by Toys for Bob and originally published by Accolade in 1992 for MS-DOS. The game includes exoplanet-abundant star systems, hyperspace travel, extraterrestrial life, and interstellar diplomacy. There are 25 alien races with which communication is possible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MicroProse</span> American video game company

MicroProse is an American video game publisher and developer founded by Bill Stealey, Sid Meier, and Andy Hollis in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the Civilization and X-COM series. Most of their internally developed titles were vehicle simulation and strategy games.

The Ur-Quan Masters is a 2002 open-source fangame modification, based on the action-adventure science fiction game Star Control II. The original game was released for PCs in 1992 and ported to the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer in 1994. It has been frequently mentioned among the best games of all time, with additional praise for its writing, world design, character design, and music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Accolade (company)</span> American video game company

Accolade, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher based in San Jose, California. The company was founded as Accolade in 1984 by Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead, who had previously co-founded Activision in 1979. The company became known for numerous sports game series, including HardBall!, Jack Nicklaus and Test Drive.

Robert Frederick Ford is an American video game programmer. He is the son of mathematician L. R. Ford Jr. A co-founder of the video game studio Toys for Bob, he led the company from its inception until late 2020 with his co-founder Paul Reiche III. Ford is the co-creator, with Reiche III, of the Star Control universe. Ford did the programming, while Reiche was responsible for the game design and fiction. Ford was also the lead programmer on The Horde and Pandemonium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Reiche III</span> American game designer (born 1961)

Paul Reiche III is an American game designer. His career started in the pen and paper RPG industry, where he collaborated with artist Erol Otus on games such as Dungeons & Dragons and Gamma World. He then transitioned into video games, working with Jon Freeman to establish Free Fall Associates and developed titles like Mail Order Monsters, World Tour Golf, and Archon. Later, he left Free Fall to establish Toys for Bob with Fred Ford. Their first collaboration resulted in Star Control. After a successful sequel, they declined to make a third installment, instead focusing on other projects including the successful Skylanders franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stardock</span> Software and video game developer

Stardock Corporation is an American software development company founded in 1991 and incorporated in 1993 as Stardock Systems. Stardock initially developed for the OS/2 platform, but was forced to switch to Microsoft Windows due to the collapse of the OS/2 software market between 1997 and 1998. The company is best known for computer programs that allow a user to modify or extend a graphical user interface as well as personal computer games, particularly strategy games such as the Galactic Civilizations series, Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, Elemental: Fallen Enchantress, and Ashes of the Singularity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simtex</span>

Simtex was a video game developer established by Steve Barcia in 1988. It created a number of turn-based strategy games for the PC, most notably the first two Master of Orion games. The company closed in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ur-Quan</span> Antagonists in the Star Control series

The Ur-Quan are a fictional race of predatory alien caterpillars in the Star Control series of video games, created by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford. Introduced in 1990, the Ur-Quan are the primary antagonist of the first game, leading a galactic empire that seeks to enslave Earth. They reprise their role in Star Control II, which expands on their history as former slaves who since vowed to fiercely defend themselves. During the game, the Ur-Quan enter into a civil war over their ideology, giving Earth an opportunity to defeat them. In Star Control 3, which was developed by a different team, the Ur-Quan ally with Earth against a different antagonist and their role is scaled back. They appear once again in The Ur-Quan Masters, the 2002 open source remake of Star Control II.

<i>I-War</i> (1997 video game) 1997 video game

I-War is a space combat simulator developed by Particle Systems and published by Infogrames. The game was first published in November 1997 in Europe, and in late August of 1998 in North America.

Toys for Bob, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Novato, California. It was founded in 1989 by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford and is best known for creating Star Control and the Skylanders franchise, as well as for working on the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro franchises.

<i>Redline</i> (1999 video game) 1999 video game

Redline is a 1999 post-apocalyptic combination first-person shooter/car combat game for Windows. It was developed by Beyond Games and published by Accolade. In Europe, the game is known as Redline - Gang Warfare: 2066. It is a spiritual successor to the Atari Lynx video game BattleWheels. The game was noted for allowing players to enter or exit vehicles during combat at anytime, thus combining the genres of car combat and first-person shooting. This was the last game Accolade published before being acquired by Infogrames.

<i>Star Control 3</i> 1996 video game

Star Control 3 is a 1996 action-adventure game developed by Legend Entertainment and published by Accolade. The third installment in the Star Control trilogy, the game was released for MS-DOS in 1996 and Mac OS in 1998. The story takes place after Star Control II, beginning with a disaster that disrupts superluminal travel through hyperspace. This leads the player to investigate a new quadrant of space, joined by allied aliens from the previous games.

Atari, Inc. is an American subsidiary and publishing arm of Atari SA. Formed in 1993 as GT Interactive Software Corp., the video game publishing arm of GoodTimes Home Video, the company was subsequently majority acquired by Infogrames in 1999, and later renamed to Infogrames, Inc. As part of Infogrames's company-wide re-branding following its 2001 acquisition of Hasbro Interactive, which owned the rights to the Atari brand, Infogrames, Inc. became known as Atari, Inc. in May 2003. On October 11, 2008, Infogrames completed its acquisition of Atari, Inc., making it a wholly owned subsidiary.

Atari SA is a French video game holding company headquartered in Paris. Its subsidiaries include Atari Interactive and Atari, Inc. It is the current owner of the Atari brand through Atari Interactive. It also owns the Accolade, GT Interactive, Infogrames, M Network, and Intellivision brands.

<i>Star Control: Origins</i> 2018 video game

Star Control: Origins is an action-adventure game developed and published by Stardock Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, released September 20, 2018.

<i>Stardock Systems, Inc. v. Reiche</i> 2018 legal case

Stardock Systems, Inc. v. Paul Reiche III and Robert Frederick Ford, 2018 WL 7348858, is a case where the United States District Court for the Northern District of California applied American intellectual property law to the contents and sale of computer games. Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford are the makers of the critically acclaimed 1990 Star Control game series, and Stardock is the maker of the 2018 release Star Control: Origins. The lawsuit stems from a dispute over the ownership, licensing, and infringement of the Star Control intellectual property, including both trademarks and copyrights.

Pistol Shrimp Games is a video game studio created by Fred Ford, Ken Ford, Paul Reiche and Dan Gerstein after leaving Toys for Bob in 2021. The company was started on April 5, 2022.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Bailey, Dustin (April 16, 2024). "After 32 years, the 1992 open-world space game that helped inspire Mass Effect is getting a proper sequel". MSN.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Chalk, Andy (April 20, 2024). "The long-awaited sequel to The Ur-Quan Masters hits its crowdfunding target in less than four hours, and they're not kidding about that $4.4 million stretch goal". PC Gamer.
  3. 1 2 Oxford, Nadia (October 24, 2022). Parish, Jeremy (ed.). "Retronauts Episode 489: Inside Star Control with Pistol Shrimp". Retronauts.
  4. 1 2 Cunningham, James (2024-02-19). "Star Control II Lands on Steam (Again) as Free Stars: The Ur-Quan Masters". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  5. ↑ Hutchinson, Lee (February 22, 2018). "Star Control countersuit aims to invalidate Stardock's trademarks". Ars Technica . Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  6. ↑ Staff (2005). "Control & Conquer" (PDF). Retro Gamer. pp. 85–87. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-07-06.
  7. ↑ Polygon Staff (2017-11-29). "500 Best Games of All Time". Polygon.
  8. ↑
  9. ↑
  10. ↑
  11. ↑ Ahmad, Syed; Perez, Adriana A. (September 26, 2019). "When communications with public relations firms are privileged" (PDF). Westlaw / Thomson Reuters . Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  12. ↑ Pelit (March 21, 2006). "Star Control - Kontrollin aikakirjat". Pelit . Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Dustin Bailey (April 16, 2024). "After 32 years, the 1992 open-world space game that helped inspire Mass Effect is getting a proper sequel". GamesRadar.
  14. 1 2 Trey Walker (2002-06-26). "Star Control II remake in the works". GameSpot.
  15. ↑ Wen, Howard (11 August 2005). "The Ur-Quan Masters". linuxdevcenter.com. O'Reilly Media. Archived from the original on 2016-03-16. When the original developers of Star Control 2 contacted the online Star Control fan community, they presented an enticing question: if they released the source to the 3DO version of Star Control 2 under GPL, would anybody be interested in porting it to modern-day computers? Michael Martin, a 26-year-old Ph.D. student at Stanford University, answered the call. After removing proprietary 3DO-specific components from the code, the developers released the source for Star Control 2 to the public.
  16. ↑ "Company News; Accolade is Bought by Infogrames Entertainment". The New York Times. April 20, 1999. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  17. 1 2 Hutchinson, Lee (July 24, 2013). "Stardock acquires Star Control rights in fire sale, plans reboot". Ars Technica . Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  18. ↑ Haywald, Justin (May 29, 2009). "Atari Sheds Infogrames Branding: News from 1UP.com". 1up. Archived from the original on June 8, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  19. ↑ Hilliard, Kyle. "Wargaming And Stardock Entertainment Obtain Atari Franchises At Bankruptcy Auction". Game Informer. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  20. ↑ "Open source Star Control 2 team express doubts over Atari IP sale". PC Invasion. 2013-07-23. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  21. ↑ "There's a new Star Control coming!". Critical Hit. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  22. 1 2 Hutchinson, Lee (2019-06-11). "Stardock and Star Control creators settle lawsuits—with mead and honey". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  23. 1 2 3 Makuch, Eddie (April 4, 2024). "Free Stars: Children Of Infinity Trailer Debuts, Kickstarter Coming Soon". GameSpot.
  24. ↑ "Stardock and Star Control creators settle lawsuits—with mead and honey [Updated]". June 12, 2019.
  25. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (February 12, 2024). "PC sci-fi classic Star Control returns as Free Stars: The Ur-Quan Masters". Polygon.
  26. ↑ Acevedo, Paul (May 15, 2024). "There's Still Time to Support the Free Stars: Children of Infinity Kickstarter".
  27. ↑ Andy ChalkContributions from Wes Fenlon (2024-04-19). "The long-awaited sequel to The Ur-Quan Masters hits its crowdfunding target in less than four hours, and they're not kidding about that $4.4 million stretch goal". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  28. ↑ Gerstein, Dan. "No Longer Waiting for Godot". Pistol Shrimp Games. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  29. ↑ Gerstein, Dan. "Bidding Adieu to Paul and Ken". Pistol Shrimp Games. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  30. ↑ Peter, Bathge (April 18, 2024). "Entwickler eines SciFi-Spiels werden mit Geld beworfen, weil der Gratis-Vorgänger so gut war". GameStar.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.