Rights: Difference between revisions

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(forgot that Rockstar still has a page up for Oni; also meant to add the archived Flash site)
(updating Buka's row now that they seem to have taken the game down; improved some wording above the table)
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{{Hatnote|For a list of people who worked on Oni, see [[Credits]].}}
{{Hatnote|For a list of people who worked on Oni, see [[Credits]].}}
Many people erroneously believe that Bungie still owns the [[wp:Intellectual property#Rights|IP rights]] to [[Oni]], or that it's a Rockstar-developed game because they saw the logo on the PS2 version, or that Microsoft owns the title since they bought Bungie before Oni's release. (For the story of how Take-Two came to own Oni, see the Oni article's [[Oni#Buyout|Buyout]] section.) The reality is that the rights to Oni aren't that complicated at the IP level, but many other companies had a hand in the sales, distribution and localization of the game around the world. There was even continued development of the Mac version post-release.
Many people erroneously believe that Bungie still owns the [[wp:Intellectual property#Rights|IP rights]] to [[Oni]], or that it's a Rockstar-developed game because they saw their logo on the PS2 version, or that Microsoft owns the title since they bought Bungie before Oni's release.
 
The reality is that Take-Two Interactive came to own Oni through a series of events explained in the Oni article's [[Oni#Buyout|Buyout]] section. The rights to Oni aren't complicated at the IP level, but many other companies had a hand in the sales, distribution and localization of the game around the world. There was even continued development of the Mac version post-release.


Below is an attempt to list all the companies involved with Oni. This information comes from the [[:Category:Manuals|manuals]], the box art, lots of research, and community knowledge. Some companies' rights have lapsed since Oni's release in 2001, so in one column we list the rights that were held at first, and then we give the current status of those rights (to the best of our knowledge).
Below is an attempt to list all the companies involved with Oni. This information comes from the [[:Category:Manuals|manuals]], the box art, lots of research, and community knowledge. Some companies' rights have lapsed since Oni's release in 2001, so in one column we list the rights that were held at first, and then we give the current status of those rights (to the best of our knowledge).


For pictures of the boxes and discs, see [[:Category:Packaging images]]. Note that the logos on the boxes are not always thorough or even accurate with regards to rights; the [[Logos]] page documents the choices that were made, illogical though they may be.
For pictures of the boxes and discs, see [[:Category:Packaging images]]. Note that the logos on the boxes can be very misleading with regards to which companies were involved with a release; the [[Logos]] page documents the choices that were made, illogical though they may be.


Since distributors are no longer selling Oni on their online stores, fans who wish to own the game should look for secondhand copies on sites where people re-sell items, such as Amazon and eBay.
Since distributors are no longer selling Oni on their online stores, fans who wish to own the game should look for secondhand copies on sites where people re-sell items, such as Amazon and eBay.
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|Gathering of Developers
|Gathering of Developers
|English Windows U.S. release
|English Windows U.S. release
|None<ref>Gathering had been owned by Take-Two since May 2000, and was [[wp:Gathering of Developers|merged into Global Star Software]], (another subsidiary of Take-Two) in 2004. Global Star was then [[wp:List of Global Star Software games|merged into 2K Games]] in 2007.</ref>
|None<ref>Gathering had been owned by Take-Two since May 2000, and was [[wp:Gathering of Developers|merged into Global Star Software]] (another subsidiary of Take-Two) in 2004. Global Star was then [[wp:List of Global Star Software games|merged into 2K Games]] in 2007.</ref>
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|[https://www.buka.ru Buka Entertainment]
|[https://www.buka.ru Buka Entertainment]
|Russian localization
|Russian localization
|Listed on site but no longer sold
|Current? (no longer sold on website)
|[http://www.buka.ru/cgi-bin/show.pl?id=92]
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20220314085345/http://www.buka.ru/cgi-bin/show.pl?id=92]
|-
|-
|King's International Multimedia
|King's International Multimedia

Revision as of 17:34, 16 October 2022

For a list of people who worked on Oni, see Credits.

Many people erroneously believe that Bungie still owns the IP rights to Oni, or that it's a Rockstar-developed game because they saw their logo on the PS2 version, or that Microsoft owns the title since they bought Bungie before Oni's release.

The reality is that Take-Two Interactive came to own Oni through a series of events explained in the Oni article's Buyout section. The rights to Oni aren't complicated at the IP level, but many other companies had a hand in the sales, distribution and localization of the game around the world. There was even continued development of the Mac version post-release.

Below is an attempt to list all the companies involved with Oni. This information comes from the manuals, the box art, lots of research, and community knowledge. Some companies' rights have lapsed since Oni's release in 2001, so in one column we list the rights that were held at first, and then we give the current status of those rights (to the best of our knowledge).

For pictures of the boxes and discs, see Category:Packaging images. Note that the logos on the boxes can be very misleading with regards to which companies were involved with a release; the Logos page documents the choices that were made, illogical though they may be.

Since distributors are no longer selling Oni on their online stores, fans who wish to own the game should look for secondhand copies on sites where people re-sell items, such as Amazon and eBay.

Company Rights (past) Rights (now) Game page
Owners
Bungie, Inc. IP rights (until around June 16, 2000) None [1]
Take-Two Interactive IP rights (starting around June 16, 2000) IP rights
Publishers/Distributors
Gathering of Developers English Windows U.S. release None[1]
Rockstar Games English PlayStation 2 U.S. release[2] Current (but no longer sold on website) [2][3][4]
MacSoft English Mac version (North America) None (company has closed)[3]
Jack of All Games English Mac version (North America)[4] None (company has closed)[5]
Feral Interactive EFIGS Mac releases (Europe) Current? (no longer sold on website) [5][6]
Application Systems Heidelberg German Mac release Current? (no longer sold on website) [7]
TalonSoft Distribution, tech support None (company has closed)[6]
Century Thor Chinese localization Unknown
MediaQuest Japanese localization, Mac/Windows Unknown[7]
Buka Entertainment Russian localization Current? (no longer sold on website) [8]
King's International Multimedia Taiwanese Windows release 1 (English Euro version) Unknown
Infogrames Taiwan Taiwanese Windows release 2 (Chinese localization) Company was sold to Bandai Namco
Kon Tiki Multimedia Slovak Windows release (localized manual only) Unknown
Proein Spanish Windows, PS2 release Defunct [9][10]
Developers
Bungie, Inc. Windows and Mac OS versions None
Rockstar Canada[8] PlayStation 2 port Rockstar is owned by Take-Two
The Omni Group Maintaining PPC Mac OS X build (2001-2003) Unknown [11]
Feral Interactive Maintaining Intel Mac OS X build (2009-2015) Unknown see above
Localizers
Century Thor Chinese translation N/A N/A
Tarantula Studios UK French, Italian, German, Spanish translations N/A N/A
Elegant Chaos Technical assistance to Tarantula Studios N/A N/A
MediaQuest Japanese localization N/A N/A
Buka Entertainment Russian translation N/A N/A
Kon Tiki Multimedia Slovak localization (manual only) N/A N/A
  1. Gathering had been owned by Take-Two since May 2000, and was merged into Global Star Software (another subsidiary of Take-Two) in 2004. Global Star was then merged into 2K Games in 2007.
  2. Rockstar has been owned by Take-Two since 1998 when T2 bought Rockstar's parent company BMG Interactive. Even though Rockstar is only listed as the PS2 publisher in many places, and Gathering was supposed to be the Windows publisher, most PC boxes only have the Rockstar logo on it and not Gathering's (with the exception of the US box).
  3. MacSoft was owned by Destineer, which seems to have closed in 2011. This is how their site looked before it was closed and replaced by the "in memoriam" page linked behind "MacSoft" above.
  4. MacSoft actually sold the game on their store. It seems that JoAG was performing some kind of support on the distribution side (see logo on jewel case here), but didn't sell the game themselves. Jack of All Games also had overseas operations by the time Oni came out, so T2 may in fact have used them for distribution support in Europe too and their logo just didn't happen to make it onto the product.
  5. Jack of All Games had been owned by Take-Two since 1998, then was sold to IT company Synnex in 2010 and folded into their distribution operations.
  6. TalonSoft had been owned by Take-Two since December 1998, but closed in 2002.
  7. The brand name MediaQuest was retired in 2005 in favor of the label Kids Station, but ownership of MediaQuest properties presumably stayed under the same parent company Mitsui & Co. (though if MQ's properties were assigned to Kids Station, then it's worth noting that Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan has co-ownership of Kids Station now).
  8. Now known as Rockstar Toronto.