Rights
- 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 Oni § Buyout. 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 manuals see Category:Manuals. For the game 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/Localizers | |||
| 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 version (distribution)[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 | |
| GreenLeaf | Brazilian Portuguese Windows release (localized manual only) | Unknown | |
| 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 |
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ It doesn't look like JoAG had a storefront where they sold Oni; instead it seems that they were performing support on the distribution side in the U.S. and overseas. Although we haven't seen their logo on any product outside the U.S., Australian reviewers regarded JoAG as the distributor of the Windows version.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ TalonSoft had been owned by Take-Two since December 1998, but closed in 2002.
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ Now known as Rockstar Toronto.
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