Fan remakes are a wonderful thing, usually. It's a way for fans of a gaming franchise to pay homage to a franchise they love or, in some cases, fan remakes take a very old game and try to remake them using modern tools and technology. The kind of remake we're discussing today falls into the second category and it, like so many others that came before, has also been given a cease and desist by the rightsholder.
The remake in question is a fan remake of the legendary 1986 platformer Castlevania, a franchise that is lauded by many to be amongst the best platformers of gaming's formative years. Here's some footage from the Catlevania remake by creator Dejawolf made in the popular Unreal engine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRu1LiFP6jw
Alas, it seems that Konami would rather not have Dejawolf continue the remake and has sent him a formal Cease and Desist letter asking Dejawolf to immediately stop developing the remake. In an update on the project's official website, Dejawolf informs his followers about the Cease and Desist, which doesn't seem to come as a surprise to the creator. What is a surprise, however, is that Konami has allowed Dejawolf to continue hosting all the currently released content on his website. It also seems that Dejawolf is trying to work with Konami to see if he can officially license the IP.
finally got a C&D from Konami. they've allowed me to keep the files up for now, but all development and updates must be ceased. there's a small glimmer of hope though, Jay from Konami UK will do what he can to see if it's possible to get an official license.While him obtaining the license seems unlikely, the fact that someone at Konami seems eager to work with him is a nice surprise that could potentially lead to the completion of the project. It's happened before with the makers of the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 remake which saw its creators go on to be hired by SEGA to work on the upcoming Sonic Mania.
Fan remakes have been a hot button topic for many years, with most publishers and developers attempting to stop fan-made remakes from releasing. Nintendo's policies on fan remakes have been extremely strict, and EA have also stepped in to shut some fan-made projects down in the past. Usually, this happens because the rightsholder is working on a similar product or because fans are using assets from games they don't own the license to.
Update: We have tweaked the title from it's original "Castlevania Fan Remake Taken Down by Konami" to the current "Castlevania Fan Remake Hit With Cease and Desist by Konami" to ensure greater clarity that it hasn't been removed. We apologize for any misconceptions, although development on the project has been halted by Konami.
What do you think of Konami shutting down the Castlevania remake? Let us know in the comment section down below!
