Star Control: Origins is back on Steam after a brief takedown period due to a DMCA takedown from the series' creators. This news comes from a post made on the Origins discussion board.
We’re unsure as to why, but this tweet from Stardock President Brad Wardell claims the reasons are private:
https://twitter.com/draginol/status/1086006088745529344
According to the post, Star Control: Origins had fallen victim to some review bombing during the takedown. Stardock had taken to selling the game via their own website while it was unavailable on Steam.
At the turn of the new year, Origins was pulled from GOG and Steam due to the DMCA mentioned above. Former Star Control creators Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III filed the claim. The two had created the franchise while partnered with Accolade Inc.
Stardock, the developers of Origins, purchased the Star Control IP back in 2013 at an Atari bankruptcy auction. The company revealed Origins in 2016, while Ford and Reiche were working on a direct sequel to Star Control 2 called Ghosts of the Precursors. The two believed they still owned parts of the Star Control IP.
Stardock had filed a suit against Ford and Reiche in February of last year, believing they had full control over the IP. However, according to GameRevolution, the company did not purchase rights for the original two Star Control games. Supposedly, Atari’s rights to publish the two games had expired by the time they were transferred to Stardock.
Despite the lawsuit, Stardock released Origins in 2018. According to the case document, Stardock anticipated that the two would send a DMCA notice and went to file a preliminary injunction to prevent this. The attempt was denied, however.
Wardell has no faith in Ford and Reiche's takedown, going so far as to call the DMCA "harassment:"
https://twitter.com/draginol/status/1080491499010342912
In another tweet, Wardell thanked the Free Star Control movement for their support:
https://twitter.com/draginol/status/1086002238961733632
What do you think of all of this? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
