Sadness Image1

Yesterday we posted the news and a short interview regarding a revival of the lost Wii game, Sadness, with independent Wii U developers teaming up to work on the project. It was news that excited plenty of download gamers, and there was certainly confidence of the project being on solid footing in our interview. In subsequent comments to Eurogamer, however, posted as an update in our original article, it was clarified that the developers do not, actually, currently hold the Sadness IP rights.

Now, following reaction to the announcement, Randy Freer of HullBreach Studios has provided an updated statement, with bad news for those hoping to see the Sadness brand, in particular.

The Sadness IP is in the hands of a consortium with 4 studios currently fighting for the bid, and that while we at HullBreach and Cthulhi would like to make a competing bid and secure rights to Sadness, unfortunately we cannot at this time. Sorry to fans for any inconvenience.

A quick descent from optimism to a retraction, then, and we can only hope that Cthulhi Games' Jeremy Kleve's comments to Eurogamer that not having the formal rights "will not slow us down" are indeed accurate, based on the principle that "most of their ideas were just ideas". A game inspired by Sadness but with a fresh title and storyline shouldn't, in theory, encounter any legal issues.

As for Sadness, it seems there is hope for a future for the brand, if Freer's assertion regarding other parties bidding for the rights is accurate.

Let us know what you think, and whether the potential loss of the formal Sadness name diminishes your excitement for, potentially, a project inspired by the idea eventually arriving in other form.