Who Owns Rights to Abe's Oddysee and Abe's Exoddus?
 

This has been mentioned before in some article or other, I'm sure, however:
I'd like to know who exactly holds power over the future of AO and AE. If someone wants to re-release them for the Xbox or whatnot, just a direct port, who exactly would have to give it the go ahead?
And how much of AO and AE do OWI actually own?

hi Esus,
i think that OW inhabitants own a VERY small piece of oddworld AO & AE.
The most of the right are from GT Interactive. (now taken over isnt it)
But if the want to re-release them on xbox i think they need to sell a bit of rights to microsoft or an other xbox design compagny.
but i dont think that AO & AE will be for xbox sometime.
the chance that its re-released on PS2 is bigger because xbox is made for 3d games and ps2 is also a platform for the 2d games.
but who know... hope it wil re-released in 3D!!!

OWI mentioned before that they would not re-release any games onto the Xbox. OWI has their hands full with the quintology, books, and movies and won't go through the trouble of remaking and re-releasing games they're already proud of.

I wanted the answer to the question. I know the unlikeliness of a re-release, but I did not mean changing the game or remaking the game or anything, just putting AO or AE onto an Xbox disk.
OWI may not even be able to decide.

They are owned by both OWI and GT. I don't think it comes as a matter of percentages but OWI cannot re-release either of the Abe games without GT and I doubt GT could do it without OWI's permission.

But the most important point is that whilst GT owns the publishing rights to the games, all IP (Intellectual Property; as in ideas and concepts) are still the property of OWI, which is how they could put the character of Abe in a game published by Microsoft. Many publishers would insist on owning all IP and sequel rights.

For eg (in a slightly different vein) if Steven Spielberg wants to make Jurassic Park 54 he still has to do it with the same studio (I think its Paramount) even though he owns his own studio now. On the other hand when George Lucas first sold Star Wars to Fox he managed to retain the rights to the sequels and merchandising which is how he made his fortune.

I said they won't re-release, and what you just said falls along the lines of re-release. So, no they won't put it on Xbox.

Just want to point out that there is no point in re-releasing it on the PS2 since the PS2 is backwards compatible and you can play PSX discs in it can you not?

Also, the Xbox supports 2-D games also, I have several of them!!! Just look at the best of Intellivision, which has all kinds of games from the Atari that were released in the 80s.

I think EA owns the rights of AO and AE, seems logic to me :p

why would they own them? Or rather, why would GT relinquish their ownership?

hmmmm, that's true...
I tought the publisher owned the rights for all the games, not just the last one

But if they do what can they do with it???
Re-releasing sound fun but i don't think OWI is thinking to re-release them.
They can better make a 3D OW game like HAND OF ODD!!!!

sure...
but there are still items of AO and AE being sold, so they still earn money with it.
they can re-release them on PS and PC, because I know those games are hard to find.

Now that's something they really should consider doing. I managed to find one copy of AE brand new at Wal-Mart or something (bought for my friends) but I had to buy my copies of AO and AE used. AO didn't even come with a manual. And also, the strategy guides should be re-released. Not that we need them, but it's something I would really really like to own!!!!

does GT intertive still publish Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee

I don't think so...
I think the production of those games simply stopped, so there is no publisher

no publisher huh.
does this means EA games can buy the rights from OWI and "re"publish AO & AE???

what would be the point of republishing the 2 first games of the quintology now?
who would buy it except the few hardcore fans around here?

My abe's exodus is broke so I would buy that.I'm sure many other people would too

And poeple who would spend a lot of money. Every time a new console come out, they have keep re-realseing them, unless it's the same comany of the consoles like Playsation.

No, there'd be no point in that. Publisheers try to get as many sales as possible, either by making a game with as broad an audience as possible, one that has innovation to appeal to gamers, yet simplicity and downright pleasure for the more lay people armed with joypads, or by making a cheap "game" that targets a specific set of people, e.g. Barbie's Showjumping Adventures (I WANT IT!!). Oddworld fans is about as narrow a market as you can get, and the effort would simply not be profitable for EA.

maybe in a game or two...
when the oddworld fans will have taken over the earth, and that they are killing each others to have an original copy of AO the precious first opus of the divine quintology.

Not quite soon...