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Comment by PavlovsCat | Hacker News Reader

What business model is this? Give gamers blue balls and then wait until they inevitably ram down your door with money trucks?

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You plant the seed for the violent revolt of rampaging gamers that will ultimately see Disney surrender the Monkey Island IP to restore global peace.

Then you make a game.

Disney's takeaway from a "violent revolt of rampaging gamers" will be that this IP is tremendously valuable, which is probably the opposite impression you should be cultivating if you want to buy it from them at a low enough price to make third-party development itself practical.

If he wanted to put the effort and time to make this game, why would it have to use the Monkey Island IP?

I think that any new game with same quality, the humor and mechanics, but in a different setting (or heck, just a different name!) would still be loved.

Using existing IP is a lot safer, and will generate more sales, even if otherwise the games are the same. There are a lot of people who played Monkey island in their youth and are nostalgic for it, but who don't follow the latest game news and wouldn't auto buy a game without the IP. Yes it could be successful, but that the Monkey Island name it would be more so.

See for example the success of every new Civ game compared to the success of other strategy games.

He has built an engine that is powered by gamers' frustration over things they can never have.

Sounds like a good plan to me! I'd just like to add that the first rule of Monkey Island 3a is that you don't talk about Monkey Island 3a. Shhhhhhhhh!

Let's just hope Disney goes along with this!

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