KQIX PROJECT

KQIX was Phoenix Online Studios' project, which gathered an extremely broad range of dedicated and talented individuals who gave up their free time to realize the vision that is was the latest sequel for the King's Quest Games. The team is situated all around the world with members in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. They all worked together, nonstop since 2001, to bring the game to life. The team achieved great attention. They were mentioned in Gamespot, Computer Game Magazine, Game Informer, The Inventory and JustAdventure as well as appearing in featured portals such as IGN, GameSpy, Quandaryland, and so on.

The team had two objectives, first was to bring the genre of adventure gaming back to its roots while giving it an overhaul of new elements such as the contemporary graphic format and more attention given to plot rather than random "pixel hunting". With a small number of exceptions, most recent adventure games have failed to come up with the goods when compared to the benchmark set by the earlier classics of the genre. The KQIX team planned to rectify that. The other main objective was to create a community for fellow adventure gamers where they can be given what they miss from the golden days and provide a space where they do not feel so isolated from the current trends of the gaming industry. All of this was created as a fan fiction, based on the creation of Roberta Williams, which was being produced in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of Section 107 of the United States Code, without previous permission of Sierra Entertainment, Inc.

They were ready to release one of the most awaited fan-games in three parts, PartI - KQIX: Shadows, Part II - Two that are one, Part III - Eternities. The first part was to be released this winter when they just recieve a Cease and Desist (C&D) letter from Vivendi Universal Games Inc.

WHAT HAPPENED

On September 30th, 2005, the team got Cease and Desist letter from Vivendi Universal Games. They emailed the following letter to everyone registered in their website the very first week of October:

KQIX Project Closes Down
On September 30th, 2005, we received a letter from Vivendi Universal Games, Inc. (a.k.a. Sierra Entertainment) requesting that we cease and desist any further development of KQIX. We always knew this might happen and as stated previously, we are completely willing to comply with Vivendi's request as they are the legal owners of the King's Quest trademark. As a result, we are obligated to stop all production on KQIX.

We are not certain what precipitated this request. Whether or not they are planning to begin development on an official King's Quest sequel is unknown at this point. Vivendi is currently rereleasing the King's Quest, Police Quest, Space Quest and Leisure Suit Larry Collections now available for pre-order on Amazon.com. Exact details of the products are not available but if they prove to be worthwhile we suggest you show Vivendi that there is still a strong interest in the series.

What does this mean for the future of KQIX and Phoenix Online Studios?
For the time being we are exploring the various possibilities open to us. There are plenty of ideas floating around the team but no official direction has yet been chosen. The team has become a solid entity in the past few years and has a strong desire to continue working together on whatever project we choose to face.

We would like to thank all the thousands of fans around the globe that have shown their support for our project since its creation. KQIX: Every Cloak Has A Silver Lining was always intended to be a free, fan-made sequel that would give the series some closure. Though we had hoped to spark some curiosity we never expected so much interest would arise from the adventure game community.

To all those who supported and motivated us to always keep going and never give up we dedicate the memory of this project.

May your endearing spirit for adventure never fade.

Thank you,
The KQIX Development Team

The KQIX has posted the information they sent by email to their newsletter users here:
http://www.kqix.com/home.php

Here's the official thread where you can discuss with the team as well as fans about what's going on http://www.kqix.com/forum/index.php?topic=3003.0

SUPPORT US

All the fans are heart broken because of this action. On behalf of the KQIX fan community, and the Adventure community in general, we, a few fans, have created this website to show our love is support toward these talented individuals who put their heart and soul into the most ambitious fan-game ever made.

How can you support us?
We have gathered together in order to let Vivendi know what the fans think about this. We're organizing our efforts because we want to be heard, because we want to do our best to support the team.

How can you help?

1.- THE PETITION (EMAIL)
Ok, guys here's what we're going to do, I'm Koko from the KQIX forum (just a regular old fan of the team) and I am posting a petition. What I need EVERYONE to do is print it out and sign it (and please add your city & state/country to the petition...there's not a place for it, so just stick it somewhere around your signature. It will make it "more real" to Vivendi). THEN scan it and email it to me. From there, I will print out each and every signed copy and mail all of them to Vivendi at the same time.

For those nervous about letting everyone know your names, don't worry. You, Vivendi, and myself will be the only ones to see your signatures. If you do not have a scanner, PM me here on the forum and we will work something out...and if you're not a member, email me and I'll get back to you ASAP. Just remember, I'm a graduate student, so give me about 12 hours or so

Here's how the form should be, copy paste into a new document

I [Your name goes here] wish to express my disappointment in Vivendi Universal for the Cease and Desist letter so recently sent to Phoenix Online Studios. This team has spent the last almost four years writing, drawing, painting, texturing, composing, and organizing KQIX: Every Cloak Has a Silver Lining - the unofficial sequel to the King’s Quest series. The reason this team felt it necessary to produce this game is because the series needed a better closure than what “Mask of Eternity,” provided with its action oriented gameplay. These games were filled with fairy tale characters, mystical creatures, and Easter Eggs which added much humor to the games. MoE was more of an action game, where Connor traveled through different lands and killed creature after creature in order to restore the Mask. While most fans will agree that it was a good game on its own, it did not measure up to the adventure games that we knew and loved. It has come to my attention that VU only sent the letter after the trailer was released mid-September. I am only one of many fans who was anxiously awaiting the game’s release. VU has done little to support the Adventure Gaming community - a community that Phoenix Online Studios was reviving. I ask that you allow POS to continue in the development and future release of this game. KQIX will generate more fans to the series and bring back the respect of a large part of video-game consumers towards Vivendi Universal; a community today enraged by the company’s actions of shutting KQIX down, a project that has been respected by the media and the gaming community since its beginnings.

Thank you,

[[Your name goes here]
Loyal King’s Quest Fan

My email address is koko_99_2001@yahoo.com

2.- THE PETITION (INDIVIDUALLY)
If you're wary to send a signed paper to someone else, then send the letter yourself. We prefer to have all of the petitions sent in one mailing, but we will accomodate anyone who doesn't feel comfortable with it.Here's the addy for you to participate by doing this on your own:

VIVENDI'S MAIL ADDRESS
Vivendi Universal Games
6080 Center Drive, 10th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90045

3.- EMAIL YOUR THOUGHTS (PERSONAL)
You can also let them know how you feel by email.

VIVENDI'S EMAIL ----> games.comments@vugames.com

There are other websites in which support them such as
http://www.infamous-adventures.com/fanventures/html/viewpage.php?page_id=88

Do not hesitate to ask about this fan movement to save our next big fan production, email me at koko_99_2001@yahoo.com We didn't ask the KQIX permission to start this website or petition, we do this because we love them and we do not want them to fade!!!
Visit the official KQIX website for further updated info! http://www.kqix.com/forum

THANKS FOR READING AND SUPPORT THE ADVENTURE FANS COMMUNITY!