Indie developer Renegade Kid has been on a roll lately, with the success Mutant Mudds has been getting lately on the Wii U. Today, in a conversation on Twitter, Renegade Kid head Jools Watsham has confirmed that they will be getting back the rights to one of their older hits, the Nintendo DS first person shooter Moon, from publisher Mastiff, in 2014.
@Dementium3D @Moon3DS Save your energy. Renegade Kid gains Moon rights back in 2014. 😉
— Jools Watsham (@JoolsWatsham) July 1, 2013
Published in 2009, Moon was originally conceived as an atmospheric science fiction/horror game for the Game Boy Color. When approached by Mastiff to make a new franchise many years later, Jools brought back this game concept and remolded it as a first person shooter. Moon is one of the DS's best shooter games, often compared favorably – even called superior to – Metroid Prime Hunters. It boasted a constant 60 FPS framerate and impressive 3D graphics.
@Sylverstone14 @Dementium3D @Moon3DS Nope. Straight up. We had a 5 year agreement with Mastiff. Moon was released in 2009. Excite!
— Jools Watsham (@JoolsWatsham) July 1, 2013
@Dementium3D Ha, not so lucky with that one unfortunately. There's a reason we're developing Cult County. 🙂
— Jools Watsham (@JoolsWatsham) July 1, 2013
In follow up tweets, Jools expains they had a five year contract with Mastiff, so they get the rights back when it end. However, their other, older DS shooter series, Dementium, is staying with SouthPeak Games.
The original Dementium: The Ward was a very early shooter for the DS, and received mixed reception for imperfect gameplay and just being too short. Dementium II was developed after Moon and featured many necessary improvements, making it a more well-received game. In a blog post two years ago, Jools explains the game was developed purely as a business arrangement with SouthPeak, with part of that arrangement being that they, not Renegade Kid, kept the IP.
In spite of these revelations, we may wait a while for Renegade Kid to make a new Moon game as they have already announced work on a new shooter IP, Cult County, for the 3DS. Cult County is planned as an episodic release, with the first installment to come out early 2014. You can check their official site here for more details.
For now, if you are interested in some Renegade Kid goodness, Mutant Mudds is available on 3DS, Microsoft Windows, iOS and Wii U, and ATV Wild Ride is out now on the 3DS eShop.
Earlier, we profiled Watsham's concerns with 3DS piracy here.
