Although favorite independent comic book Scott Pilgrim concluded in July 2010, it received adaptations of film and video games shortly thereafter that the series was firmly entrenched in mainstream pop culture. The movie is fine, but the game is considered a lost gem due to the depreciation of digital storefronts only a few years after its release. Now, on its tenth anniversary, the conversation is about how to bring Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game back to his fans it just gets harder.
This latest update of interest in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game began, fitting, with Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley. The artist commemorated the tenth anniversary of the game with a Twitter thread about its status, and put the impetus on publisher Ubisoft for any kind of reissue.
‘I’m been saying for years,’ If Ubisoft ever puts the game out again, I’ll be as surprised as you, ” O’Malley wrote, tagging Ubisoft’s official Twitter account. “I always ask around and Ubisoft has not contacted me if anyone has worked on the game in any way. As de Scott Pilgrim match does get re-released and none of us are involved, how banished is that? It is messed up op. ”
O’Malley also claimed that he, Scott Pilgrim publisher Oni Press, and video game store iam8bit have long discussed the possibilities of a physical edition should a reissue ever happen. After four years, however, Ubisoft has yet to respond to any of its communications efforts. Talk to you soon Kotaku, an Ubisoft rep said they had nothing to share about the Scott Pilgrim match. O’Malley did not return to us.
Scott Pilgrim as an intellectual property has always had a strong connection with video games. O’Malley’s characters seem to have jumped right out River City Ransom, and the comic strip and film often make references to video games. But this is not a dorky Ready Player One situation. No, Scott Pilgrim is clever with his allusions, and uses them to enhance story beats and character interactions without confusing the story with a constant stream of pinching “do you remember this?” moments.
As such, turning the comic strip into a video game was a no-brainer. Ubisoft enlisted an incredible team of artists to transform Scott Pilgrimaesthetics in stunning pixel graphics and development teams in Montreal and Chengdu to create a solid beat ’em up. Chiptune maestros Anamanaguchi were also enrolled to give the game a pumping soundtrack. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game launched on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade in August 2010 after critical claim of fans of both the Scott Pilgrim franchise and old-school brawlers like Double dragon en Final fight. It was removed from both platforms in December 2014.
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Kotaku spoke against two Scott Pilgrim developers as well as Anamanaguchi frontman Peter Berkman over the game, who were all proponents of the game returning in one way or another.
‘I would love to see Scott Pilgrim “I have no idea if that will ever happen,” he said. Scott Pilgrim designer Jonathan Lavigne, who co-founded Panzer Paladin developer Tribute Games in 2011, told Kotaku. “We made some efforts to return the ball in 2016, but it went nowhere. We had Bryan Lee O’Malley and Oni Press on board, but in the end it’s completely up to Ubisoft and Universal. ”
Lavigne was also open to the idea of Tribute Games contributing to any future re-release as a remaster, as the studio consists of many of the original Scott Pilgrim developers. They were even able to fix some of the lingering bugs, he said. But Lavigne also did not ask people to give up their hope because of the complexity of the license and the inherent work that would have to go into bringing the game to today as next-generation consoles.
Scott Pilgrim animator Jonathan “Persona” Kim pointed out many of these feelings, pointing out that Ubisoft and Universal were likely candidates for why the game is being held. Ubisoft may have published Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game, but permission ultimately falls to Universal, who holds the rights to the film adaptation that the game was intended to promote. You can accuse capitalism and the world’s adherence to draconian copyright policies, in principle.
“We would love for the game to come out again,” said Anamanaguchi’s Peter Berkman Kotaku, again indicating that Universal may be the party responsible for the ongoing absence of the game. ‘It was a labor of love for all involved – the artists, designers, even producers – and of course us. The ten-year anniversary, with the unbelievable reaction from fans, seems to be stirring things up again. Now it just seems to be in the hands of Ubisoft to deliver what so many people have asked for! We hope they do. ”
Universal Pictures did not respond Kotakuhis request for comment.
It’s easy to understand why both fans and the people behind it Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game wants it back. It’s also clear why Ubisoft and Universal may not see the financial benefit of the re-release. At some point we will have to ask ourselves whether this atmosphere – in which the people who really want the game to see their work made public, but suits at two large corporations have all the tickets – is conducive to artistic expression, not to call simple enjoyment of video games as a medium.
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