I wonder how Ivan's doing these days... If he's even still out there. A part of me half heartedly believes he might still be working on the game, or some other project. Didn't he say something about possibility turning this game into an "In House" project to avoid the Nintendo Ninjas™? Would it even be possible to just bomb a finished product somewhere then run for the hills? Or is it too late to do that now that he's been marked?
He did say he'd consider continuing to work on it and if he did it'd be just for himself. Could he try stealth dropping a finished product? Sure.. but doing so would only ever be a liability to him in both a legal and professional sense. He has a life outside of one flash game that was, in all honesty, a rather minor passion project.
I'll preface this next bit and say I'm not talking about anyone in particular nor denegrating any specific person.. just putting out a stark opinion.
It was a passion project. Ivan has a life, a real job, and probably even a family to a greater or lesser extent. He likely has a 401k or whatever equivalent for where he lives. Why would he risk any of that just to put out a passion project? If it did go to court there's pretty much no win. A win would, at best, be settling out of court for a promise to never do anything of the sort again. The more likely thing would be losing nearly everything financially.
Most of us wouldn't bite that bullet just for a small passion project. I'd call bullshit for most anyone who would say they could. I'd imagine threads like this would be equal parts gratifying and annoying if I were him. People liking my work enough to praise and support, but annoying and enfuriating because people would be hoping I'd risk myself just for their entertainment. I'd feel both.. but think I'd have to not watch the threads just because of the last bit.
