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Limbo of the Lost devs try and wriggle out of trouble
by Jim Sterling on 06.23.2008 35 comments

To say that controversial PC game Limbo of the Lost has become a true Internet phenomenon is an understatement. Its terrible gameplay, unbelievable ending (above) and legendary asset theft have created something that even the greatest meme inventors couldn't make up if they were paid. Of course, the latter element, the blatant thievery of assets from other games and movies, drew Limbo to the 'net's attention, and after much silence, "developer" Majestic has finally responded. No, it's not accepting responsibility:

In response to the shocking notification that some alleged unauthorized copyrighted materials submitted by sources external to the development team have been found within the PC game Limbo of the Lost, we (the development team) have given our consent and full cooperation to both publishers who are recalling all units from all territories immediately.

So, far from being master criminals, the three-man development team were merely the victims of some mysterious asset pixie that mischievously provided them with art that they'd never seen before in a cunning ploy to frame them for copyright infringement. Seriously, are you kidding me? Even if, in some twisted fairytale reality, Majestic's excuse was true, that officially makes them the dumbest wankers to have ever been involved in the videogames industry. And that includes the people who made Red Ninja!

Maybe this is an excuse other companies can use as well. Eidos can come out and say "What? We never knew Kane & Lynch sucked, a monkey on a bicycle just gave it to us," or Julian Eggebrecht can officially announce that Lair's control scheme failed because the Sixaxis was given to him by fu*king Moon Crocodiles. Thanks Majestic, for showing us the way -- when in trouble, blame "some guy."

Full excuse after the jump. Thanks again for the tip, Zulu!

In response to the shocking notification that some alleged unauthorized copyrighted materials submitted by sources external to the development team have been found within the PC game Limbo of the Lost, we (the development team) have given our consent and full cooperation to both publishers who are recalling all units from all territories immediately.

Please be assured that we do not condone in anyway the use of unauthorized copyrighted materials and if we had been made aware earlier, we would of course have ceased development of the product and rectified the issue prior to the publication process.

To the best of our knowledge no one at Majestic, [European publisher] G2Games or [North American publisher Tri Synergy, Inc.] knew about this infringement and knowingly played any part in it.

We can only apologise to all regarding this issue, as a team we are shocked and mortified regarding these events and we continue to work with said publishers in order to rectify the issue
MORE IN OUR Limbo of the Lost SECTION

Latest comment by Timmeh |view all 35 comments
Wow, I remember getting Guy Spy when it first came out, that was an awesome game....





godkow's Avatar
godkow at 06/23/2008 18:19

Words can't express the stupidity.
pendelton21's Avatar
pendelton21 at 06/23/2008 18:20

The devs for this game should be shot not for the copywright infringement and general uninspired game, but for that fucking ending movie. It's given me nightmares ever since I saw it.
Dexter345's Avatar
Dexter345 at 06/23/2008 18:21

Damn. I kind of want this game now, as a collector's item. I wonder if they'll fetch a high price on eBay.
The Amazing Shenazin's Avatar
The Amazing Shenazin at 06/23/2008 18:24

wow fuck MGS4's ending, that is by far the greatest ending to a game ever
Gynecologist Cobra's Avatar
Gynecologist Cobra at 06/23/2008 18:26

Hey Jim, a press release was just issued- Two Worlds didn't suck because of the developers, Michael Bay just dropped a dumpster baby and a USB with assorted files on SouthPeak Interactive's doorstep.
Timmeh's Avatar
Timmeh at 06/23/2008 18:34

It could only be more entertaining if investigation found the not screenshots to have been lifted from copies of the game installed from disc images downloaded from piratebay.org.

Of course the fact they are blaming outside sources for providing shifty material is pretty fucking hilarious when there are interviews abound with the Three Stooges taking ownership of all aspects of the development. (I was going to look up a Three Stooges quote but this whole shenanigan really doesn't need any punchlines to make it funny).
Superfluous Moniker's Avatar
Superfluous Moniker at 06/23/2008 18:34

There's some damning comparison screenshots at http://lotl.wikia.com/wiki/Backgrounds
Blue Ryd3r's Avatar
Blue Ryd3r at 06/23/2008 18:59

Words fail me. I had a whole rant thing going on in my head, but I just think of that ending I just watched and brain turns to retarded jelly.

It's like a broken Disney attraction. Only with a much worse song.
But give the devs credit. They obviosly never played (or had it tested sense you cant pay any one to play this swill) the game that they had been working on so of course they could never have spotted all the things from other games in it.

So sure, you outsourced all your game invironments and menu screens. Thats still no excuse for the jerky/nonexistant animation and bad ADR and lipsynching.
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 06/23/2008 18:59

WTF did I just watch?
ElfShotTheFood's Avatar
ElfShotTheFood at 06/23/2008 18:59

"Please be assured that we do not condone in anyway the use of unauthorized copyrighted materials and if we had been made aware earlier, we would of course have ceased development of the product and rectified the issue prior to the publication process."

Guys, you were the ones making the game. How could you not know what was going on?
Swizzler121's Avatar
Swizzler121 at 06/23/2008 19:01

Majestic Might be partially right. If you look at the credits for the team. one guy has a credit sheet half a page long, for basically audio, 3D, 2D, everything graphic/sound related. so he could have just been ripping all this stuff off of other games while the other two (which were obviously dim-witted enough not to notice. accepted them. this same guy also made the trailers and probably the bonus DVD. If I were to point fingers I would point them at him.
Detry's Avatar
Detry at 06/23/2008 19:13

I came to say what The Amazing Shenazin did.

BEST.ENDING.EVAR.
JJ Rage's Avatar
JJ Rage at 06/23/2008 19:20

This "dev team" is three guys. Three.

One of whom was supposedly posting about this situation on a message board with an IP address that traced back to South America.
king3vbo's Avatar
king3vbo at 06/23/2008 20:10

After watching that ending, it comes as no surprise that these developer's combined IQ is less than 14
LsTr_Of_SmG's Avatar
LsTr_Of_SmG at 06/23/2008 20:27

That end movie is so bad it's almost good... I'm ripping me an MP3 asap, nothing like the worst end game song ever to annoy your work mates!
8bit Coder's Avatar
8bit Coder at 06/23/2008 20:38

They know they're fucked... Or maybe they think that "clever" little response will work, I mean they arn't really the brightest bunch are they?
Scrixx's Avatar
Scrixx at 06/23/2008 20:41

I like the ending song xD
mistic's Avatar
mistic at 06/23/2008 21:16

we continue to work with said publishers in order to rectify the issue

so they're gonna do a total remake?
bluemeep's Avatar
bluemeep at 06/23/2008 21:37

I smell new Rickroll material.
BlackSunEmpire's Avatar
BlackSunEmpire at 06/23/2008 22:00

No, of course thats not my kilo of cocaine in the false bottom of my suitcase, someone else put it there without my knowledge.

I think this excuse has been tried and failed before.
Justin Villasenor's Avatar
Justin Villasenor at 06/23/2008 22:03

*watches ending*

0__0
MrHappySunshine's Avatar
MrHappySunshine at 06/23/2008 22:12

I have never scene such a horrible ending to a game ever. They could have done better with paper cut outs on Popsicle sticks and asking random people outside their office for voice work.
bluemeep's Avatar
bluemeep at 06/23/2008 22:25

Okay, for like the last two hours I've been breaking into a two step and going "...The king of limbooooo!"

God damn it all.
Sharpless's Avatar
Sharpless at 06/24/2008 01:21

Ah, I see you posted the newly-leaked ending to Portal 2. Jonathan Coulton's losing his touch, IMO.
naia-the-gamer's Avatar
naia-the-gamer at 06/24/2008 01:42

I feel like I watched some highschoolers' group project for a computer science class.

I bet every voice actor who worked on this game is lowering their head in shame.

Can't wait to hear from the dev team to find out their excuse for all of this.
manasteel88's Avatar
manasteel88 at 06/24/2008 02:33

with a title like "Limbo of the Lost" what was everyone expecting. It was either going to be crap or so bad its freeware. looks like they decided to charge for freeware crap.

That ending was awful though.
Timmeh's Avatar
Timmeh at 06/24/2008 02:57

"a doo bee doo wop... Kiiiing of Limbooooooooooo"

Oh lawd, I'm gonna have that stuck in my head for at least the rest of the day now.
Twicky's Avatar
Twicky at 06/24/2008 04:16

...Were they high? God damn, I can't imagine playing Oblivion and beating Mehrune's Dagon, and walking into a room where a bunch of retards that I met along the way sing about how I should be the king of Cyrodiil. Jesus Christ.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 06/24/2008 04:45

"Take it away, Rita Baby!

...


...

....... That's cool!"
Timmeh's Avatar
Timmeh at 06/24/2008 07:32

Oh and I have to say, regular coverage of the Limbo of the Lost debacle pretty much makes up for all the competitions that exclude your fellow countrymen, at least I get a kick out of this - I always lose competitions, whatever they are.
Demtor's Avatar
Demtor at 06/24/2008 07:52

Sooo, Red Ninja was a terrible game? I missed out on actually playing that a while back but it always looked at least, interesting. Should I steer clear? What if I like over the top violence and don't mind repetitive gameplay as long as the body count is massive?
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 06/24/2008 08:17

"What if I like over the top violence and don't mind repetitive gameplay as long as the body count is massive?"

If you also don't mind buggy gameplay, poor controls, stealth that doesn't work and one part of the game that becomes just a massive dead-end and you can't go any further, then you are in for a TREAT.
LarkOhiya's Avatar
LarkOhiya at 06/24/2008 11:09

jim, if only someone had told them back in 1994!



this is a screen from the game back when they first started work on it (theirs is the one with the big guy piercing your soul)
MechaMonkey's Avatar
MechaMonkey at 06/24/2008 12:07

The Limbo of the Lost developers made this game in a cave, with scraps.

And apparently they were blindfolded too.
Timmeh's Avatar
Timmeh at 06/24/2008 15:30

Wow, I remember getting Guy Spy when it first came out, that was an awesome game.

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