As the release of MechWarrior 5: Clans approaches, the iconic mecha action series is nearing its fourth decade. The journey of the series has been a rollercoaster, with twists and turns that have taken it from single-player titles to a fully online experience. However, reaching this milestone, and even securing the rights for developer Piranha Games to work on the series, has been a long and complex process. It’s a tale that involves intricate webs of IP ownership, a last-minute lawsuit, and even a connection to the infamous Duke Nukem Forever.
History of the Robots
Russ Bullock, the founder and CEO of Piranha Games, has been a long-time fan of BattleTech, the tabletop wargame that birthed MechWarrior. His journey with the series began in his cousin’s basement, playing pen-and-paper games until the release of BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk’s Inception in 1988. The first MechWarrior game followed in 1989, but it was MechWarrior 2 that truly captured the gaming world’s attention.
“That was the biggest game in the world at the time,” Bullock shared during a visit to Piranha Games’ studio. “It doubled the size of Activision. It seemed like it was coming out of every box of cereal, on every platform, with every 3D accelerator.”
Enough work for hire. We need to establish something of our own.
The MechWarrior series continued with expansions, sequels, and spinoffs. However, after the 2001 Black Knight expansion for MechWarrior 4, the series suddenly disappeared. At the time, Piranha was working on projects for other companies but was eager to create their own product.
“No matter how good of work you do, you aren’t going to get anywhere without creating your own product,” Bullock emphasized.
License to Mech
Bullock made several attempts to acquire the rights to the dormant MechWarrior license with no success. The IP was divided among different companies, with Microsoft holding the gaming rights after acquiring the original creator, FASA Corporation. It was through Jordan Weisman, the founder of FASA, that Piranha Games eventually secured the MechWarrior license.
“I stumbled upon an article mentioning a company called Smith and Tinker that had the rights to the FASA properties,” Bullock revealed.
After negotiating with Weisman, who had left Microsoft and founded Smith and Tinker, Piranha obtained the license to work on MechWarrior.
Piranha and Weisman collaborated on a demo to pitch the MechWarrior project to potential publishers. However, amidst the economic crash of 2008, they faced challenges in securing a partnership. This led Piranha to take on work for Gearbox Software to complete Duke Nukem Forever, which eventually inspired them to create their own MechWarrior product.
“Enough work for hire. We need to establish something of our own,” Bullock recalled. Thus, Piranha began working on their own MechWarrior game, MechWarrior Online, which was successfully crowdfunded and released.
CourtWarrior
Securing the rights was only part of the battle as legal issues arose around the depiction of the original 12 mechs, which were licensed from Japanese anime. After a year of legal battles, Piranha reached a settlement, allowing them to update and modernize the mech designs for MechWarrior Online.
Bullock reflected on the journey, stating, “We fought the fight that no one else would and created an environment where MechWarrior and BattleTech can thrive.” These challenges have led to the upcoming release of MechWarrior 5: Clans and the compelling human story it aims to tell.
