However, one of the developers of an open source version of Star Control II expressed some doubts over the acquisition, stating, “They may now own the Star Control trademark and the SC3-specific IP, but Atari did not own the SC2 IP. If Stardock wants to make a game including any of the SC2 races or plot points, they will still need to make a deal with Paul (Reiche) and Fred (Ford, of Toys for Bob).”
He noted that an email from Reiche stated, ”Stardock hasn’t contacted us, so we don’t yet know their plans. Looking at the court schedules (and this is consistent with my recollections), they acquired the trademark ‘Star Control‘ and copyright to the original materials in Star Control 3 — that is to say, not any of the copyrightable materials from Star Control I & II, which Fred and I still hold.”
In response, Stardock issued a press release. “We expect the new Star Control to come in the form of a reboot, similar to what Firaxis did with the XCOM series last year,” promised Wardell, who then added, ”We are looking at Star Control II as a major source of inspiration.”