Popular Smash Bros. Mod Project M Development Halted - News
by Jared Katz , posted on 02 December 2015 / 3,788 Views
The team behind the popular Smash Bros. mod, Project M, has announced that it has ceased development on the beloved project.
What originally started as a way to fix issues with SSBB turned into a community whose goal was to make the perfect Smash Bros. game. This mod not only fixed Brawl's most egregious problems, but also added new characters and content to the game.
Below is the full statement from the team:
"Hello friends,
Six years ago, we started a journey born out of our shared love for competitive fighting games. Eventually, the electrifying passion that coursed through us arced out and drew in more people until our small circle of friends grew into a team, and that team grew into an international community. Project M and its community have grown larger than any of us ever anticipated, and it’s truly heartwarming to see all of the unforgettable connections and friendships that have been forged through this project.
Unfortunately, we’re here to say that we’re at the end of that road.
We’ve learned so much in the process of making Project M—accumulating life-changing lessons in communication, team work, professionalism, work ethic, and more—but there’s only so far we can take those skills in a volunteer project. With this in mind, we’ve made a difficult business decision: We’re ready to finish development here and move on to bigger and better ventures.
We realize that this will come as a shock to many of our fans. Please, forgive us. Again, it’s been an excruciating call to make, but it’s been made a bit easier by our satisfaction with the previous and final release, v3.6. We’ve spent six years polishing Project M, and rather than let it drag on through another several years of dwindling development and change-fatigue in the competitive circle, we’re going to consider our work complete.
In the mean time, we plan to be hard at work on new projects, built from the ground up. We can’t spill the beans just yet, but know that we’re looking towards a fresh start with brand new designs. Rather than splitting our focus, many of us want to dedicate ourselves to this new venture fully. In this way, we hope to maintain the level of quality and professionalism you’ve come to expect from us.
In summary, we are ceasing development of Project M (effective immediately) and will be making no further releases as we turn our attention towards an entirely new venture. As the PMDev team will be formally disbanded, please forward all official communications regarding Project M to video game attorney and business consultant . We appreciate your support and your understanding.
One final time,
PMDev
Thank you for playing!"
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Hmmm. The fact that they have completely removed everything off their site, makes me feel like they got a cease and desist. Plus, that last sentence to forward communications is interesting...
Onward to mod the next Smash.
The reason Project M ended, is the same reason a Smash 4 mod will never begin.
What reason is that Killinger?
I've heard rumors about them getting a C & D. Despite not being confirmed, the fact that they didn't just halt development but rather took down the site and all links to the MOD, looks exactly like what a C & D would require. Making that knowledge public could have legal ramifications as well.
If they did get a C & D, it would likely prevent them from working on Smash 4 for the same exact reason.
If they did get a Cease and Desist from Nintendo to stop work on the project, and they stopped working on the project there wouldn't be much legal ramifications for them stating it was because of the order from Nintendo, you can't really command what people do after they've followed a legal ruling to stop modifying game code in an 8 year old game.
What probably would more deter them from working on Smash 4 for any reason is the difficulty in getting a Wii-u to run modified code in comparison to the ease that was the Wii to make run pretty much whatever you like on it.
technically a C&D isn't law, its the threat of litigation, so they could have added the clause. Since only the project M team was the only one involved, if that knowledge was leaked Nintendo would know it was the PM team and by extension those on that team.
The Wii U being difficult isn't a legitimate reason as their is no real evidence to suggest so. However, the Desist part can cover all Smash Licensing including future games i.e Smash 4.
Let's make your own Super Smash Bros videogame, but with original characters.
Sad day :(
Good job, guys. Looking forward to seeing what y'all do next!
