Destructoid reports that Square-Enix has issued the dread Cease & Desist order on the fan-made Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes.  The project, set to fill in the gaps between Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, seemed quite robust, and was due to be released for free at the end of the month.

For any fan-made game or modification that uses original game assets (and gains any notoriety), the C&D order can often hang like a Sword of Damocles, forever threatening to come chopping down with no notice.  When the fan-made Mother 3 translation, a very large and very public project, was underway, it was assumed that Nintendo would come sweeping it at the last moment to smash the hopes and dreams of everyone waiting for it with court orders from on high.  Fortunately, this did not happen.

The question I have to ask the companies that do issue these orders is “what exactly are you hoping to achieve?”

First of all, the simple fact is, if an individual or a group is taking their own time and energy to produce an expanded  experience out of an existing game, it’s because they are true fans of the original game.  You don’t decide to create a 40-hour rom-hack sequel of Chrono Trigger because you are bored; you do it because the game and its world has so enthralled you that you simply want more of it, even if you have to create it yourself.  On top of that, if the project starts to become widely noticed, that’s because other people who also love the game clearly looking forward to it.  Noteriety is a sign of demand, and that should tell these companies something: they have made something people love.

Secondly, these orders are generally issued (as would be my understanding) because a company wishes to protect its assets.  They feel that some form of financial damage will be done to them if they let them out of their control (This is a simplified summary, of course, as I am neither a copyright lawyer nor the owner of any intellectual property).  Every one of these large fan-made projects that I have ever seen have been released completely for free, and no one has ever stood to make any money from them (again, these people are doing it out of love, not a desire for profit).  With that being the case, we have to assume that Squeenix or whomever feels that this product will be in competition with them and could deny them future profits, or that it will harm the “good name” of the property. This assumes that people would, if given the choice, choose a free, amateur attempt at a game instead of the full, professionally-developed version.  I think it is fairly safe to assume they would not.  If Crimson Echoes came out tomorrow, and Squeenix unveiled a new Chrono game at E3, I’m pretty positive 99% of the people who played Echoes would still go out and buy the new game.

So what does Squeenix really gain from this?  In my mind, not much.  Now, instead of embracing the fans who loved your series (a series you have pointedly neglected for most of the last decade), you instead have stolen not only the time and energy of the people developing the project, but the hopes and interest of those who were waiting to play it.  All you end up achieving is protecting yourself from a theoretical financial loss that probably would never occur and alienating the fans who have fallen in love with one of your creations.

I know that I am being somewhat naive here from a business standpoint, but I maintain that the act of creation is one of the greatest things about gaming, and that it should be cultivated instead of squashed.  Perhaps someday, if I am the wealthy owner of a global game development company, I will think differently.  For now, though, I can simply hope that these heavy-handed tactics do not discourage too many fans out there, and that perhaps companies will slowly see the light beyond their walls of lawyers.