Activision "does not believe" it owns the rights to No One Lives Forever
But isn't sure who does.
The rights to F.E.A.R. developer Monolith's decade-plus year old spy spoof series No One Lives Forever does not reside at Activision, said the publisher's community man Dan Amrich.
Curiously, it doesn't seem to reside at Monolith either.
Amrich explained in a video on his One of Swords Youtube channel (via Blue's News) that the series' original publisher Fox Interactive was acquired by Vivendi Universal in 2003. Vivendi Universal then merged with Activision in 2007 forming Activision Blizzard, as it's now known today. During the Vivendi/Activision merger some Sierra properties like Leisure Suit Larry were sold off to the highest bidder, while others, such as the King's Quest series, still reside with Activision. No One Lives Forever doesn't seem to have survived the merger.
So where is it now? Good question.
"The person who I normally talk to about that stuff does not believe that we currently have the rights," said Amrich. "They'v never seen it. They've never been given the permission to put that stuff on Good Old Games. They basically said, 'if we had it, I would love to have been able to reissue those games."
Amrich continued his investigation by asking Monolith, where his trail got cold. "I contacted a friend at Monolith and he doesn't know."
"At this time I do not believe Activision has the rights to No One Lives Forever, so if there were to be a reissue or remake or something like that, it wouldn't come from Activision," he concluded. "I don't know what the future holds for No One Lives forever, but I don't think that that future involves Activision."
We will continue our search for the No One Lives forever rights holder.