When Jazz Jackrabbit launched in 1994 it gained a lot of PC gaming attention. Developed and published by Epic MegaGames (now known as simply Epic Games), a fandom quickly formed around the series. Original designer Cliff Bleszinski has long since moved onto other projects much to the dismay of fans. Enter a recently-launched Kickstarter campaign for Jazz Jackrabbit Revival. According to the page, Turbo Tech Games plans to create a brand new game in the series using the Unreal Engine and port it to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The page itself has some nice visual accompaniment and doesn’t look inherently shady at first glance.
Well, unless you consider the fact that they never once mention the name Epic Games in their pitch. Nor do they suggest in any way that they have purchased the rights to create a new sidescrolling, episodic platformer bearing the name “Jazz Jackrabbit.” Heck, if you keep an eye out while reading you’ll see that they even managed to bungle that name’s spelling a few times.
Is it possible this product is legitimate? Yes, I suppose, although they’re not doing a very good job of proving it. Funnily enough, parody Twitter account Peter Molydeux sent a message to Bleszinski himself about the campaign. Bleszinski simply responded “Hope Epic supports it!” According to the low funding rate thus far it seems that most others also believe the campaign to be illegal. If Bleszinski himself came to Kickstarter with Jazz Jackrabbit Revival there’s no doubt money would be flowing in left and right. In the case that Turbo Tech Games reveals they have purchased the IP or are granted rights by Epic Games then we’ll be sure to update readers about the changed situation.
[divider]Update : That didn’t take long, did it? We just posted an update on the Jazz Jackrabbit campaign. You can find it right here.
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[…] campaign page itself is not accessable during the claim review period, but you can read our previous coverage of the game if you’d like to learn about it. As Marcus mentioned in that same piece, a […]