While other developers would be able to copy the general gameplay for their own purposes, any derivative games that use the same name, art, or characters would belong to Blizzard.

Under Blizzard's new legal language, any similar games created from the base of Reforged would be completely controlled by Blizzard. Thus, the name Auto Chess still belongs to developer Drodo Studio, which used it to create a standalone version of the game for the Epic Games Store. While the general autobattler concept has become popular enough to become a genre in its own right, Valve's terms of service never claimed ownership of the copyright for Dota 2's derivative works. Without limiting the foregoing, you hereby assign to Blizzard all of your rights, title, and interest in and to all Custom Games, including but not limited to any copyrights in the content of any Custom Games.Ī similar process repeated itself last year with Auto Chess, a popular mod built on top of Valve's Dota 2. Now, Blizzard is taking steps to ensure it retains complete ownership of any such custom games that originate from its titles in the future, including those that come out of Warcraft III's recently released Reforged update.Īs noted by PC Gamer, a recent update to Blizzard's Acceptable Use Policy expands the legal rights that custom-game makers automatically assign to Blizzard (new language highlighted in bold old language available on The Internet Archive).Ĭustom Games are and shall remain the sole and exclusive property of Blizzard.

Further Reading How Warcraft III birthed a genre, changed a franchise, and earned a Reforge-ingAs influential as Warcraft III was in the real-time strategy genre, the game's most enduring legacy might be as the basis for genre-defining, fan-made custom game spin-offs like Defense of the Ancients (aka Dota) and Auto Chess in its wake.

Slay the spire mods