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This is a very general question that doesn't necessarily have to be applied to RPG games. Nonetheless, I do sort of have the old Fallout 3: Van Buren project in mind, although I don't want to limit my question to that title. For example, there's the never released Werewolf: Apocalypse RPG among of which I'm sure are countless other unreleased titles.

Anyway, I was wondering what happens to games that never get to be released. Does the publisher or developer lock the original source code away for all eternity? That would be a little over dramatic. Is there a private market for unfinished software? It seems like such a waste while I'm sure something like the unfinished source of the Van Buren project could be sold, licensing or no.

To be honest, I'm not really sure myself. All I know is that prior to Acclaim's closure, their unfinished titles were sold in an auction to the highest bidders. That is just one example. I probably think that the developer locked the original code since they're the ones who designed the games. Just a matter of opinion, though.

I'm just guessing here, but I believe it depends on who has the rights to it. So it differs from project to project. If it is a company that goes bankrupt like Interplay, since the rights belong to the company and not the employees, I guess some projects will just never be released unless someone else acquires the rights, just like Bethesda did for Fallout. I also guess that the new owner of the rights is the only one who could approve the use of an unfinished or closed to completion project. I guess Bethesda could have bought the Van Buren project for Fallout 3, but were not interested since it was already "outdated" to them. So unless Bethesda authorizes it, and I don't believe this could happen, we will never see it.

If it is just a matter of not finding a publisher, I guess the project could sleep and be reused later, just like it happens in the cinema industry.

As I said, I am just guessing, feel free to correct me.

We also have a little bit of answer on the interview Buck did with Josh Sawyer about The Black Hound.

Well, rights belong to whomever invested it of course. But that would only make it more logical to just sell whatever is left of it. Why would they not want to see some kind of revenue back from their investment? All the more reason to sell it and an older games' licence for whatever it goes. Engines and concept get outdated so there can be no strategical value to keeping a library of ancient software around.

I'll have to look up that interview.