This is a split of http://www.gamedev.net/topic/659120-how-to-make-unique-and-interesting-planets-4x/ topic since it got a bit sidetracked to Dune :)

To me it seems we can't expect any new Dune game in future.

For some strange reason Herbert Limited Partnership (owners of Dune) are not going to give anyone licence to make a game in Dune universe ever again. And I don't mean small fish, even Fantasy Flight was unable to get it (in the end they had to go for another theme), so it does not seem like a money problem (which is strange, usually money can solve all problems in this industry :D)

What's more puzzling their lawyers are crazily hunting for ANY fan made games, no matter how small or insignificant, and demand taking that game down (or rename/retheme), for example Dune Express, Stilgar.

Somewhat related topic: http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/945035/who-owns-dune-rights

Does anyone have a clue why?

It could very well be that HLP doesn't even own the rights to make a dune games any more. In a lot of case companies buy those rights when they make a game if they can rather then licencing them. Those companies fold, get bought out, and change hands and eventually the rights end up with a company that doesn't have any plans to use them but holds on to them just in case.

I remember that on the Shadowrun returns kickstarter that the creator posted about the surreal experience of licencing back the rights to make a new version of his own game.

(since I poked at this a little while back, might as well add the information here)

There have been 5 published games in the Dune franchise, plus another that never made it to release:

- Dune (Cryo Interactive, published by Virgin Interactive)

- Dune II (Westwood Studios, published by Virgin Interactive)

- Dune 2000 (Westwood Studios, published first by Virgin Interactive, later EA)

- Emperor: Battle for Dune (Westwood Studios, published by EA)

- Frank Herbert's Dune (Cryo Interactive, seemingly self published)

- DUNE Generations (Cryo Interactive, cancelled)

Now, Emperor: Battle for Dune and Frank Herbert's Dune were both published in 2001, so at that point both EA and Cryo both possessed some rights to produce video games under the franchise. Cryo went bankrupt shortly after (at least in part due to poor sales of Frank Herbert's Dune), and had to cancel DUNE Generations. Cryo was mostly absorbed by Dreamcatcher Interactive, but a few years later Microïds seems to have acquired the complete rights to Cryo's intellectual properties.

However, from digging around the internet, it appears that EA's rights lapsed shortly after publishing Emperor: Battle for Dune, and that Cryo didn't hold the rights either at that time - instead SyFy had acquired bundled TV and video game rights when they produced the Dune miniseries, and SyFy contracted Cryo to build the game. SyFy held some portion of those rights till at least 2003, since they produced another miniseries as a sequel which was released that year.

After that, it appears that Paramount optioned the rights to produce a new Dune film in 2007, but they let the option lapse in 2011 after failing to secure the necessary funding.

It seems a fair guess that all rights have since reverted to the Herbert Limited Partnership, which typically appears to prefer licensing the rights as a bundle (TV, film, video games, etc), but I couldn't say for sure.

OpenRA has a Dune remake, does that counts? :D

I blame the crumbums who sunk Jodorowsky's film adaptation of Dune. Other than two of those games, everything afterward stunk (sorry David Lynch, I still love you).

OpenRA has a Dune remake, does that counts?

I play that! And it doesn't!