It’s pretty common to describe a game as “choose your own adventure” when waxing lyrical about its format and style, but Itch.io co-founder Leaf Corcoran is urging devs NOT to write it in the description for their indie efforts, as the platform is now actively suspending games to avoid having to deal with potential trademark infringement notices from Chooseco, the publishers of the iconic Choose Your Own Adventure series.
Chooseco first made contact with Itch.io earlier in the year regarding one specific title, a little while after it also went after Netflix for Black Mirror’s gimmicky “choose your own adventure” episode, Bandersnatch.
warning to any devs using the phrase "choose your own adventure" to describe their games, Chooseco is issuing takedown notices to @itchio for trademark infringement. Example game page they went after: pic.twitter.com/YG0JGUoHAA
— leaf @ itch.io 🙌 (@moonscript) December 9, 2019
Purrfect Apawcalypse, It’s a Date; Choose Your Own Adventure GB; and A Series of Choose Your Own Adventure Stories Where No Matter What You Choose You Are Immediately Killed by a Werewolf have all been affected by the new Itch.io policy so far.
“We are in no way trying to negatively represent the actions of Chooseco,” Corcoran told The Verge. “We understand that they need to protect their brand and are happy to work with them to ensure that their trademark is not violated.”
Though many people had a weary response to the news, others demanded more specific information on how to get around it, as it’s currently unclear if devs can continue using the abbreviation “CYOA” instead. Corcoran also later hinted that Chooseco’s ongoing communication had more than a whif of shakedown to it.
So far only the full phrase, I'll try to get more information from them though, but the legal person issuing the notices has been difficult to the point where I think they're some kind of legal troll?
— leaf @ itch.io 🙌 (@moonscript) December 9, 2019
Wireframe #28 is out now
