Remember Krush Kill ‘n Destroy? Along with Dark Reign, it’s handily one of the best strategy games made in Australia — and also one of the better RTS clones to emerge from the Command & Conquer era.
Made by Beam Software, the legendary Melbourne developer responsible for some incredible titles and sports games, KKnD was a post-apocalytpic RTS inspired by C&C with a strong focus on Aussie humour. One of the three factions, for instance, was a series of farming robots that got shitty with their human owners.
Bit of an unpopular opinion here, but I think KKnD was maybe even a little better than Command & Conquer or Red Alert. It didn’t have the same sense of style, obviously, but I think the game was visually a lot easier to parse, had a better UI. It was strategically more interesting too in how later missions were all about cutting off an enemy’s source of income, rather than steamrolling with the max unit cap, or a particular unit composition.
Anyway, there’s a sign that KKnD might be getting a rework. The owners of the game’s IP, Ziggurat Interactive, relaunched KKnD on Steam a few weeks ago. It’s been out on GOG for ages, but what’s more interesting is a new trademark filing on the USPTO website, submitted after KKnD‘s re-release on Steam. (It’s worth noting that KKnD Xtreme doesn’t support multiplayer, but that’s something the fan developers of OpenRA have been working on for almost a full decade.)
Does this mean we’re getting a new Krush Kill ‘n Destroy? Well, not necessarily. More often than not, trademark filings are nothing more than mundane paperwork. As Ryan Morrison, founder of intellectual property law specialists Morrison Rothman, told Polygon, trademark filings are generally the legal equivalent of maintenance.
“Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, you’re dealing with a publisher or a major company that has in-house legal teams that are on monthly retainers that are just sitting there bored all day,” Morrison told Polygon.
Still, it’s interesting to keep a track of this stuff nonetheless. And there is the small part that Ziggurat have spoken before about having grander plans for the Aussie post-apocalyptic RTS:
“The KKnD series is a hallmark of the golden age of RTS titles, and we’re overjoyed to now make it available to a wider audience via Steam,” said Michael Devine, SVP of Business Development at Ziggurat Interactive. “Expanding the availability of KKnD is just the beginning of a complete reintroduction of this wonderful franchise.”
So, one has to ask. If the KKnD series is going to make a comeback — what exactly would you do with it?
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