GoldenEye 007 Software Trademark Renewed, Is A Remaster Announcement Imminent?

GoldenEye 007 Software Trademark Renewed, Is A Remaster Announcement Imminent?

With the James Bond movie franchise hitting its milestone 60th anniversary this year, rumours of a GoldenEye 007 remaster are swirling.

In January 2021, footage of an unreleased Xbox Live Arcade remaster of the N64 classic GoldenEye 007 surfaced. Fans were quickly able to get hold of a playable build, and it spread around the internet like wildfire.

Silence followed. Then, in January this year, rumours of a new remaster attempt began to swirl again. A supposedly leaked list of Xbox Live achievements hit the internet. If true, it would point to the existence of a remaster, but still difficult to confirm or quantify. To date, the only time GoldenEye 007 has appeared on a platform outside the N64 was the 2010 remake for the Wii Shop, in which Pierce Brosnan with then-current Bond, Daniel Craig.

Now, another wrinkle: an eagle-eyed report from VGC notes that the software trademark for GoldenEye 007 has been renewed. Danjaq, LLC., the holding company that controls the majority of characters and trademarks related to the Bond franchise, was granted a trademark extension for the game on March 15th. VGC’s reporting, and its sources, suggest that an announcement around the rumoured remaster is imminent.

Why has it taken so long to get a remaster?

One of the most important and influential console shooters ever made, GoldenEye 007 seems a ripe target for a remake or remaster. That it’s never happened is a testament to the legal minefield the original N64 game left behind. By all accounts, it’s a classic case of Too Many Cooks. Because the game originally appeared on the N64, Nintendo would have to give the all-clear on any related project. Because Microsoft now owns Rare, the game’s original developer, it too would need to give a green light. And then there’s MGM, the studio responsible for the Bond film franchise, who would also get a say because it owns the motion picture that Rare’s game adapts.

And because of its cultural significance and popularity, everyone was going to want a slice of the pie. Anyone with an ounce of sense could see making a bid to claim ownership of the game would result in a protracted legal battle. And so, it seems, the subject was dropped neatly into the too-hard basket for someone else to sort out.

It seems that someone has arrived. But who?

You know the name, you know the number

I mean, it’s probably Microsoft, right? Remember, it was Microsoft that was prepared to move ahead on that Xbox Live remaster we mentioned earlier. Though it had no deal for the remaster in place, it put a development team together and got them to build something playable. The clear hope was that when it pitched a remaster to the other license holders, it could say “Well we already made it, so you should probably just say yes.” That version, which was quite far along, was ultimately scuppered by miscommunication between the license holders anyway.

After the response to the Xbox Live remaster, it would make sense that Microsoft might want to try again. We don’t know that it has an interest in any future GoldenEye remaster, but such a thing seems like exactly the kind of Day One On Game Pass, Spared No Expense move it now likes to make. Pure speculation on our part, but the Bond 60th anniversary milestone would provide the perfect moment to launch such a project.

Keep your goldfingers crossed, everyone.


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