MGM tried to snuff out No One Lives Forever

The studio behind James Bond almost stopped Cate Archer in her tracks

We’ve been hearing little snippets of information concerning No One Lives Forever recently, like how no one actually knows who has the rights to the IP. A new interview on the reveals how the original game may never have seen the light of day in the first place. MGM studios sent the developer Monolith a cease-and-desist letter, claiming Cate Archer’s adventures infringed on their own James Bond IP.

No One Lives Forever lead designer Craig Hubbard revealed that the letter from one of MGM’s senior vice-presidents gave the studio 10 days to confirm they would cease production of the game. Monolith’s solution? Just ignore the letter and keeping making NOLF. The cease and desist was sent a full 18 months before the game shipped so it’s possible that the studio forgot about it in the gap before release. 

Craig reveals some interesting things about NOLF‘s development, like how the gender of the main protagonist changed because of Monolith’s initial fears of infringing on James Bond or how publisher Fox Interactive pushed the game to be set in the ’60s rather than a ’60s-inspired universe. Hopefully someone can get their act together and let Cate Archer have one last adventure; just not like that Bond movie Never Say Never Again, that was pish.

[The Jace Hall Show]