SEGA still owns Alpha Protocol IP but music rights expired

Yesterday we learned that Sega had pulled Obsidian’s cult classic espionage RPG, Alpha Protocol, from sale on Steam. This was a surprise move that came without warning. At the time, a Sega spokesperson said that this was due to the company’s publishing rights expiring but it turns out that they were mistaken.

Music rights expiring has caused plenty of big games to be temporarily removed from sale. Rockstar had to go back to GTA: San Andreas and change the music after rights expired. Microsoft had to put in some extra work last year after music rights expired for Alan Wake. Now according to SEGA, the music rights for Alpha Protocol have expired, causing that game to be removed from sale with immediate effect.

This is unfortunate, as it means that Obsidian doesn’t own the rights to the IP and neither does Microsoft, making a future sequel or reboot unlikely for now. It is also unclear if Sega will be willing to obtain new licenses for the music used in Alpha Protocol to allow it to return for sale on digital platforms.

KitGuru Says: If Obsidian does end up being interested in returning to Alpha Protocol someday, then I am sure Microsoft will try to obtain the IP for them. For now, it looks like the game might be lost to the sands of time, which is a real shame. Hopefully going forward, publishers/developers consider outcomes like this when deciding on music tracks for their games.

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