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Star Control: Origins is now available again on Steam

Star Control: Origins finds its place in the stars once more on Steam.

After a brief period of unavailability, Star Control: Origins has returned to Steam. It was originally removed due to a DMCA takedown issued by the series’ creators, but returned to the platform today.

Near the beginning of the year, Star Control: Origins was removed from both GOG and Steam as a result of the DMCA, though the game has yet to return to GOG. Former Star Control creators Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III filed the claim. The two were responsible for creating the franchise in partnership with Accolade Inc.

Star Control: Origins developer Stardock first purchased the Star Control IP in 2013 during an Atari bankruptcy auction, and then went on to debut their newest project in the form of Star Control: Origins in 2016. At that time, the original creators were working on a sequel to the original Star Control. This lead to a suit filed by Stardock against Ford and Reiche, as they believed they retained full control over the IP.

This turned out not to have not been the case, as the rights for the first two Star Control games had apparently expired by the time Stardock received the rights. Stardock went ahead with releasing Star Control: Origins this year, and even went so far as to file a preliminary injunction against a potential DMCA takedown to try and prevent it. It didn’t work out the way the company planned, so the injunction was denied.

There’s currently no bottom line explanation about why the game has been restored to Steam, but we’re thinking additional details may come of the situation sooner. It will certainly be an interesting one to follow.