Okay, so the story with Eolith is that at the time they initially signed their contract with SNK, Eolith was the number one game company in Korea. Of course, they’d only made a couple of really dinky-looking arcade games, so I guess an earlier rumour (that I’d forgotten) about them being the first game company in Korea doesn’t seem all that unfounded. (There have been several to follow in the last couple of years, but this is generally all very new to Korea.)

SNK’s games have always, always been popular in Asia and South America. Those have traditionally been their biggest markets. This is why it was such a big deal for Megaking to get that distribution deal with SNK somewhere near the end. Megaking was another aspiring Korean game company, and being associated with SNK did them wonders.

The same goes with Eolith. Since SNK’s R&D staff was all gone, and the King of Fighters series was “ended”, so to speak, it was left for someone to pick up. Aruze were cleaning house at the time, raping SNK of everything which might have made them a passing profit. So there would never be a better opportunity.

And so Eolith jumped the gun and picked up the license. And that’s what it is — a license. In other words, Eolith were officially making their own game, based upon SNK’s characters and designs. They just felt it wisest to continue in the tradition and make this game the next chapter in the established series.

Of course, Eolith… are not skilled game designers. Which is why they hired Brezza — SNK’s old R&D staff — to design the game for them. They wanted to make 2001 as close to an official KoF game as possible, only with their name on it.

And then Sun popped up and offered to publish the game. They were also made of ex-SNK staff. So the game would be developed by ex-SNK staff and distributed by ex-SNK staff. And Eolith would get the credit (especially since no one knew who Brezza or Sun were at the time). Everyone seemed okay with that.

But then what happened, of course, is Playmore grabbed up all of SNK’s properties and started organizing things. There was a period toward the end when Aruze just sold or licensed out SNK’s properties to whomsoever offered. Playmore put an end to this, and made sure it was well-known that they owned all of SNK’s material and effectively now were the new SNK. They were in charge, and would appreciate all of their property back now.

So the nature of their relationship with Eolith became a little strange. Because Brezza and Sun (along with Noise Factory) became part of the Playmore group, the game essentially is being designed by Playmore now. Eolith are contractually involved, and theoretically are in control of the project — this is their game, not SNK/Playmore’s. But for the most part it’s just a show. Eolith get the right to be a figurehead, and the less they do to muck things up the better. Luckily, they know enough to keep their mouths shut.

Megaking’s involvement with Metal Slug seems similar, except for a couple of factors. One, they actually seem to be doing some of the work along with Noise Factory. Two, they’re a lot more important to Playmore than Eolith ever could be. Megaking and Playmore together are who formed the various SNK NEOGEO branches, with the idea that Megaking would be intrinsically involved with the main Korean branch. So they’re not just cashing-in, as Eolith are. They want to be a part of things.

I’ve a feeling these kinds of deals are going to be very limited in the future, what with Playmore in the picture. After 2002, I don’t see why they have any need to renew their contract with Eolith unless Eolith agree to some sort of funding scheme. Otherwise they’re not really adding anything. I can see how Playmore might throw Megaking a few bones, but the thing is, Megaking are already involved in SNK NEOGEO Korea. So they’re in the picture anyway. And yet on the third hand, they actually helped in development. So if they were to continue developing for Playmore, that would save on some Brezza and Noise staff and resources.

It’s just lucky that Eolith were intelligent in how they chose to exploit their license. Actually, it’s astounding that things turned out as well as they seem to have done, all around. Playmore jumped in quickly enough to keep the wolves at bay and to make sure everyone who already had claims to some of SNK’s properties, was behaving.

I’ve not yet eaten today. This situation will now be remedied.