A Microsoft lawyer has said that despite concerns to the contrary, Microsoft is not going to take issue with the creation of a Master Chief mod for Unreal Tournament 3.
Unveiled earlier in the week, the mod allows gamers to play as the Xbox flagship character Master Chief on the PlayStation 3 console by way of Unreal Tournament 3. Some observers felt the potential for a negative reaction from Microsoft was real enough that sources as far-flung as Business Week took notice, but on his DonkeyXote blog, Microsoft attorney Don McGowan wrote, “Many people are talking about the Master Chief mod for Unreal Tournament 3, that allows you to play in the character of the Master Chief on the PS3. Many people are surprised Microsoft is ‘allowing’ this.”
“Actually it’s nothing more than Game Content Usage Rules in action,” he continued. “When these were developed, people all thought they were focused on machinima. The truth is that while they do address machinima they also allow for a lot of other things. Mods like this are one of them. The developers aren’t selling the mod, they’re not monetizing Microsoft’s IP, they’re just creating something to share their love of the Master Chief on a new platform. It’s a great thing for us and a great thing for the gaming community.”
Despite his magnanimous attitude, McGowan couldn’t resist a parting shot at Sony’s competing console. “This will also remind people of just how great the Halo games are and remind them that if they’re done with the user-created faux-Halo experience, the real Halo is available only on the Xbox 360. And no one is taking characters from PlayStation games (do they even have any games?) and putting them on our platform…”
