What just happened? The fan-made attempt to recreate GoldenEye 007 in Unreal Engine 4 has come to an abrupt end after the IP holder sent out a cease and desist request. Creator Ben Colclough spent two years working on GoldenEye 25, which was set to launch in August 2022 in time for the original's 25th anniversary. Now, it appears the dream is over, but all is not lost.

For those lucky enough to have played the original, the promise of an updated GoldenEye 007 was an enticing prospect. There's already a version of the game's multiplayer called GoldenEye: Source, created in Valve's Source engine, that arrived in 2016, but GoldenEye 25 aimed to recreate the single-player campaign in Unreal Engine 4. What we saw of it last year looked very promising.

The devs actually cited GoldenEye: Source's long existence as a reason to be optimistic that the IP holder wouldn't object to the remake---they also made sure not to copy the original's music. Sadly, their hopes were dashed after MGM/Danjaq requested that they cease development of GoldenEye 25.

"This was always in the back of our heads as a possibility but we've tried our best to keep going. Of course we will comply and want to thank you for your ongoing support," read a post on the game's official Twitter account.

The demand doesn't mean all that work was for nothing. What's been created so far will be used to create a new title minus the GoldenEye name and James Bond characters. On the new Project Lantus account, Colclough notes that the change means it will be available on Steam, and console ports are a possibility.