The studio claiming to have the blessings of Fox Entertainment to proceed with a Firefly themed MMO have disputed our reporting over the weekend which suggested their project was a hoax.
The suspicion was drawn from the logo and the presence of an endorsement purportedly from The Yes Men, an activist group that has impersonated government and corporate spokesmen in their protest campaigns.
DarkCryo claims to have received "a myriad of endorsement proposals" for this game, including from the musicial performers Circa Paleo, and the Yes Men. The Yes Men, say DarkCryo, are appearing in the game.
"The Yes Men elite NPCs will be sabotaging Megacorp faction PCs whom are guilty of monopolizing ingame commerce," the studio said in a message posted to their Facebook page.
"In a user-generated environment, balance is everything. Every faction requires a creative boss to which we can relate, and the Yes Men were gracious enough to allow us the integration of their identities into gameplay."
Kotaku has sent emails to both The Yes Men and to Circa Paleo asking to confirm their endorsements and appearances in the game.
In direct criticism of Kotaku, DarkCryo said "We prefer to let the article stand for two reasons. Firstly endorsement is a two way street, and we are more than happy to return the favour of publicity back to the Yes Men who have taken the leap of faith to endorse DarkCryo. Secondly, and more importantly, such articles redirect the undesirable demographic away from FUO to titles more befitting their personalities, and whose colourful tact is more appreciated by a like-minded gaming audience."
Kotaku has requested a comment from DarkCryo and further clarification of its arrangement with Fox Entertainment. In the fall, Fox Entertainment evidently noticed this project and put a stop to its use of the Firefly trademark. On Jan. 1, DarkCryo claimed to have resolved the matter and been clear to proceed with "the well wishes" of Fox.