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Daybreak Game Company
The current parent company of (live) EverQuest; see Wikipedia's entry for further details.
Daybreak and Project 1999 Agreement
In 2015 Project 1999 and Daybreak Game Company entered into a formal legal arrangement.
“It’s been an exciting year for Project 1999 and we have some exciting news we’ve been really anxious to share with all of you. As some of you may be aware, in the past there has been both confusion and concern over the status of Project 1999. We have recently entered into a written agreement with Daybreak Game Company LLC that formally recognizes Project 1999 as a fan based, not-for-profit, classic EverQuest emulation project. The agreement establishes the guidelines that we as a project must follow, but it will allow to us continue to update the game without risk of legal repercussions. As a show of good faith to support the efforts of Daybreak Games, we have decided to reschedule our expansion release as to not conflict with the upcoming new progression server being released in the coming weeks. We would like to personally thank all the folks at Daybreak and acknowledge how awesome it is for a company to work with and embrace the creations of their fans. This is really something that’s unique in the gaming industry.”
The exact details of this arrangement were not (and likely never will be) made public.
However, the critical detail that has been made public is that both parties have reached an arrangement that they are happy with, and which allows Project 1999 to operate without fear of legal threat from EverQuest's current IP holder.
The Agreement and the Titanium Client
Another important detail to note though is that this agreement with Daybreak likely does not extend to offering any legal protection for Project 1999 players who use the Titanium Client. If it did, Project 1999 could provide that client to users ... but for legal reasons Acquiring The EverQuest Client is slightly more difficult.
Between Daybreak's public assurances and the secret legal agreement, Project 1999's future seems secure. But because of exact details of that agreement, the Titanium client remains a minor "pain point".
Is Project 1999's Future Really Safe?
No one knows the exact details of the agreement (except those involved of course), or what Daybreak's future owners might do, but consider this exchange from a "concerned" (to put it generously) player on the forum and some of the staff:
You don't know me. Prove to your playerbase Epstein can't shut it all down tomorrow.
Good thing I don't waste time trying to prove things to trolls on the forums, when my time is better spent working on buttoning up issues for the new server of a community that's been around for 10 years.
Nilbog and Rogean have literally been there in person with Daybreak employees, at the EverQuest Museum in San Diego. They had a section there where Project 1999 was displayed.
Holly Longdale has gone on record stating that she would rather see people interested in true classic EverQuest play on Project 1999 as they don't have the resources to provide a true classic experience. John Smedley was the one who orchestrated the deal and every time a C&D went to his desk for legal approval, he'd stand up for EQEmu stating that they're just hyper fans of the game.
They're a lot more open than when they were Sony-owned.
This thread is fearmongering.
