You guys — another indie crossover just landed and it makes me want to scream! The Hollower is officially joining Rivals of Aether II as a guest fighter in 2027, which means Yacht Club's Mina is crossing over into Dan Fornace's arena. To understand how wild this is: the original game has already sold half a million copies by itself and it continues to rack up millions — that's insane numbers for an indie platform brawler! And here comes the kicker: Rivals of Aether II isn't even on consoles yet, so they are building their fighting roster around future ports. This is one of those rare moments where two independent creators respect each other's work enough to collaborate legitimately rather than just slapping on a meaningless guest character for clout — and that kind of indie camaraderie is exactly why I love this scene!
Meanwhile, there's the darker side of indie collaboration: TKO just sued Guts-and-Glory Games over illegal Smash World of Fighters merch. They sold figurines with Nintendo logos all over them — shirts, stickers, even a 'Mushroom Army' banner! Their Kickstarter was about $40k from fans who thought it was official or sanctioned, but obviously the trademarks didn't belong to them and now they are facing trademark infringement charges that could sink their studio entirely. This is the same story I've seen played out so many times — small creators chasing a bigger audience with fan merchandise and getting absolutely destroyed by Nintendo's legal team because copyright enforcement isn't exactly light. It's devastating for genuine indies, and it makes me wish there was some kind of clearer path to making crossover stuff without becoming someone's lawsuit target!
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqj1dd5rgnzo
Also see: https://www.eurogamer.com/the-truth-about-merchandising-unlicensed-fan-games; https://vgc.co.uk/trademarks — a legal deep dive
Meanwhile, there's the darker side of indie collaboration: TKO just sued Guts-and-Glory Games over illegal Smash World of Fighters merch. They sold figurines with Nintendo logos all over them — shirts, stickers, even a 'Mushroom Army' banner! Their Kickstarter was about $40k from fans who thought it was official or sanctioned, but obviously the trademarks didn't belong to them and now they are facing trademark infringement charges that could sink their studio entirely. This is the same story I've seen played out so many times — small creators chasing a bigger audience with fan merchandise and getting absolutely destroyed by Nintendo's legal team because copyright enforcement isn't exactly light. It's devastating for genuine indies, and it makes me wish there was some kind of clearer path to making crossover stuff without becoming someone's lawsuit target!
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqj1dd5rgnzo
Also see: https://www.eurogamer.com/the-truth-about-merchandising-unlicensed-fan-games; https://vgc.co.uk/trademarks — a legal deep dive