make a game sequel without using any copyright material?

Question

Let's take the game Portal for example, Portal 2 was the final game in the series, however lets say I wanted to make Portal 3. If I use a different name, like I don't know bouncy balls or something, used none of the characters from the original, and none of the assets or textures. Can I still create it as a fan made sequel?

It would seem so, because I'm technically creating a completely separate game that just acts as a sequel. But I would rather get some further advice beforehand. Also can I still sell it for money, or does it have to be free?

Does this answer your question? Is loading assets from another game's install folder copyright infringement? — BlueDogRanch, Jan 27 '24 at 15:23
It is a sequel, because it has very similar gameplay, and follows the story of the original game, just not using any original textures or characters. Everything would be new but still similar enough that it would continue the game — Pow, Jan 27 '24 at 15:23
@BlueDogRanch not quite, this is a completely seperate game with all different assets and names. — Pow, Jan 27 '24 at 15:24

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 27 '24 at 22:23

Making a "spiritual successor" is legal, as long as none of the copyrighted material from the original is present. That means that the story, characters, names, etc from the original can't be in the spiritual successor.

However, making a direct sequel would be illegal. Ex: "Portal 3", "GTA 7", using characters from the original, even just naming objects in the same way or remaking locations from the original, etc.

Gameplay concepts can occasionally be patented (for instance, US5718632A) and you'll need to ensure that your "spiritual successor" doesn't violate any of those. You'll also need to make sure that your naming isn't close enough to the original to violate any trademarks.

But ultimately, it fine to build a game that feels similar as long as you're not violating any of the things mentioned above.

Here's an example: Yooka-Laylee is a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie. However, it doesn't take anything from the original. No characters are the same. No locations are the same. No plot is the same. It's not a sequel, but obviously fans of the original can recognize enough similarity in the premise to understand its inspiration.

make a game sequel without using any copyright material?

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