GABRIEL KNIGHT 4: Resurrect the Shadowhunter is a petition targeted at Activision Blizzard, for a new chapter in the game trilogy.

Already signed, shared and supported by Robert Holmes, Cesar Bittar, Dave Gilbert and several others, this campaign was created to support Jane Jensen's efforts to discuss the IP with Activision. In a situation very similar to King's Quest saga, we are coming together as fans one more time to prove there is a demand for this game to be made. How would this work? In 2013, Activision licenced the rights of Gabriel Knight 1: Sins of the Fathers to Jane Jensen and Robert Holmes. While it's highly unlikely Activision would sell or give the rights back completely, licencing the character is a real possibility, which has already been done once before. When the producer gets a licence to use a character, they're free to create a new game.

The Schattenjäger-trilogy has been the subject of dozens of fan-made petitions for well over a decade, ever since the third installment of the series (Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned) was released in 1999 with an unresolved cliffhanger ending.

Originally released by the legendary adventure game studio Sierra On-Line, the Gabriel Knight games came to a sudden halt when the studio shut down and the copyright of Gabriel Knight were sold to Vivendi (later acquired by Activision). The rise of first person shooter-games had begun, and pressure to create 3D graphic games might've been a factor in this.

Jane Jensen, the author and designer of all three GK-games has tried to acquire the copyright of her beloved character Gabriel for a long time. In 2014, a 20th Anniversary Remaster (Phoenix Online) of the first Gabriel Knight adventure was released, in the hopes of revitalizing the series.While the game was met with rave reviews, the sales weren't enough to convince Activision to produce more. Even so, the kickstarter campaign for the remaster reached nearly half a million dollars in donations and gave fans hope of a fourth game being produced. The game was a welcome surprise to many, but fans felt the need for Gabriel Knight 4 was stronger than a remaster. This is most likely the reason why sales weren't quite what the creators had hoped for. This is why, more than ever, now is the time to come together one more time and resurrect Gabriel Knight!

As fans of Gabriel Knight Mysteries, we urge Activision Blizzard to please either produce a fourth Gabriel Knight game written by Jane Jensen, or licence the character to Jane Jensen herself. As fans who've adored the work of Jensen since the beginning, we feel there is no better time than right now. Let this petition serve as our heartfelt appeal for a completed Gabriel Knight saga, and our fight for what we believe in.

Activision, please let us have a proper ending to the story of Gabriel, the way Jane Jensen originally planned it*.



*In 2015, Jane Jensen created a graphic novel called "Temptation", which follows the events of Gabriel Knight 3, and provides some clues as to what is to come, should the fourth game be released. You can download the free PDF here. (Jane Jensen, Phoenix Online 2015).

Read more below...

ABOUT GABRIEL KNIGHT

Voiced by legendary actors Tim Curry (Gabriel), Mark Hamill (Mosley) and Leah Remini (Grace), the Gabriel Knight series' first installment Sins of the Fathers was released in 1993. It received multiple awards and praise by gaming magazines, and became an instant classic hit among mystery game fans. One of the first adventure games using horror as the main element of story-telling, the Knight saga surprised- and Jensen's unique style of writing captivated gamers all around the globe. The following games were as successful as the first, leading to awards, books and even influenced several Hollywood films. Gabriel Knight has been named the 16th best-selling adventure game ever released. Despite the last installment being released in 1999, the game still has a cult following of fans.

FINANCING

Should Activision decide to licence the rights of GK to its rightful owner, Jane Jensen, the fans would once again come together and finance the game. We strongly believe many other adventure game studios would also be more than glad to take part in production or financing of the game. Without getting into too much details, our idea is to run a fundraiser for the game(s) and then to donate the full sum to Robert, and Jane directly.

Should Activision decide to produce and distribute the game itself, financing could still partly be done via fan donations. This would also mean, that more Gabriel Knight games would most likely follow. Activision profiting from the the fourth game would be a clear sign that fans expect at least one more story.

Obviously, the final call of the business plan falls into Jane Jensen's and Activision's hands. These are just a few possible options, on how at least one game would be achieved.

[Text by original author with the help of Sean Parker]