In an online post on his forums Ryan, the creator of this awesome MMO mod for Starcraft, explains what has been happening with the whole situation, from Blizzard lawyers all the way to Riot Games.

He went from “a nobody to a guy that half a million people want to design a mod.” Still, he is getting dozens of game designers, composers, organizer, and even just professionals looking for a “hobby project.”

Update 1: Blizzard has officially responded about the Mod.

Update 2: Ryan announces that the project will go on.

Some people think that Activision/Blizzard shot first and asked questions later, but Ryan explained:

The Deputy General Council from Blizzard contacted me last night to discuss the details of the “World of Starcraft” project. We talked for a while and apparently some people from Blizz were concerned I was developing the game somehow outside of SC2. Anyways I explained the details of the project to him and made it clear this mod was to be developed within SC2. After that was clear he obviously wanted the name to be changed… I’m trying to work with him to get the name Starcraft Universe (Currently in holding by Mille25) or Starcraft Chronicles. I am fully respectful of Blizzard’s Intellectual property, and they DO in fact own a copyright on “World of Starcraft” and have EVERY RIGHT to do what they did. If I want to continue this project I’m at the mercy of Blizzard’s good graces since they OWN it all.

If Activision wanted to seem like a company that embraced their modding community, they probably shouldn’t have just sent a cease and desist order. Valve Software did it right by simply asking for a name change on the vaporware we all know as Black Mesa. The “Source” in the project’s title was later dropped when Valve asked the team to remove it in order to “stem confusion over whether or not [it was] an endorsed or official product,” which it is not.

It seems Riot Games picked up the ball that Activision dropped . .

. . .yesterday I was contacted by Riot games in Los Angeles for a potential position in game design. . . this is not a 100% guaranteed thing, and I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do at the moment.

In closing, we hope that the WoSC mod becomes a reality but in any case we really hope for the best for Ryan. We’re happy to have played a part in making his dream come true.

Blizzard’s Official Response: