Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War
"Descent: FreeSpace" was well received as a single-player space simulation that integrated all the desired features of its genre, from competent AI wingmen, to the presence of large capital ships that not only dwarf the fighters piloted by the player, but also explode spectacularly when destroyed. However, the game's multiplayer mode was criticised, as it was plagued by lag and inaccurate tracking of statistics. An expansion for the game, which was less well received, was also released in 1998 under the title of "Silent Threat", and focuses on events after the main game's campaign with the player working for an intelligence branch of the Terrans' armed forces that later attempt to overthrow the Terran government. A sequel to "Descent: FreeSpace" entitled "FreeSpace 2", was released in 1999 to critical acclaim.
FreeSpace 2
Despite Volition's interest and desire to develop add-ons and expansions for "FreeSpace 2", Interplay told them to stop. Volition was then acquired by THQ in 2000. As Interplay owns the rights to the "FreeSpace" series (as well as the "Descent" series) and Volition's owners, THQ, is only interested in pursuing development on what they own, Volition was unable to continue developing the "FreeSpace" franchise. Faced with source code which became practically useless to them, Volition released the source code for only game engines to the public under a noncommercial license on April 25, 2002. Mike Kulas, the President of Volition, said this was to give those outside the game industry a chance to look at the code of a commercial software product, a desire he and Matt Toschlog had when they were not yet in the industry. In the years since, no sequels to "FreeSpace 2" have been made and Interplay has only published a limited re-release of it on February 2, 2004, to commemorate the company's 20th anniversary. Interplay, by that time, was in financial trouble, failing to pay rent and wages to its workers. Seeking investors to inject it with funds, Interplay changed business strategies: instead of developing and publishing single-player games, it sold licenses to those games and looked towards developing massive multi-player online games. Derek Smart, creator of "Battlecruiser 3000AD", had casually mentioned his interest in the "Freespace" license, but nothing significant came out of this. In 2013, Interplay acquired the remaining rights to the "FreeSpace" franchise for $7,500 after THQ went to bankruptcy court.