LEGO’s Heartbreaking Decision: Bionicle Fangame Canceled After 8 Years!

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LEGO has created a significant uproar within one of its major in-house franchises. Recently, the company halted the development of a fan-made Bionicle game that had been underway for eight years, which has upset one of LEGO’s largest fan communities.

The Bionicle: Masks of Power fan game was an eight-year undertaking by Team Kanohi, a passionate team of developers who cherished the old LEGO intellectual property (IP) called Bionicle. Though Bionicle isn’t active as a franchise now, it used to be a powerhouse across multiple media formats. Its unique toyline helped keep LEGO afloat during hard times, and it birthed a vast array of films, games, comics, serials, and other content. The storyline originally spanned from 2001 to 2010, but when it tried to come back in the form of a reboot from 2015-2016, it didn’t succeed.

LEGO Shut Down The Bionicle: Masks of Power Fangame After Eight Years of Development

As a passionate Bionicle fan, I’d envision my own fan-made project, “Masks of Power,” to dive deep into the realm of third-person action-adventure games. Previews hinted at a combat system reminiscent of ‘Horizon: Zero Dawn,’ with our beloved Toa, Matoran, and Rahi beautifully animated. The project sparked immense interest among fans, even drawing in Cryoshell, the talented band behind numerous Bionicle commercials, to collaborate with renowned creator Essenger on a captivating new theme song for the Masks of Power trailer. To add to the excitement, one of the original creators of Bionicle, Chris Faber, has publicly endorsed our team.

On May 17th, it was announced that LEGO had shut down the fan-made Bionicle game by Team Kanohi, a development that took many by surprise since the game had been in production for nearly a decade. In a previous interview with Digital Trends, creator Jordan Willis mentioned that they had discussions with a LEGO manager who didn’t provide definitive approval but did offer some rules and guidelines for presenting their product. Recently, however, Team Kanohi stated that “The LEGO Group has requested our team to cease work on our project entirely,” with the team suspecting that the shutdown may have been due to the title being too similar to an official LEGO product. This speculation remains unconfirmed at this time.

The closure of “Masks of Power” has sparked a broad outcry among the Bionicle community online and beyond, along with other influential figures in the LEGO and gaming world. On Instagram, Chris Faber likened the situation to the selfless act and endurance demonstrated by the Matoro character from Bionicle, while others have observed that this shutdown appears to be part of a larger pattern of Bionicle being phased out by LEGO, such as the removal of Bionicle statues from their theme parks.

As for Team Kanohi, they’re not backing down. In a recent announcement concerning the situation, Team Kanohi unveiled a new identity as Unmasked Games. Additionally, they disclosed ‘Project Rustbound’, a chance for developers to refine some of their existing work towards a fresh Intellectual Property (IP).

LEGO’s Crackdown On Masks of Power Isn’t the Only Way to Respond to Fan Projects

Many people believe that clamping down on fan-made games, or fangames, is a questionable decision, and companies like Nintendo have faced significant criticism in recent times for their efforts against these fan projects. It’s clear to see how valuable fan-made works can be for a franchise, with Sega and Bethesda being prime examples of studios that have embraced their fans through remarkable modding/fangame communities. For instance, Sega’s success this year with the unofficial PC port of Sonic Unleashed, titled “Unleashed Recompiled,” demonstrates its optimization achievements. Furthermore, the vast community of LEGO brickfilm creators has been a significant asset to the company, with LEGO even hiring numerous fan animators for various projects.

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2025-05-23 06:15