Hopes that GameCube survival horror Eternal Darkness could make a comeback have been rekindled thanks to a new trademark filing at Nintendo.
Trademarks are usually far less important than some fans would like to think. In order to keep them companies have to constantly prove that they’re using the name and often have to re-register them, even though they’ve got not imminent intention of using them.
Sometimes companies allow trademarks to fall into disuse (or forget to keep them current), only to reclaim them later. In other words they’re not usually anything to get excited about… except maybe this one for Eternal Darkness.
The new international trademark was noticed by a user on ResetEra and seems to include the first filing ever for the game in Japan. But that still doesn’t answer the question of whether Nintendo would ever bring the series back.
There are two obvious problem with a comeback for Eternal Darkness: 1) developer Silicon Knights have been out of business for years and 2) it was never a big seller in the first place.
You’ve also got the question of whether the game is good enough to justify a comeback, on which opinion differs greatly. It certainly was an ambitious survival horror though, with a storyline that took place across several centuries and a fun Lovecraftian style plot.
The game is still probably best remembered for its ‘sanity effects’ though, where if your character began to go mad the game started messing with the controls or display – in one memorable instance making you think the console had been switched off.
Whether that’s enough to justify a comeback remains to be seen but it’s still one of Nintendo’s very few mature-rated first party games and it is referenced in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with a spirit of main character Alexandra Roivas.
Given the age of the game though a remake would make more sense than a remaster but that, or a sequel, would be expensive and not something you’d really expect from Nintendo right now.
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