Public Domain Mickey Mouse Is Already A Playable Video Game Character

gameranx.com:

Mickey Mouse is now playable in a video game! Which is to say, the public domain version of Mickey Mouse just got added to a game.

So on January 1, 2024, several creative works entered the public domain. The most prominent of these was Walt Disney’s earliest theatrical animation short, Steamboat Willie. It also includes various curious odds and ends, as well as certified classics, such as the Peter Pan play, Charlie Chaplin film The Circus, and a song called the Wolverine Blues.

The Verge covered this landmark date in copyright history, but what is relevant in this story is Mickey Mouse himself. Steamboat Willie was the first time the world met Mickey Mouse, so this was the earliest path to making the character public domain.

However, Mickey’s public domain status comes with a caveat, because Disney filed a trademark for Mickey Mouse’s likeness. To sum it all up, the only version of Mickey Mouse that is public domain is the version that appeared in the Steamboat Willie cartoon.

But of course, that means everyone can just make their Mickey Mouse media now. They can make Mickey Mouse shorts, cartoons, animations, and of course, video games.

Game studio Herosoft was well ahead of everyone else as they prepared well in advance of this day, and they already made Mickey Mouse playable in their own game!

MICKEY MOUSE

IN HIS FIRST APPEARANCE OUTSIDE THE MOUSE HOUSE, ZERO EXTRA COST.

AND IT'S NOT A SLASHER MOVIE IT'S JUST A DUMB LITTLE INDIE GAME!!!

Pick up Inverse Ninjas VS. The Public Domain on Steam and Itch! (Link in below tweet) #gamedev #MickeyMouse #indiedev #pixelart pic.twitter.com/LRllymWYGZ

Herosoft’s game, funnily enough, is called Inverse Ninjas Vs. The Public Domain. As you can guess, the other playable characters that