Hippity Hoppity Your Fan Game Is Now My Property

A comparison of Sega, Valve, and Nintendo's respective policies toward fan-made games using their intellectual property

This comparison meme outlines the widely perceived differences in how three major video game companies handle fan-made games created using their intellectual property. The first entry features the Sega logo paired with the cover of Sonic Mania, noting that Sega officially supports and releases high-quality fan games, having previously hired Sonic fan game creators to make Sonic Mania an official title. The second entry shows the Valve logo next to the cover of Black Mesa, a fan-made remake of Half-Life, explaining that Valve allows fan games to be sold commercially if creators adjust the title slightly and acquire a license, even drawing inspiration from these fan projects for their own official games. The final entry features the Nintendo logo next to the cover of AM2R (Another Metroid 2 Remake), a popular fan Metroid title that was hit with a DMCA takedown shortly after release, with the punchline reading 'Hippity Hoppity, your game is now my property' followed by 'DMCA Takedown Notice' mocking Nintendo's reputation for aggressively taking down fan projects using their IP.

The meme originates from the Reddit r/Meme subreddit, sourced via RSS. It references well-documented real world cases of each company's interactions with fan game creators: Sega's official adoption of fan work for Sonic Mania, Valve's approval of the commercial release of Black Mesa, and Nintendo's 2016 DMCA takedown of the completed AM2R fan remake. The 'Hippity Hoppity' phrase is a popular internet meme used humorously to refer to taking something abruptly without asking, which aligns with common complaints about Nintendo's strict IP enforcement against fan creators.