Two fans are trying to make it happen

Two video game designers are working on a game based around the Seinfeld sitcom.

Although the long-running comedy was, famously, about nothing Jacob Janerka and Ivan Dixon say the world of Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer could become a old-school point-and-click adventure game.

However, they believe they would face a huge hurdle to acquire the rights and don’t want to risk a lawsuit by releasing an unofficial version, even as a free fan game.

So they have released this video outlining the concept of their game in the hope of persuading creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David to grant them permission.

On a website they’ve set up to promote the project, they say: ‘We want to do this the official way. However, we believe that pitching to the internet will show the demand for such a game, which will provide a better chance of this becoming a thing than us just sending a cold email.   We need actual, real internet people to show that there is a demand for it.’

‘We are just huge fans of the show. We both currently work full-time, Jacob in game development and Ivan in animation. However, this game is something we’ve been talking about for years and, in fact, it’s how we met. Our friendship is forged through a popular 1990s sitcom. We can’t think of any bond stronger than that, not even the one between an infant and mother. 

Explaining the concept of the game, they said that they took inspiration from 8-bit point-and-click adventure  games that were around at the same time as the show, such as  Monkey Island.

They said:  ‘For a "show about nothing" Seinfeld has a surprisingly rich world. There are so many memorable recurring characters, plot lines and locations as the four protagonists navigate new relationships, jobs and rivals. ‘

However they said they don’t merely want to repeat jokes or plots from the comedy, but plan a brand new story, which players could tackle as any of the main Seinfeld characters. Except for Kramer, who would be a ‘wild card… who can influence the story but not be controlled’.

The new episode they suggest is called The Email, and they set out the plot as follows:

Jerry is dating a publicist who accidentally reveals his email address to Kenny Bania through a group email. Now Bania fills Jerry’s inbox with a flurry of spam emails asking for feedback on his new stand-up set. Jerry decides to break up with the publicist over this, but he doesn’t want to deal with the interaction face-to-face. Kramer suggests ending the relationship via email and avoiding it all together. Jerry does this before Elaine reminds him that the publicist was supposed to get them all tickets to the opening night of the new movie "Rochelle, Rochelle 2". George devises a plan to corrupt Jerry’s girlfriend’s computer before she can read her emails so that they can still collect the tickets. Kramer says he knows who can help. Someone with a sworn vendetta against email. Someone who has devoted their whole life to analogue mail and sees email as a threat to his livelihood. Someone named Newman.

Netflix recently bought the rights to the show for a reported $500million, so the franchise is still valuable. 

Janerka and Ivan Dixon are currently encouraging fans who want to see the game happening to post about it on social media, using the hashtag #seinfeldgame.

Published: 20 Apr 2020