The LEGO Group has officially requested the shutdown of BIONICLE: Masks of Power, a fan-made video game that has been in development for eight years. Team Kanohi, the dedicated group behind the project, must now remove all traces of their work from public platforms, ending their dream of bringing the beloved BIONICLE franchise back to life in video game form.
The free, not-for-profit game aimed to recreate the rich world of BIONICLE as a 3D action-adventure experience. Throughout development, Team Kanohi believed they were following LEGO’s “Fair Play” guidelines by clearly marking their project as unofficial and never charging players.
“During that entire time, we’ve made an effort to ensure our project was in good standing with the LEGO Group,” the team stated in their announcement. “We have never charged our fans a single cent for the game’s development, and have put disclaimers that clearly label our project as fan-made.”
LEGO’s decision comes as a surprise to many fans, as the company had previously seemed tolerant of similar projects. The BIONICLE franchise, which ran primarily from 2001 to 2010 with a brief revival in 2015–2016, maintains a deeply passionate fanbase that has kept the property alive through various fan creations.
According to Team Kanohi, LEGO’s concerns centered around potential confusion between their fan game and an official product. “What we suspect is that our project was too easy to mistake for an official product,” the team explained. The game’s professional quality and visibility in search results likely contributed to this concern.
The shutdown hits especially hard considering the project’s long development timeline. Fans have followed the game’s progress for years, with playable demos and trailers showcasing impressive recreations of BIONICLE’s iconic Toa heroes and expansive environments.
Some fans point out that LEGO has recently stepped up its own gaming efforts, forming an internal game development team and exploring original IP games. This strategic shift may explain the company’s stricter stance on fan-made games using their properties.
Since the shutdown, Team Kanohi is pivoting to a new direction. Under the name “Unmasked Games,” they’ll channel their eight years of experience into creating an original game with their own intellectual property. While disappointing for BIONICLE fans, this move allows the developers to protect their future work from similar copyright issues.
