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Pantheon removes its web store
If you were waiting to grab something from the website store for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, you are now officially too late. A forum post this week states that after internal developer discussion, the devs made the decision to remove the store in prep for a redesign of the interface and a re-evaluation of the various items up for sale. Any orders already placed via the store will still be honored, so you don't need to worry if you had purchased something just before the shutdown. The post also makes note that if the store is brought back, no items with any sort of statistics or concrete advantages will be sold there, although there are no hard and fast decisions about when or whether it will be brought back. Of course, it's probably a little early to be worrying about that anyhow, but points for thinking ahead.
PAX South 2015: The Untitled Game is whatever you want it to be
The Untitled Game, better known as TUG, is one of the many recent titles that have earned a small crowdfunding fortune by shouting the word "sandbox" as loud as the internet will allow. The game's initial Kickstarter campaign raised $293,000; launching on Steam's Early Access marketplace helped Nerd Kingdom rake in an unspecified amount of additional dollars. The studio had a bold plan for an open-world, innovative crafting MMORPG, and it appeared as though players were ready to pay for it. Things haven't gone so swimmingly since then. Funding issues in late 2014 forced the studio to lay off around half of its staff. Many MMO industry followers have been wondering whether the project will ever be released or it's just another crowdfunded pipe dream. I took a look at TUG on the show floor at PAX South 2015 and talked to COO Brennan Priest about crowdfunding, layoffs, and killing things with axes. The one thing I can say for sure is that there is definitely a game here, and it seems as if it could be a good one.
PAX South 2015: Notes from a Star Citizen town hall
Star Citizen is such a big fancy deal that instead of having a panel or booth at PAX South 2015, Cloud Imperium booked a theater down the street and hosted 10 straight hours of forums and chit-chats with backers. That's right: There wasn't enough room in the PAX convention hall to accommodate all the Star Citizening Star Citizens needed to Star Citizen, so they had their own one-day mini-convention dedicated just to their game of choice. One has to respect a development team willing to spend the entire day with its community (for a nominal fee, of course). I'm sure Star Citizens were absolutely amped to pay the same amount of money as a PAX day pass to hang out with CI all day. Unfortunately, I attended only the evening town hall with Chris Roberts, which I would describe as impenetrable to anyone without a license to pilot one of Star Citizen's $350 ships. I did take some notes. I will try to parse them here.
PAX South 2015: Garriott and Long talk Shroud of the Avatar
In 2013, Ultima Online creator Richard Garriott took to Kickstarter in the hopes of funding an old-school, sandbox-y MMO. Titled Shroud of the Avatar, the new project would be built in Unity and aimed squarely at those MMO fans who longed for the days of player-driven economies, crafting as a focus instead of a side activity, and the ability to impact the game world in a real way. The plan worked. Shroud of the Avatar pulled $1.9 million on Kickstarter alone, almost doubling its $1 million funding goal. Since then, the team has been hard at work bringing Garriott's vision to life (and keeping backers happy). I spoke with Garriott on the PAX South 2015 show floor about crowdfunding, loot, and the mistakes of the modern RPG. I also got to play a bit of SOTA with the help of executive producer Starr Long, who kindly did not make fun of me when I was killed by the second mob in the demo.
Star Citizen expected to reach $100 million in funding
Wing Commander, and more recently Star Citizen creator Chris Roberts recently delivered his BAFTA Masterclass presentation in Los Angeles and via Twitch, revealing target launch dates for each phase of the game. As reported by Polygon, the beta programs for the game's first-person shooter and planetside components are due this spring, followed by arena commander 2.0 ships in summer. Additionally, the first episode of the story-based Squadron 42 single-player campaign will arrive this fall, with the backers-only alpha program for the persistent universe part of the game due by the end of the year. Roberts expects that Star Citizen will see its commercial launch in 2016. The designer discussed the community engagement and crowdfunding efforts of the space simulation game, noting that the developer is "now close to $70 million, and it's likely the carry-on will probably be over $100 by the time the game is close to public release." Roberts stressed that Star Citizen's crowdfunding efforts "isn't really about the money," but rather "it's really about bringing people in to create this community and have them sort of share that experience with you as you're building it." [Image: Roberts Space Industries]
Google and SpaceX are talking about internet satellites (update)
We don't normally cover the dry world of start-up funding, but this story looks as if it's worth breaking a rule for. According to a report over at The Information, Google is about to write SpaceX, Elon Musk's private spaceflight company, a big check the next time the latter company requests some cash. It's still early days, but anonymous sources that are familiar with the matter believe that the quantity of cash that'll change hands is "very large." Update (1/20/15): And it's done! Google is part of a billon-dollar investment round in SpaceX that values the company at $10 billion.
Kickstarter successfully aided 1,980 gaming projects in 2014
We've been wondering around the office if crowdfunded MMOs are on the downswing after previous years' highs. It might well be the case, but even so, Kickstarter continues to be a funding powerhouse in the games industry. GamesIndustry reports that 1,980 gaming projects were successfully funded via Kickstarter in 2014, with a total of $89.1 million raised between them. Those projects were just a fraction of the year's 22,252 funded campaigns. For more Kickstarter and crowdfunding news, make sure to read Massively's Make My MMO column every week.
Kickstarter rakes in $529 million for projects in 2014
Over 3.3 million people pledged $529 million towards projects on Kickstarter in 2014, the crowdfunding platform revealed. This marks an increase over the site's 2013 stats, which saw $480 million pledged by 3 million individuals. Kickstarter reached $1 billion in total pledges as of March 2014. It also revised its terms in September to force the hands of project creators that fail to deliver products to their backers. Of the 22,252 successful projects to earn money on Kickstarter last year, 1,980 of them were in the broad games category. Games made off with 16.8 percent of the total money pledged last year ($89.1 million). While that includes the $626,250 earned by Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick's retro-inspired point-and-click adventure game Thimbleweed Park, the "Games" category isn't limited to video games, but also includes a large dose of tabletop games as well. Our year-long Crowdfund Bookie research project found that over $35 million was pledged specifically to video games on crowdfunding platforms over the span of one year. [Image: Kickstarter]
TUG's investment deal goes through
After all the stress that TUG went through with a series of layoffs and funding issues, it almost seemed like too much to hope that Nerd Kingdom would actually secure the investors they were looking for. But good news does come around this time of year. The game has its additional funding secure, which means that it's out of the woods, at least for now. The multiplayer portion of the game continues in heavy development (there's a preview video just past the break) and supporters are implored to really go to town and help find bugs in that build. Players are also encouraged to check out the Nerd Kingdom booth at the upcoming PAX South. It's good news for fans of what the game is now and what it could eventually become, so keep your eyes peeled and breathe a sigh of relief that the money from the sky actually came through.
Investors plug $6 million into Majesco
Majesco Entertainment completed an investment round that resulted in $6 million in funding, the Cooking Mama publisher announced today. $1 million of the funds were issued to the company with the rest stashed in escrow until certain, as-yet-unknown conditions are met by Majesco. The company also appointed two people to its boards of directors to replace two that stepped down, one of whom is Jesse Sutton, who will remain Majesco's CEO after resigning from the company's board. SEC filings in November admitted that Majesco "suffered losses that raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern." It reported a 27.2 percent drop year-over-year in net revenue in September, as well as net losses of $2.7 million. As a result, Majesco laid off several staff in October to reduce fixed costs. The company also noted last month that it is "currently not developing any significant new games for release in fiscal 2015," which ends on October 31, 2015. [Image: Majesco]
Uber vows to improve 'company culture' and privacy
On the heels of a financing round that raised the service another $1.2 billion, Uber says it'll strive to be "a smarter and more humble company" in the coming months. The ride-sharing app's massive growth in 2014 certainly hasn't been without stumbles. Rifts with taxi operators and rubs with its main competition took a backseat recently to claims it was tracking journalists who were critical of its methods and the so-called God View tool for keeping tabs on customers. "The events of the recent weeks have shown us that we also need to invest in internal growth and change. Acknowledging mistakes and learning from them are the first steps," a blog post explains. So what about that cash? Well, Uber is looking to dive into the Asia Pacific region to further its growth, but revamped privacy standards and giving back to the cities in which it operates are also tops on the 2015 to-do list. [Photo credit: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Shards Online adds permadeath ruleset
Shards Online's Kickstarter campaign is on fire, having blown past its $50K fundraising goal and now plowing through stretch goals. With eight days to go on the campaign, who knows how far it'll get, but there's one thing for certain: Thanks to passing the $80,000 mark, the fantasy sandbox will incorporate permadeath into some of its server rulesets. For the stretch goal, the developers wrote, "We will add an extra official ruleset to Alpha One with increased skill gains and permanent death! Not only will we have this ruleset running on some of our official servers, but players will be able to run these rules on their own community servers."
Shards Online's Kickstarter has already reached its $50k goal
Sandbox MMO hopeful Shards Online has met its Kickstarter goal of $50,000 with 23 days still to go. Citadel Studios' first Kickstarter for the ambitious game reached only $73,401 of its $320,000 goal last June. Project lead Derek Brinkmann dropped by the Massively comments last week to reassure potential donors and explain the thinking behind the new campaign: I'd like to personally address the concerns about our new goal. After our previous campaign winded down, we put our heads together and created a refocused plan to get to alpha. The minimum amount we could get to alpha with was 100k. It doesn't seem like much, but we have been in active development for over a year and have already personally invested quite a bit of money into the project. We reached out to our friends and family and found we were able to raise 50k from small investments. That gets us half of the way there. We decided that reaching out to our fans would be the best way to get the rest of the funds. The alternative was to approach angel investors which would have forced us to change the spirit of the project. Stretch goals begin at the $60,000 mark and include emote animations, new craft skills, and a permadeath ruleset.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is now taking donations through Patreon
Brad McQuaid has apparently started a new Patreon to fund Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, the third crowdfunding source that the game has employed. Let's recap: The game was first announced by the former Vanguard lead with a Kickstarter campaign that failed to meet its target goal. That was followed by an on-site fundraising campaign that abruptly ended when McQuaid admitted (against a backdrop of worrisome rumors) that there was no more money to pay the studio employees, at which point he told fans that development was starting again with an all-volunteer team. So what do you get for backing the game's development? Videos. The current funding goals are $1,000 increments for monthly development videos through January; they'll show the volunteer team's progress on the game. Those who donate large amounts of money will also be granted exclusive screenshots of the in-development version of the game (so far those we've seen include placeholder assets) and a spot in the credits of a development video. The page claims that any and all funds raised will fund the team as well as defray hardware and server costs.
Revival launches its site, aims to sell houses for cash
Revival has just opened the doors to its official site, and it's a sandbox online game with skill-based progression. Or it will be, at least. Contrary to what you would expect from that description in the first sentence, though, there is not a Kickstarter to link to. Instead, the game is planning to help fund itself by selling houses. In-game houses. For real-world cash, right upfront, before the game is out and in the live world. According to the official site, the rationale is that real estate in the game world is limited, and rather than have generic housing templates, every house has pre-determined architecture and layout to properly fit with the world as a whole. You will also be able to buy ships and take part in sailing, again for real-world money. It's the designer's alternative to ever running any sort of Kickstarter or other crowdfunding campaign; whether or not it seems like a sound investment is up to the potential players. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
Independent game incubator secures $6 million in funding
Execution Labs is an incubator for independent games and developers based in Montreal, Canada, and it's just raised $6 million CAD in Series A funding led by Toronto media company Corus Entertainment Inc. Execution plans to use the funds to establish two tiers of support for up-and-coming developers: the Pre-Production Accelerator and the Finishing Fund. The Pre-Production Accelerator is a three-month program that grants new developers up to $50,000 CAD in funding, plus shared workspace and mentorship opportunities for games not yet in full production. The Accelerator is open to international applicants and covers all games, from mobile to PC. To take part in the Accelerator, a studio's core team needs to be in Montreal, but Execution Labs says it takes international studios and will help them get settled. "Your core team needs to be in Montreal for the duration of the program," the FAQ reads. "Part of the experience, especially the learning and teaching part, comes from being in the same physical space. Also there's the office badger." The Finishing Fund is tailored for experienced developers with games close to completion, offering "substantial funding" for marketing, testing and final production. Execution Labs mentors include Dejobaan Games founder Ichiro Lambe, Microsoft Game Studios founder Ed Fries, Eidos Life President Ian Livingstone, Vlambeer co-founder Rami Ismail and The Bohle Company President and CEO Sue Bohle.
Warframe welcomes space ninjas, passes 12M registered players
It is hard to beat around the bush on this one, so we are going to be blunt: Yes, Virginia, there are space ninjas. And yes, they're going to be arriving in Warframe whether or not you are prepared for them. Tomorrow, the sci-fi MMO will be releasing its 15th update, Archwing. The update will include the ability for players to fly characters through space as space ninjas (because why not?), using new weapons and fighting previously unknown enemies. Archwing will also add the Limbo warframe and a reputation system for added depth. Digital Extremes claims that Warframe has accumulated over 12 million registered players and is the most downloaded PlayStation 4 game. You can watch the Archwing trailer after the jump. [Source: Digital Extremes press release]
Warframe studio Digital Extremes partners with Perfect World
Back in July there were rumblings that Digital Extremes, the studio behind Warframe, would soon be added to the lineup of Perfect World's studios. After three months of negotiations, the deal has finally gone through, with Perfect World Online Holding and Sumpo Food Holdings Limited together acquiring a majority share in the company. The deal also includes giving Perfect World exclusive rights to publishing Warframe in mainland China. A post on the official forums is meant to assuage any player fears or concerns, stressing that the functional changes for players will be limited; the same people are in charge of the game's development as before. What it will mean, chiefly, is that the studio has more money to spend on updates and improvements to the game. Whether or not more of the game will change over time remains to be seen, but the current statement is a definite no. [Thanks to Revrent for the tip!]
Cyanogen refuses Google's money in an effort to keep Android 'open'
For a lot of start ups, winning Google's interest is the goal. Not Cyanogen. According to The Information, the Cyanogen CEO Kirt McMaster told shareholders that it recently shrugged off Google SVP of Android Sundar Pichai's interest in purchasing the company -- choosing instead to focus on obtaining a $1 billion valuation to aid in its third round of funding. The company's grounds for that number, and perhaps Google's interest for the company, lie with its long-term goal: to become the third most popular mobile ecosystem. Considering the fact that Cyanogen's third-tier mobile OS is essentially a more "open" version of Android, it's no surprise the company has Mountain View's attention.
Star Citizen earns Guinness world record for crowdfunding efforts
As Star Citizen recently crossed $55 million in funding, Roberts Space Industries founder Chris Roberts announced that the game is entering the Guinness Book of World Records "not as the largest crowdfunded game of all time, but as the largest crowdfunded anything of all time."
