turnout-ventures
Latest
The Daily Grind: Are we witnessing the bursting of a gaming bubble?
The last few weeks have cast a dark shadow over the MMO gaming industry. At a time when MMOs release seemingly every other day and big blockbusters are just over the horizon, MMO companies are canceling titles, shelving games, cutting back, changing models, and laying off staff. CCP Games dropped employees and slowed its development pace; NCsoft and GamersFirst followed suit, though with assurances that their games would proceed as usual. In the last few days alone, we saw Gameforge let go both developers and titles, TurnOut halt development on Earth Eternal, and both LEGO Universe and Troy Online announce impending shutdowns. What do you think? Are we dealing with a "gaming bubble" on the verge of bursting? Did MMOs become too popular too fast, such that the industry is now bloated and unsustainable? Is a culling of the MMO herd a necessary evil to improve the overall quality of MMOs? Or is this flurry of layoffs and closures merely a coincidence, a temporary downsizing due to end soon? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Earth Eternal development on hold once again
It's been a tough ride for Earth Eternal. We first heard about the original developer, Sparkplay, only days after Massively came into existence in 2007, and we've been following the company ever since. Earth Eternal was voted one of Beau's top F2P games in 2010, as it was enjoying quite a strong run that year -- even to the point where Sparkplay mentioned creating more games outside of EE. Well, that soon ended as the company ran into some serious financial problems that led to the game's hold status. Fast-forward a year, and the game was reborn with a new developer (TurnOut Ventures with OutBlaze)! It re-entered open beta status and looked to be on the road to recovery. Well, the rollercoaster is back on the descent, according to the game's forums. It turns out Earth Eternal's development is once again put on hold until further notice. The servers are still online and the game is still playable, but the small development team at TurnOut has been relocated to other projects. So right now, it seems to be a completely free game with no cash shop. We'll be sure to keep you up-to-date on any further news we hear. [Thanks to Keith for the tip!]
FusionFall & Ben 10 Omniverse heading overseas
When it comes to free-to-play games, normally we hear about companies from Asia importing their games to us here in the US and EU. This time around, we get to turn the tables, as Cartoon Network Digital is sending its popular free-to-play browser-based games to the Eastern markets. That's right, with the creation of Turnout Ventures -- a combination of Turner Entertainment Asia and Outblaze Investments -- people in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand will get a chance to check out FusionFall and Ben 10 Omniverse for themselves. "The launch of the incredible online experience FusionFall in the Asia-Pacific region and mutually beneficial partnerships with Ben 10 MMOG publishers such as Omedia and c2vision, are set to bring gamers never-before-seen levels of immersive game play, as well as create even more localized, partnership opportunities," said Benjamin Grubbs, Regional Director, Interactive Media, Turner Entertainment Networks Asia and General Manager, TurnOut Ventures. "Most importantly, these initiatives build on and extend our iconic properties into the online space, so that fans can be part of the Cartoon Network experience anytime and anywhere." Meanwhile, here in the States, FusionFall has noted that over 9 million accounts have been created in the West, which certainly bodes well as a start for this venture. Considering World of Warcraft has easily half of their entire 11.5 million players overseas, then spreading the FusionFall and Ben 10 Omniverse love is a wise strategic decision.
BEN 10 MMO officially announced
We kind of already knew this one was on the way, thanks to a listing on TurnOut Ventures' product page that was spotted last month, but now it's official: BEN 10 Omniverse will be coming to a browser near you in Q4 this year. TurnOut Ventures made the announcement and gave a description of what to expect from the free-to-play title:BEN 10 Omniverse will let players participate in the evolving story arc of Cartoon Network's BEN 10 saga, featuring Ben Tennyson, a 10-year-old boy with the ability to morph into different aliens using a strange alien device called the Omnitrix.They also mentioned that the game will be episodic in nature (the launch game will actually be called BEN 10 Omniverse Episode 1: Rise of Heroes), with content updates bringing new zones, quests and other additions on a regular basis. The gameplay will consist of both PvE and PvP, with each of these activities offering the opportunity to group up with other players. According to the official site for the show, a closed beta application process is coming soon.
