end-games
Latest
Ex-MMO devs aim to fund space combat game via Kickstarter
They were part of the force behind many MMOs you've known and loved, including Jumpgate, Auto Assault, LEGO Universe, RIFT, and League of Legends, and now they're banding together for a new cause funded by crowdsourcing. They're the developers at END Games, and they hope to raise a quarter of a million dollars to create a multiplayer space combat game. Despite the team's legacy, however, this new title will not be an MMO. Titled Squad Wars, the proposed project will blossom into a frantic starfighter game that will pit squads of players against each other in the deadly vacuum of space. Instead of focusing on a persistent world, Squad Wars will offer packaged scenarios that will "ensure the most fun every time you login." END Games is also notable in that two of its members were founders of NetDevil: Scott Brown and Ryan Seabury. As of the time of this writing, END Games has $1,430 toward its goal, which must be attained by May 19th for the project to proceed.
Former LEGO Universe dev: 'I have decided to get out of the MMO game'
We're all familiar with that guy who gets burned out on his game and makes a very public and lengthy rant as to why he's quitting on the official forums. But what happens when a developer does the same thing to a larger audience? Today we found out, as former LEGO Universe dev Ryan Seabury wrote an open letter saying why he left NetDevil -- and why he'll never work on MMOs again. Seabury cites four reasons: that the "MMO" label has lost its meaning, it takes too long and is too stressful to develop new games, it's difficult to play around with creative concepts, and the market is trending toward indie titles anyway. He left to start up END Games Entertainment so that he and others of a similar mind could indulge in "a ridiculous variety of game ideas" instead of treading the waters of the status quo. His letter is largely upbeat as he focuses on the joys of game development and play, and he thinks that it's high past time studios break out of old mindsets to embrace the new: "We have come to a point where the game concept trumps such insignificant bullet points, and global social connectivity is a given. From a creative standpoint, this is fantastic. Ideas are king once again; the industry feels as vibrant to me as the golden nostalgia years I experienced as a kid growing up through the coin-op and early console eras, except we've finally ditched the nerd-in-basement stigma." You can read Seabury's full letter over at Kotaku.
