studio-closure
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Lead producer pens requiem for Molten Games
Former Molten Games lead producer Oksana Kubushyna has penned a lengthy requiem for the recently closed studio on her personal blog. Molten was working on a title called Blunderbuss when it unexpectedly lost its funding last month. The post features a series of snapshots and videos detailing what it was like to work at the San Diego studio on a daily basis, and Kubushyna also says that the game itself was pretty far along. "It was a complete vertical slice with an installer, patcher, back-end platform (multiplayer, basic matchmaker, persistence, monitoring, telemetry), back-end administration tools, automated deployments, automated test framework, gameplay systems, UI, and of course content -- multiple champions and a beautiful map," she writes. You can view the Blunderbuss cinematic demo after the cut. [Thanks Paul!]
Report: EA shutters freemium-focused North Carolina studio
EA's North Carolina studio, a freemium-oriented extension of the mobile and social game-oriented EA All Play label, has been shut down, The Escapist reports. The studio is not listed on EA's studio location map, but The Escapist reports that a cached copy of the previous site describes the studio's focus on developing "cutting edge freemium games for mobile and tablet platforms." The site listed Monopoly Hotels as its most recent notable effort.
A video retrospective on 38 Studios discusses 'star-struck legislators'
The sun has set on 38 Studios, but there's still a lot of people eager to analyze and dissect the company's rise and sharp decline. As a whole, it's been looked at and analyzed extensively from the gaming side, but the other factors that went into the studio's enormous state loan and subsequent burnout are examined more closely in a new video. This isn't about whether or not Project Copernicus would have been any good; this is about simple business and political pressures that doomed the project from the start. Curt Schilling started 38 Studios at the end of his baseball career, but it was a well-known fact that his attempts to court venture capitalists were unsuccessful. The video goes into depth regarding the political climate that encouraged Rhode Island legislators to sign the historic and ill-advised loan, as well as the factors leading to the company's ultimate demise. If you're interested in a broader view now that the smoke has cleared, take a look at the full video past the cut.
EVE Evolved: Lessons from 38 Studios
This week we heard the news that Kingdoms of Amalur developer 38 Studios shut down and let go all 379 full-time staff. It's always a tragedy when good developers are made jobless, especially if the job losses come out of nowhere and hit people who have only recently been hired. 38 Studios was still hiring people shortly before it collapsed, and some of those recent hires were ex-CCP developers who were part of the 20% of staff fired at the end of last year. The shutdown of 38 Studios is a sobering reminder of the problems in EVE Online's development that led to monoclegate. Both studios were mismanaged, with the jobs of hundreds of developers gambled on the outcome of poorly researched business decisions. EVE Online thankfully survived CCP's failed microtransaction gamble, but 38 Studios' Project Copernicus may never see the light of day. In this week's EVE Evolved opinion piece, I look into the similar circumstances that forced CCP Games and 38 Studios to fire staff, and draw some lessons from them for which I believe the industry should take heed.
EA: Pandemic's California location 'significant' in decision to close studio
EA CEO John Riccitiello claims there were multiple factors in the decision to shutter Pandemic Studios, but one of the most significant was the studio's California base of operations. In an interview with Kotaku, Riccitiello blamed a combination of regulatory changes that affect technology and entertainment companies in California, as well as the tax incentives offered in other countries as major factors in the company's decision. "For good or for bad, we are taking down headcount in California because it is really expensive," Riccitiello said. Another factor in the decision is the rapid growth of digitally delivered titles and browser-based games, leading Riccitiello to believe that the industry is quickly moving away from a focus on "packaged" software. "In a world that used to be all PC, then used to be all console, now it's neither." Riccitiello's comments echo those of Square Enix boss Yoichi Wada, who recently advised publishers to prepare for the "exponential growth" of digital delivery and server-based games following the announcement the studio would restructure its Eidos London offices, resulting in layoffs. Pandemic Studios' closure comes at an interesting time, as the announcement was made just weeks before the studio's final title: The Saboteur. However, Riccitiello reiterated that the company's brand and franchises will live on.
Red 5 Studios interview: How to fail-proof your MMO
During a recent interview with Ten Ton Hammer, Red 5 Studios' Mark Kern described his views on why games like Tabula Rasa and Hellgate: London had recently failed, and how his colleagues at Red 5 are making sure an early game closure isn't in their future."I think the key is that you need to marry whatever your theme is to the nature of the gameplay," Kern advised. "I think that the issue comes in when you take a theme or a genre that doesn't fit with the style of gameplay that you're making. I think that's some of what you've seen with these failed games. If you just go out and try to make a WoW-type of game with a few tweaks, then try to place the sci-fi genre on top of it, I think you've got some big issues there." Ouch! We can only speculate as to which game he's referring, but we tend to agree with his point here. Shoot us your opinions on a topic that's probably not going to go away any time soon.
Spencer says Lionhead safe from closure, hints Rare is too
With the recent closure of Ensemble Studios eyes were on other teams Microsoft has under their wing. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft Game Studios, said the publisher has no plans to close Lionhead Studios -- developers of the upcoming RPG, Fable 2.Spencer noted that the studio is an important element to Microsoft's European development presence. Spencer also hinted that fellow European developer, Rare, is secure from closure. "[Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts] will be their fifth game in the first three years of the Xbox 360 - that's crazy. Two launch games? What studio on the planet signs up for two launch games? That's just crazy."But what of the losses Microsoft have suffered in the wake of closing FASA Studio -- developers of Shadowrun -- and the breaking off of Bungie?"Our customers care about exclusive content," Spencer said. "I'm not sure they care what business card the people who are building those games have. Is anybody going to look at Gears of War and say it's not a pillar franchise for us on 360? No, because it is. But we don't own Epic, and Mark Rein and those guys are their own people. That's good."
