Random News II

[shinymcshine]

There's an article (re. above) on Eurogamer:

https://www.eurogamer.net/embracer-owned-gothic-risen-and-elex-developer-piranha-bytes-closes

[Maryokutai]

The whole process of closing a studio, whose leads then go on and found a new one the day after and will probably get some gouvernment funding to get off the ground and hire (potentially) ex-coworkes has to be one of the most blatant 'humanity makes everything complicated for no reason' examples out there.

 

Still, it's a shame, because no matter what happens, PB as it was is now gone, one of the few German studios to sort of make a splash overseas. But having played Elex II recently, maybe an (unfortunately forced) return to smaller-scale projects could end up being a blessing in disguise, as trying to chase open-world trends should be out of the question now, which is where Elex kind of started to lose focus.

[shinymcshine]

It's sort of weird that in some ways the PB games had a similar obscurity, difficulty and repetitive nature, with regards to their approach to RPG gameplay, as the Souls games - but never garnered the same audience share or critical acclaim.

[one-armed dwarf]

Well their greatest hits, the Gothic games, were released exclusively to a PC audience. Which also got Morrowind around the same time which frankly IMO is just a far better game though all of these games are great. Gothic had persistent NPC schedules before Elder Scrolls did, Morrowind didn't do that at all and it wasn't until 2006's Oblivion that you saw it there

 

I've not played the Risen games and only a little bit of Elex but I've never heard anyone say they come close to Gothic. I think a game like Gothic II could have easily found an audience if it got a console release, hell its control systems seem like they would make more sense with a controller. The games don't even use mouse look properly, they have a sort of Tomb Raider or Resident Evil thing going on

 

Seems to me it's that lack of momentum after a game like Gothic 2, and Gothic 3's disastrous release caused a situation where it was difficult to catch back up

[Maryokutai]

Their belated and also dodgy first appearance on consoles might have been a factor initially. It was really around that time between the first Xbox and 360 when the western RPG suddenly became popular on these systems due to KotOR and Oblivion, but being as tiny as they were and having to rely on subpar outsourcing partners meant that it took until Elex 1 for them to release a game on console hardware that you could actually recommend to people with a clear conscience.

 

But on the other hand IIRC the first Elex surpassed Embracer's expectations, so maybe it's unnecessary to go digging deep for reasons for their closure considering their penultimate release was considered a success. It's probably just yet another story of your studio's worth being measured by your last game's sales at the end of the day.

[DANGERMAN]

It's not going to happen, but Kamiya would like to make Okami and Viewtiful Joe sequels 

 

Quote

In his latest video with fellow Capcom alum Ikumi Nakamura, Kamiya asks Capcom again for the ability to return to his former franchises.

"Creators have the duty to create sequels fans are wanting to see," Kamiya said. "Although I sound all high and mighty, it's been a while since I've moved on from Okami. But I still feel like I haven't fulfilled my duty. So Capcom-san, please, let's do it together.

 

"Same sentiments for Viewtiful Joe 3," Kamiya continued. "I'd be more than happy."

 

The video is light-hearted, and Kamiya acknowledges he is no longer anything to do with Capcom's own business decisions. Indeed, the director points out that he recently contacted Capcom to complain there was no option to pick Viewtiful Joe in a survey of franchises they'd like to see continue.

 

"What the hell, Capcom?" Kamiya said in response.

 

Additionally, Kamiya is well aware of the business reasons why Okami and Viewtiful Joe are not getting new installments today.

 

Quote

"It's only because eight people have played Viewtiful Joe that people aren't going wild," Kamiya joked. "That game also ended mid-way. So I need to finish it."

 

https://www.eurogamer.net/kamiyas-still-keen-to-make-okami-viewtiful-joe-sequels-even-if-publisher-isnt

[Maryokutai]

Humble Games, the publishing arm of Humble Bundle, has apparently been turned into a name-only entity after laying off all its employees: https://aftermath.site/humble-games-layoffs-closure-ziff-davis-ign

 

I say apparently because it looks like their parent company is trying to sweep it under the rug by calling it 'restructuring', but ex-employees have come out to say that their entire teams have been laid off.

 

This is of course pretty shit, but I wonder what happened there. I played some of their games and I've actually always been impressed, to the point where seeing their logo pop up somewhere I'd start paying attention. Plus they had rather big hits released under their label, too, like Slay the Spire and Unpacking.

 

To add insult to injury, it looks like publishing duties for still in development games will be outsourced to a third-party. Though I guess that's at least better than them shutting down funding for those games entirely.

[DANGERMAN]

owned by the company that owns IGN (Ziff Davies), who just bought the Eurogamer (etc) network. So, not an amazing sign for them either

[Nag]

Legacy of Kain 1+2 Remasters incoming? 

 

https://www.polygon.com/24206416/legacy-of-kain-soul-reaver-remastered-crystal-dynamics

[Nag]

Don't know if this'll amount to anything...

 

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/report-wb-discovery-looking-to-sell-off-games-other-divisions-to-prevent-total-breakup

[Maf]

Imagine Netherealm being sold independently from Mortal Kombat. 

[mfnick]

Would never happen. The Netherealm name would be near worthless without the MK IP with it. Nobody would buy them. 

[Maf]

This is why I said imagine 

[DANGERMAN]

Warner are one of the grubbiest publishers, so this might be a good thing 

[Maryokutai]

Ready at Dawn shut down: https://www.androidcentral.com/gaming/virtual-reality/ready-at-dawn-studios-closing

 

Buy studio to work on specific thing. Studio works on specific thing with great results. Close studio.

 

And this:

 

Quote

Meta says that Ready at Dawn employees are encouraged to apply to other studios within the Oculus Studios umbrella.

 

kind of wants me to put Zuckerberg upside down in a public toilet.

[Nag]

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/krafton-acquires-tango-gameworks-and-hi-fi-rush-ip-from-xbox

 

I don't know if this is a good thing or not, especially with how Glen Schofield has been painting the handling of The Callisto Protocol.

[DANGERMAN]

I'm glad they're still around. I'm not a huge fan of their games, but I'd rather them stay around 

[DANGERMAN]

There's 2d action games coming for Halloween and Ash vs Evil Dead

 

 

 

Apparently $25 each, but if you buy both there's some sort of cross over content between them ($50 for both) 

[mfnick]

That looks cool. 

[Maryokutai]

 

If this was a 'real' sequel I'd have made a topic for it, because Lost in Random was a genuinely cool and unique little game. I never completed it because it kept crashing on my Xbox One (might have to give it another go on Series X), but until that point I really enjoyed.

 

This, on the other hand, seems to be a case of trend chasing more than anything else, which is super odd to see for a sequel to a game that wasn't even hiding its niche appeal. It might turn out well, who knows, but it's not for me.