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Duke Nukem Forever: Taking Tits To Task

Or in this case, one tit in particular: President and CEO of Gearbox Software Randy Pitchford. Eurogamer conducted an interview with Pitchford a few weeks ago covering Gearbox’s generally poorly received 2011 title Duke Nukem Forever. In the interview he made a few comments worth evaluating: On why Duke Nukem Forever was a polarising title: … Continue reading →

Great MMO Studio Collapses of Our Time – 38 Studios

So, what’s the take-out here? Obviously the market conditions that 38 Studios launched with in 2006 were very different to those it expired under in 2012, with investors no longer interested in pouring tens of millions of dollars into MMO development. But it’s not like 38 Studios should have been strapped for cash – as identified, they had at least US$135m put into the studio. Yes, they got a single player title out, but it fell a long way short of the initial “broad media” dreams, or even releasing the promised MMO, while burning a lot of cash. Continue reading →

Great MMO Collapses of Our Time – Destination Games

You can get excited now, because if you picked this option, you’ve decided to back Destination Games! Destination Games Game That Destroyed Them: Tabula Rasa Studio Launch Date:  April 2000 Studio Closure Date: 28 February 2009 Invested In By: NCsoft Estimated Money Blown: US$106m Cause of Death: Restarting the project, internal culture of fear and secrecy, … Continue reading →

Great MMO Company Collapses of Our Time – RealTime Worlds

If you selected this option, congratulations – you decided to back RealTime Worlds! RealTime Worlds Game That Destroyed Them: All Points Bulletin (APB) Studio Launch Date:  Early 2002 Studio Closure Date: September 2010 Invested In By: Private investors Estimated Money Blown: Over US$100m Cause of Death: Spending all the budget before the game had even launched, … Continue reading →

Great MMO Company Collapses of Our Time – Flaghip Studios

If you selected this option, congratulations – you decided to back Flagship Studios! Flagship Studios Deceased Games: Hellgate: London, Mythos Studio Launch Date: 2004 / 2005-ish Studio Closure Date: August 2008 Invested In By: Independent investors, publishing partnerships such as Hanbitsoft, financial services company Comerica Estimated Money Blown: Unknown, but the title spent around 4 … Continue reading →

Marvel Heroes: Facing Legends, Alliances and Devils

One MMO story that very quickly subsumed by recent events was that Marvel Heroes (MH) actually released some real information about itself. Headed by Diablo developer David Brevik, Marvel Heroes will be a Diablo-style MMO… just like Gazillion’s other output, the now-closed Fortune Online and kid-oriented Super Hero Squad Online. Looks like Gazillion has a … Continue reading →

City of Heroes / Villains: A Limited Bounce

When the first quarter of financial data landed following City of Heroes / Villains conversion to a free-to-play model, it showed a positive-if-only-moderate bump from 2812 million Won (or US$2.41m) in Q3 2011 to 3435 million Won (or US$2.97m) in Q4 2011. Going F2P saw about a 20% jump in revenue. It certainly wasn’t in … Continue reading →