The Business Side of Video (Space) Games EXCLUSIVELY ON IDLE THUMBS

[SecretAsianMan]

I think a lot of businesses would benefit from more transparency like that.  It helps to cut down on speculation that usually leads to the wrong conclusion.  I'm always interested when I see reports about how much a thing costs to produce vs how much money is actually made with the product.

[dibs]

I have gifted you Thumb Gold

I think a lot of businesses would benefit from more transparency like that.  It helps to cut down on speculation that usually leads to the wrong conclusion.  I'm always interested when I see reports about how much a thing costs to produce vs how much money is actually made with the product.

 

This gold is enough to buy 3 pea boxes.

[JonCole]

Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli basically says it's no big deal that they withheld payroll and those poors with some silly mortgage or electricity payment should just be more patient - http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-08-08-the-transformation-was-painful-we-paid-the-price

 

Fuck that guy.

[Henroid]

Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli basically says it's no big deal that they withheld payroll and those poors with some silly mortgage or electricity payment should just be more patient - http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-08-08-the-transformation-was-painful-we-paid-the-price

 

Fuck that guy.

Crytek is in some serious shit lately. And yeah fuck that guy.

[elmuerte]

First rule in business: if a company is defaulting on paying employees, bail. Both if you're an employee or a company doing business.

You can be late in paying your bills to companies, but not paying your employees is a death sin.

[neonrev]

I'm definitely getting that vibe, but could you pull a particularly damning quote or something? Its long and I'm getting tired of reading that guy's bullshit.

[Wordherder]

Kind of amazed Crytek has held on for so long given all the bad rumors that have been swirling around for months.

 

Though apparently they have enough manpower to port over Crytek to PC. (Though that likely wouldn't take too much effort given the similar architecture, right?)

[elmuerte]

All development happens on the PC, the engine runs on the PC. But it runs on developer PCs which are usually insanely powered, especially in case of engine developers. The optimization is done for the targeted platforms. But, optimization can still take a shit load of time, but only for a few programmers. So it should not cost as much. The closer the architectures are, the easier it is to optimize.

[JonCole]

Choice quote:

 

First off, why did staff go unpaid?

However, like we had promised to everybody - and we said the company is not at a big risk, not a danger, it just needs more time to salvage it and that's what we did. Now, everybody got paid plus inconvenience payments additionally to that, like we promised everybody.

Some people were very impatient and got angry at the smallest delay. Also, there was a critique of us not being proactive in communication, which we don't understand, because we had been frequently in the UK as well as every other studio, talking about potentially rough times. And we had even shared with people how they should maybe work with different banks at a personal level to prepare. Or, if not, they could make a choice to resign and look for other jobs.

[...]

I was surprised and upset a little bit that the intention of us keeping together everybody upset a few of them. But I understand that situation. Some people live in very tight financial planning. That's their own privacy. They can do whatever they want. Those guys, when they get under pressure it can become emotional. We tried to individually help out. Like if somebody gets in trouble they can talk to us directly so they don't get under pressure. We tried whatever we could do. But you can't make it right for everybody.

[Henroid]

God. That he doesn't get why people would be upset is what gets me. The line about working with different banks almost sounds like a subtle suggestion that he felt his employees should've tried to do the same financial juggling bullshit that, say, my mother would do (it's a long story but it's not smart at all and super harmful). I'm not a fan of this guy in the slightest. He's right up there with Derek Smart now. Or down there, whatever.

[Gormongous]

God. That he doesn't get why people would be upset is what gets me. The line about working with different banks almost sounds like a subtle suggestion that he felt his employees should've tried to do the same financial juggling bullshit that, say, my mother would do (it's a long story but it's not smart at all and super harmful). I'm not a fan of this guy in the slightest. He's right up there with Derek Smart now. Or down there, whatever.

 

I agree with you. The weird thing about scammers, whether or not they're legitimized by a company behind them, is that they justify their behavior through the conviction that everyone's pulling the same shit as them, just not as well. Yerli's repeated assertions that everyone was on board and that paying employees at all, even late, was generous of him makes him about as big of a scammer as I've seen.

 

People keep citing language and cultural issues, but unless Turkish or German or whatever is missing words for key financial concepts or unless there's a twenty-first century culture that fails to differentiate between a family and a company, I'm not seeing it.

[tegan]

I just realized something about all the recent Twitch problems. Both Microsoft (Xbox, broadcast) and Sony (Share button) have made a really big deal out of integrating Twitch into their systems, while Nintendo specifically avoided it.

 

[Twig]

Next week, Nintendo announces a partnership with Hitbox.tv.

[Merus]

I just realized something about all the recent Twitch problems. Both Microsoft (Xbox, broadcast) and Sony (Share button) have made a really big deal out of integrating Twitch into their systems, while Nintendo specifically avoided it.

 

Given Nintendo's track record thus far, I doubt it was a tactical masterstroke on their part. It took them an entire generation to work out how to run a store that anyone could make money on.

[tegan]

Given Nintendo's track record thus far, I doubt it was a tactical masterstroke on their part. It took them an entire generation to work out how to run a store that anyone could make money on.

 

I know, it was just a joke/observation of a happy coincidence.

[Wordherder]

The next Tomb Raider is an Xbox One exclusive.

 

Looks like moneyhatting's back with a vengeance.

[Bjorn]

Third party exclusives now have the effect on me of making me hate a platform just a little bit more, and want to refuse to reward them for unnecessarily blocking access to games.

 

That's assuming that this is exclusive exclusive and not whatever it is that the games industry thinks "exclusive" means.

[Twig]

About that! I was upset about this because I loved Tomb Raider and was looking forward to the sequel. The wording on the press-release-thing is pretty damning.

 

http://www.allgamesbeta.com/2014/08/rise-of-tomb-raider-coming-holiday-2015.html

 

 

Dear Tomb Raider Community,

As you may have seen, we’ve just announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider, coming Holiday 2015, is exclusively on Xbox. We consider all of you to be the lifeblood of Tomb Raider and the work we do at Crystal. I’d like to give you some insight into this decision, and why we feel this is the very best thing for the Tomb Raider sequel we’re creating at the studio.

Tomb Raider in 2013 was a success due in large part to your continued support. Our goal has always been to deliver something truly special with Rise of the Tomb Raider. Today’s announcement with Microsoft is one step to help us put Tomb Raider on top of action adventure gaming. Our friends at Microsoft have always seen huge potential in Tomb Raider and have believed in our vision since our first unveil with them on their stage at E3 2011. We know they will get behind this game more than any support we have had from them in the past - we believe this will be a step to really forging the Tomb Raider brand as one of the biggest in gaming, with the help, belief and backing of a major partner like Microsoft.

This doesn’t mean that we’re walking away from our fans who only play on PlayStation or on PC. Those are great systems, with great partners, and amazing communities. We have Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris coming to those platforms this December, and Tomb Raider: The Definitive Edition is available on PS4.

We know that there are probably many more questions and concerns. Please do send them to us, and we’ll answer to the best of our ability. Meanwhile we’re going all out to try and make something truly special - the most ambitious Tomb Raider game ever built.

Thanks,
 

Darrell Gallagher - Crystal Dynamics Head of Studios

 

The bolded stuff made me really think it was a real exclusive - the wording is clever and depressing. The first bolded bit, taken on its own, is pretty standard PR speak for "timed exclusive", I think, but taken with the rest of this press release, it reads much more like it's a REAL exclusive.

 

But then Geoff Keighley comes to the rescue.

 

https://twitter.com/geoffkeighley/status/499192318914998272

 

Spoke to many people here at Xbox press conference on Tomb Raider. Official line is that the game is "exclusive on Xbox for holiday 2015."

 

I mean I should've known, but goddamnit. I hate this fake exclusive bullshit more than most things in the games industry.

[dibs]

What are the advantages of going single console only for a big developer? Do the incentives really outweigh the lost sales?

[Dewar]

Usually a chunk of development cash as well as getting co-marketing support (being featured in Microsoft funded Xbox commercials, billboards, etc.) Considering that Square-Enix said that Tomb Raider failed expectations (wtf,) I guess they're trying to get greater exposure?

[Ucantalas]

So wait, I'm confused. Is this going to be an exclusive? Or an "exclusive"?

[JonCole]

Yeah, I really really think it's a timed exclusive. They just want to obfuscate that as much as possible because it pays off most for those co-marketing dollars invested by Microsoft. Though, the vehemence of these exclusivity claims makes me think that it won't be a quick turnaround, maybe a year off or we'll really have to wait for some remaster-type deal. I mean, it took a full year for Dead Rising 3 to come to PC after being an "exclusive", so I would guess it'd be something similar to that.

 

Really makes me not want to buy it ultimately, because voting with my dollar in that case would seem to suggest I'm fine with their dog and pony "exclusivity" garbage. Maybe I'll wait until it hits sub-$20 in a Steam sale some years from now.

[tegan]

I'm really, really surprised that there haven't been any lawsuits over console manufacturers' increasingly prolific habit if claiming exclusivity regarding something that isn't exclusive.

[Denial]

The other thing about this is that there's a very real chance that it would have launched against Uncharted 4, which Sony would have been pushing aggressively as a platform-seller, on PS4. At which point it gets mulched - or more specifically, lots of people who like that kind of game buy Uncharted 4 at full price, play it, and then buy Rise of the Tomb Raider six months later at a discount.

 

If Microsoft will give you money not to throw yourself in front of that train, and will push your game like crazy to shift Xboxen, I can see the logic... especially if you get to release six months later on PS4 at full price...

[Bjorn]

Have any of you ever bought a console predominantly because of an exclusive game?  I bought a PS1 because of FF7, but beyond that, I can't think of any other consoles I bought because of exclusives.