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Ask Massively: Artists I actually dislike edition

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, Opinion, Humor, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous

For whatever reason, Rob Liefeld has become a mini-meme on my more meta columns of the week. He's a bad artist, yes, but as I've mentioned in the past, I don't actively dislike him. There are many people far more deserving of dislike. Case in point: Pat Lee. I'm not going to explain in depth right here, but suffice to say that the man has history of hobbies like not paying his employees and taking credit for the work of others. And he's not a very good artist.

So let's move on from that meme, shall we? Great.

Of course, if I'm talking about mini-memes on Ask Massively, that must mean that it's time for this week's installment, yes? Yes. And this week, we're talking about the now almost ubiquitous case of the Kickstarter project. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment of Ask Massively, leave it in the comments below or mail it to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.

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Ask Massively: Artists I actually dislike edition originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 May 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pathfinder Online's technology demo gets soundly kickstarted

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Sandbox

Two days ago, we announced that Pathfinder Online was starting a Kickstarter project to fund a technology demo for the game. Yesterday, the project went live. Today, the project has already hit its $50,000 goal and exceeded it, meaning that the game's demo will most definitely be funded when June 8th rolls around. There are still another 29 days left in the project, so if you're interested in the game, there's still more time for you to throw in your support.

But maybe you're one of the backers already. If you're still eager for more information on the game, the weekly developer blog has gone live, discussing the rationale behind the Kickstarter project and some of the future steps of the game's production. You can also take a peek at details behind the upcoming tabletop book available for backers, which might help motivate you to donate if you haven't already.

[Thanks to Nick for the tip!]

Pathfinder Online's technology demo gets soundly kickstarted originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 May 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Storybricks starts Kickstarter campaign, welcomes aboard animators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Miscellaneous, Sandbox

Build-your-own-MMO toolset Storybricks is getting a major second wind today as the company's announced that it's brought on board legendary animators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman to assist in animation and character design. The two are well-known in both the film and video game industry for their work on The Secret of NIMH and Dragon's Lair (among many other projects).

"We intend to bring our experience in animation and character design to help provide appealing, believable, thinking characters to Storybricks' founding partners' vision for gaming," Goldman said. The two join a dream team of advisors for the project that includes Richard Bartle, Liz Danforth, and Chris Avellone.

Storybricks is also tapping the Kickstarter well to help fund the project. The team hopes to raise $250,000 in pledges by June 1st. "Though we have found the right people who share our mad (or perhaps inspired) vision of role-playing and storytelling in computer RPGs, we haven't been able to find enough people willing to write us a check," the team explains on the page. Sponsors can get copies of the game, beta keys, and even digital versions of themselves inserted into the final version.

[Source: Storybricks press release]

Storybricks starts Kickstarter campaign, welcomes aboard animators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 01 May 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Embers of Caerus dev blog talks sieging, Kickstarter

Jef Reahard — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Dev Diaries, Sandbox

Embers of Caerus has been flying under the radar of late (even for an indie sandbox title). Happily, the dev team has broken the silence with a new 20-minute video featuring Forsaken Studios technical director and co-founder Dave Belcher.

Belcher has a lot to say, the main gist of which is that work on EoC is going quite well. That said, funding is an issue as it is for most indie projects, so Belcher and his team have decided to try their hand at Kickstarter. "We're not a greedy bunch, the main thing is making the game and everything else is secondary," Belcher explains. To that end, look for an EoC Kickstarter page over the next few weeks.

In terms of gameplay and systems, Belcher spends a spot of time discussing siege warfare. He does offer a disclaimer in terms of the early nature of a high-level design, but he also describes sieging as "one of our key, killer features," so chances are good that you'll see it in EoC's eventual prototype. Head past the break for the full video.

[Thanks to Sam for the tip!]

Continue reading Embers of Caerus dev blog talks sieging, Kickstarter

Embers of Caerus dev blog talks sieging, Kickstarter originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 21 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIFT revenues reached $100 million in 2011, Trion secures new funding

Jef Reahard — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, MMO industry, News items, RIFT

How successful is RIFT? That's hard to say without knowing how much it cost, but it's safe to assume that Trion executives are smiling after the game generated $100 million in revenue in only 10 months.

CEO Lars Buttler told Reuters that the company is still considering an initial public stock offering, and it has also secured an additional $85 million in funding as it readies RIFT for the South Korean and Chinese gaming markets later this year. Trion is also developing an MMO shooter called Defiance and an MMORTS known as End of Nations.

RIFT revenues reached $100 million in 2011, Trion secures new funding originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond meets fundraising goals, updates FAQ

Jef Reahard — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:00:00 EST

Astronaut: Moon, Mars, and Beyond has taken several small steps over the course of its short lifetime, but can it make one giant leap to a full-fledged release product? It's off to a decent start, judging by its Kickstarter fundraising tally.

The devs have issued a press release proclaiming the success story and are drafting a FAQ document designed to get more information out there to potential investors (and eventually, players). The latest version of the FAQ is viewable on the official website, and we've included a few highlights for you here:

The game is a follow-up to Moonbase Alpha (released in 2010)
Project Whitecard and Wisdom Tools are the developers per a "Space Act Agreement" with NASA
The target audience will be the 5-24 age and the gaming and science enthusiast markets
The game will be available for iOS and Windows PC; other platforms are being considered
Unreal Engine 3 is being used to develop the game
A beta is planned for December 2012

Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond meets fundraising goals, updates FAQ originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Richard Garriott's Portalarium project gets more funding

Jef Reahard — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Browser, Casual, Miscellaneous

Portalarium, the social networking startup founded by Richard "Lord British" Garriott, is picking up a bit of momentum thanks to a round of new funding. London-based m8 has contributed an undisclosed amount of capital to Garriott's Austin, Texas studio, which thus far has published two Facebook gambling games (Port Casino Poker and Port Casino Blackjack).

Total funding for Portalarium stands at $3.6 million, and the company plans to release CenterPort sometime in 2012. CenterPort is a graphically advanced social networking app that "will be the virtual world social hub for the OpenLife ecosystem, a broad yet fully integrated meta-community," according to the studio's website.

Garriott, most famous for the seminal Ultima series (which for MMO gamers peaked with Ultima Online in 1997), launched Portalarium in September 2009.

Richard Garriott's Portalarium project gets more funding originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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38 Studios estimates it will take 50 to 100 million to finish Copernicus, Schilling looking for investors

Seraphina Brennan — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, MMO industry, News items

Curt Schilling is out on the field again -- the investing field, that is. The former baseball star turned game developer is looking for more investors to back 38 Studios and their first game, the title codenamed Copernicus. The company's estimates for their game requires 50 to 100 million more in funding for the staff, all with their tentative December 2010 launch in mind.

Keep in mind, of course, that 38 Studios has acquired Maryland developer Big Huge Games, the company known for Rise of Nations, Rise of Legends, and Xbox Arcade's version of Catan. That acquisition doubled the company's headcount and has possibly driven operating costs into the 15 to 20 million a year range, according to the Boston Globe.

So far Schilling hasn't had any luck with potential investors. However, as he said to the Boston Globe, "I'm not going to complain about the economy. It's like pitching on a rainy day. The other guy has to pitch in it, too."

[Via Cuppycake]

38 Studios estimates it will take 50 to 100 million to finish Copernicus, Schilling looking for investors originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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All-star team gets funding for Ohai MMO

Shawn Schuster — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, New titles, Browser, Casual, Virtual worlds

What do you get when you mix former SOE developers, a Flash-based virtual goods environment and about 6 million dollars in capital funding? You get Ohai, a new project in development from such industry vets as Scott Hartsman, Blake Commagere and Don Neufeld.

Last fall, the folks at Ohai raised an undisclosed amount of financing (rumored to be $6 million) from August Capital and Rustic Canyon Partners for their new Flash-based MMO. Very little is known about the game, aside from tidbits here and there. Susan Wu, the company's CEO, recently told Virtual Worlds News that it will be a virtual goods focused business, and they're steering clear of the word "casual", in lieu of the much more appropriate term "accessible". Oh, and they're looking to spend a bit of that cash on some talented artists and programmers.

All-star team gets funding for Ohai MMO originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Korean government to pour $200 billion into gaming industry

Shawn Schuster — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Culture, Economy, MMO industry

As Western game developers are losing money and closing down more games than ever before, the Korean government is taking a drastically different approach. According to a recent report, the Korean government plans to invest $200 billion USD into their gaming industry in an attempt to boost the country into the top spot for game development.

Although this incentive will reach across all gaming genres, Korea is well-known for its involvement with MMOs. NCsoft, which is among one of the largest MMO publishers, is headquartered in Korea and could potentially aim to benefit from such funding. This proposal plans to fund the gaming industry through 2012 and hopes to expand its game exports to around 5 trillion won (around $3.3 trillion USD) per year.

Korean government to pour $200 billion into gaming industry originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Over $100 million invested in Trion and its unusual distribution platform

Samuel Axon — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Business models, MMO industry, New titles, News items

Trion announced that it has managed to get another $70 million in invested funds, bringing the total amount to over $100 million. For reference: that's somewhere in the ballpark of the development cost Grand Theft Auto IV, and about half of what Blizzard has spent on World of Warcraft since its 2004 launch.

Trion is the company co-founded by EA alum Lars Buttler and Might and Magic creator Jon Van Caneghem, which announced that it'll be making a game in concert with The Sci-Fi Channel, as well as a fantasy console MMO we know little about.

We've talked a bit about Trion's plans and business model before, but here's a refresher: it is creating development tools for making games that will run completely server-side. The graphics will be drawn on the client, but everything else -- physics, game logic, etc., will occur on the server and be downloaded to the user's computer. This serves two important functions. It greatly reduces the minimum hardware specifications for games and it makes piracy extremely difficult. We're not going to say yet that it makes piracy impossible, because, well, "life finds a way."

Over $100 million invested in Trion and its unusual distribution platform originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Big Fish Games snags $83 million for expansion

Shawn Schuster — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Free-to-play, Browser

In what is touted as the the largest investment of venture capital for a U.S. online gaming company, Big Fish Games has recently secured $83.3 million in funding from VC firms Balderton Capital, General Catalyst Partners and Salmon River Capital. This is all in addition to the $8.7 million they received in 2005, making this developer one of the most heavily-funded out there.

You may remember in November of last year when Big Fish acquired MMO developer Thinglefin which was founded by Jeremy Friesen and Ryan O'Rourke, formerly of Monolith and Sony Online Entertainment. These industry vets have previously worked on The Matrix Online and Asheron's Call. This new MMO from Thinglefin is described as a free-to-play, browser-based MMO, and is currently still in development.

Big Fish Games snags $83 million for expansion originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Grockit gets funding to teach us all a little something

Akela Talamasca — Sat, 31 May 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Real life, Game mechanics, New titles, News items, Academic, Education

The question is, however, what? According to TechCrunch, former online exam prep site Grockit has recently raised $8 million in funding, bringing the total funding amount up to $10.7 million. Calling itself an MMOLG, or massively multiplayer online learning game, Grockit purports to bring users together to learn from each other. But what exactly does that mean?

Considering its origins as an exam prep company, we could guess that people will connect with one another to discuss specific tests, maybe with sample questions. There might be collaborative tools that allow users to show each other their thinking processes. At the very least, there ought to be animations where avatars will be able to pass each other notes while taking the test. Whatever's being planned, it's apparently worth $10.7 million to somebody.

Grockit gets funding to teach us all a little something originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 31 May 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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