Red Octane and Underground Development shut down
polycounter lvl 19
Developers of Guitar Hero branded games. To be expected, coming from the cold-hearted bastards at Activision (after having already closed Luxoflux and culled staff at FreeRadical and Neversoft..).
Sorry to those affected.
Sorry to those affected.
Replies
I hope everyone effected gets to other studios! Good luck!
oh dear
Learn how to code for ps3 and your golden :P
Heart goes out to the guys. Finding a new gig will be a pretty harsh business.
Actually, the code is pretty much the same they use the same 3d3 for everything. Same implimentation, but different execution.
I think I am pretty safe because I am a programmer and practicing 3d modeling (should be able to open my own studio with it, if the game studios start falling apart like people state these days
Reasons why you should support small studios.
But as far Kotick goes.. Remember, he's a symptom not the cause. Sad as it may be, our whole economic system allows Sociopaths (yes, people like him are sociopaths. Its just the veneer of his background education that allows them to escape this term) to handle the reigns.
Nothing is going to change unless we make it. If you partake 401-ks, stock, or such. Your part of the problem. So consider that next time a Kotick or wallstreet takes millions to billions at the expense of so many others.
Either way my heart goes out to those that lost their job. I hope you land on your feet.
The interest in expensive peripheral-based rhythm games has died. Or is quickly dying. Overplayed, so to speak. Milked for all it was worth. It was fun while it lasted.
Any of you still playing Guitar Hero? Don't blame the CEO for shutting down a studio that had no better ideas lined up. I mean, I'm sure he's a dick. A rich dick. But RedOctane was a publisher. Neversoft was the developer. And Harmonix split off years ago to do Rock Band.
I'd never heard of Underground Development...but it looks like they were responsible for a console port of Quake Wars. After which, they were suppose to have been shut down. But they contributed on Guitar Hero: Van Halen. Anyone playing that? Yeah, me neither.
Old studios fall, and studios with better ideas rise in their place. No worries.
when it comes down to it, none of these people are bobbys family, so really would you do anything different if it was going to cost you millions of dollars in losses?
everyone looks out for number one in the end, and if you view buisness as helping people by supporting them at a cost to your company you are incredibly naive. New studios will sprout up and life will continue.
sorry to all those effected, I think UFG might have some art positions opening up within the coming months.
Unfortunately, a lot of those appear to be teams of like 5 guys each, so it's probably not going to provide work for many of the people losing their jobs at larger studios. But it's something to think about, I guess. If nothing else, it looks a lot simpler and cheaper for people with experience to get a team together and make something to be published to iPhone than it would be to try to set up a company for larger projects. So maybe it'd be an option for the newly unemployed. I don't know how profitable it is, but it's gotta be better than nothing, or working regular jack-off jobs again.
Elysium, agreed and not surprised they're gone. It's a shame, because they had such a huge impact on our industry - perhaps even more so than the entire Wii console. I would almost think they'd move on from Guitar Hero and try and get the next 'must have' product out there for the majority of people who enjoyed Guitar Hero, the casual gamer. I suppose they were trying to figure out what that was and time caught up to them.
So who is that $5 going to?
I just don't like reading big walls of text and figure I can sum up my major thoughts in a line or two.
Outstanding.
Well there is good amount of small studios in USA, so if one artist loses his job, he or she can just apply to a small studio, show what they have done at previous work and it should be like walk in the park for them. Small studios including the startup ones actually welcome those who are experienced (been there done that) type of people.
Like fly_soup mentioned, many small studios will not touch a AAA game due to the high rate of failure in that market. It's not easy to compete with the likes of Bioshock, CoD, Gears, Assassin's...etc. And no one wants to give up years of their life on such an enormous project only to be let go in the end. There is plenty of room for creativity as mobile gaming devices and touchscreens evolve. Everyone is drooling for the day we see a multitouch RTS game...when it's an affordable and accessible concept.
Other studios survive through partnerships. Providing map packs and expansions to larger companies, while working out the tech of their own IPs.
Vigil just recently released its first game. The company has only been around 5 years, but there is a lot of top talent and leadership there, with new creative ideas.
Four studios have appeared from the demise of Ensemble Studios. It's too early to tell which will succeed. But some are hiring as they grow to develop new and exciting IPs.
Point being...it's not the end of the world. It's the start of something up-to-date, and more exciting. I'd rather work for a smaller studio if I have the option.