It is always sad to see a big company go down. But in hind sight they couldn't have expected the Tomb Raider franchise to keep the company afloat for much longer? Thats the thing with one trick ponies, once they are done the show is over...
What really makes me sad about this whole thing is that they grew so big and now this deal effects so many.
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The company also confirmed that it received a buy-out offer earlier this month and that a deal is still possible. A "proposal received on 2 March 2005 of a possible cash offer at a price of 53 pence per share, subject to one principal condition,
Lets not forget the 2 decent Ion Storm franchises.
Thief & Deus Ex
Those were Eidos published, and I enjoyed them.
Yeah this is sad news for the Eidos boys. Its the increasing regularity of news like this lately that has prevented my migration into the video game industry.
I guess I should say something since I work at one of the studios owned by Eidos (Crystal Dynamics).
That article seems to paint a grim picture, but really, things aren't so bad on the development side. There's been talks of an eidos buyout for almost a year now. It sucks that this stuff has gone on for so long, but it really hasn't affected us (the developers) as much as you'd think. We basically started and completed Project: Snowblind at Crystal while eidos has been on the selling block. Other parties are interested in buying eidos because they want their development talent and their intellectual property. It wouldn't be a very good idea for the studio to stop doing what it does (making games) while the publisher is trying to look its best for prospective buyers.
Eidos is in a big transition phase right now, and that has directly affected Crystal Dynamics, but it's been largely positive. We proved we could ship a respectable game on time and within budget when Snowblind came out a few weeks ago, and we've been rewarded for our efforts. If the developer holds up their end of the contract, all you can ask for is the publisher to hold up their end, and eidos has been doing that, amidst all these buyout talks, which is something to appreciate.
I have no idea how the publishing and marketing arms of eidos are taking this recent news, and I'm not going to speak for them. The closing of Ion Storm sucks. Plenty of great studios have closed because their games failed to make a profit; it's the reality of the business. I know a lot of those guys at Ion and I'm confident that they'll all land on their feet somewhere in Austin or even here at Crystal.
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Plenty of great studios have closed because their games failed to make a profit;
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Well from playing Deus Ex 2, and hearing about Thief 3. They weren't nearly up to par as the originals. That and they tried to shift the focus from PC to Xbox, and ended up failing both platforms in compromise.
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What really makes me sad about this whole thing is that they grew so big and now this deal effects so many.
The company also confirmed that it received a buy-out offer earlier this month and that a deal is still possible. A "proposal received on 2 March 2005 of a possible cash offer at a price of 53 pence per share, subject to one principal condition,
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Hmm..*cough*EA?*cough*
Thief & Deus Ex
Those were Eidos published, and I enjoyed them.
Yeah this is sad news for the Eidos boys. Its the increasing regularity of news like this lately that has prevented my migration into the video game industry.
That article seems to paint a grim picture, but really, things aren't so bad on the development side. There's been talks of an eidos buyout for almost a year now. It sucks that this stuff has gone on for so long, but it really hasn't affected us (the developers) as much as you'd think. We basically started and completed Project: Snowblind at Crystal while eidos has been on the selling block. Other parties are interested in buying eidos because they want their development talent and their intellectual property. It wouldn't be a very good idea for the studio to stop doing what it does (making games) while the publisher is trying to look its best for prospective buyers.
Eidos is in a big transition phase right now, and that has directly affected Crystal Dynamics, but it's been largely positive. We proved we could ship a respectable game on time and within budget when Snowblind came out a few weeks ago, and we've been rewarded for our efforts. If the developer holds up their end of the contract, all you can ask for is the publisher to hold up their end, and eidos has been doing that, amidst all these buyout talks, which is something to appreciate.
I have no idea how the publishing and marketing arms of eidos are taking this recent news, and I'm not going to speak for them. The closing of Ion Storm sucks. Plenty of great studios have closed because their games failed to make a profit; it's the reality of the business. I know a lot of those guys at Ion and I'm confident that they'll all land on their feet somewhere in Austin or even here at Crystal.
My 2 cents.
Plenty of great studios have closed because their games failed to make a profit;
[/ QUOTE ]
Well from playing Deus Ex 2, and hearing about Thief 3. They weren't nearly up to par as the originals. That and they tried to shift the focus from PC to Xbox, and ended up failing both platforms in compromise.
Too many cooks im guessing.