Gas Power Games Will Close Down If KickStarter Fails!

[Live OR Die]

For you's that don't know what going on i thought i would spreed the news, This video sums it up Matt Chat 182: Chris Taylor on the Fall of Gas Powered Games , The bottom line is if there kickstarter fails they will have to close down a Chris will lose his life's work and i know theres some of you's that have played TA, SC/FA any many of there other games which were awesome games so please support them if you can and pledge here WILDMAN , GPGs will always be remembered for there Number #1 RTS games.

[AsRock]

GT did a good post about it here
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/sh...as+Power+Games

[Frick]

What do you mean "loose his lifes work"? I'm pretty sure the devs on GPG find employment somewhere else, and Chris ... is a bit overrated imo. TA was great, but I never fell for SC, Dungeon Siege has been good, but not that brilliant. Demigod I have not played.

[techtard]

There's too many game projects on Kickstarter right now, and the general public only has so much expendable income.

Good luck to these guys, but pinning your fortunes on public charity isn't the best business plan.

[Guitarrassdeamor]

That's how a company works. If people don't want the product, it doesn't sell, the company fails. Not sure how they are special honestly.

[FordGT90Concept]

He explains it (the publisher/developer relationship) about 6 minutes in or so. On a $50 sale, the developer only gets maybe $6. The system is rigged to make developers dependent on publishers. Either they sale out to a publisher and are worked like slaves or they end up shutting down. Even if a developer makes a wildly successful game, the publisher still gets almost all of the profits. There's no way for a developer to get ahead on their finances--they're always trying to keep up with money already owed.

[yogurt_21]

seems like they'd make more in a humble bundle. didn't know the margins were that thin.

[FordGT90Concept]

Humble Bundle only sells finished products. GPG likely doesn't own the rights to their titles (the publishers do) so they can't put them in a Humble Bundle like THQ did. Wildman also isn't done so they can't sell it in advance. I think the situation they are in is either Kickstarter works and the game gets made or it doesn't work and the only alternative is to shut down GPG. As a business, he likely could take out a loan but seeing as there is no revenue in the near future for GPG, there's really no means to pay the loan off any time soon if ever.

[erocker]

Originally Posted by FordGT90Concept

He explains it (the publisher/developer relationship) about 6 minutes in or so. On a $50 sale, the developer only gets maybe $6. The system is rigged to make developers dependent on publishers. Either they sale out to a publisher and are worked like slaves or they end up shutting down. Even if a developer makes a wildly successful game, the publisher still gets almost all of the profits. There's no way for a developer to get ahead on their finances--they're always trying to keep up with money already owed.

I guess developers just need to stop working with publishers. It isn't going to get fixed until everything breaks.

[FordGT90Concept]

That's why Taylor started the Kickstarter. He's really conflicted with the concept of Kickstarter but it is his only chance for GPG to become independent. That's why this Kickstarter is larger than just GPG. If GPG can do it, it opens the door for other semi-independent (independent in management but dependent on publishers for investing in future titles) developers to do the same.

[3870x2]

Demigod was a pretty good moba, but did not garner enough attention.

[Guitarrassdeamor]

Originally Posted by FordGT90Concept

That's why Taylor started the Kickstarter. He's really conflicted with the concept of Kickstarter but it is his only chance for GPG to become independent. That's why this Kickstarter is larger than just GPG. If GPG can do it, it opens the door for other semi-independent (independent in management but dependent on publishers for investing in future titles) developers to do the same.

But...other developers have done it. So once again...I'm not seeing how they are special. You might like the game, sure, and that's great - but it seems as if you're acting as if this is somehow a landmark fund for some kind of goal, and it isn't.

[fritoking]

I personally dont like the whole "kickstarter" thing...make a good game or product and i will buy it...

[FordGT90Concept]

Originally Posted by Guitarrassdeamor

But...other developers have done it. So once again...I'm not seeing how they are special. You might like the game, sure, and that's great - but it seems as if you're acting as if this is somehow a landmark fund for some kind of goal, and it isn't.

Which? About id is the only one that has any staying power and that's because they make big bucks off of licensing their engine. Most independent developers either closed or got bought out by a publisher.

I'm not talking about low-budget indie developers here. I'm talking developers that produce AAA titles (have or had 50+ staff).

Originally Posted by fritoking

I personally dont like the whole "kickstarter" thing...make a good game or product and i will buy it...

It's public investment as opposed to private (e.g. bank loans and/or publisher funding). It's easier to sell an idea to a fan base than loan executives and it's easier to get money out of fans/individuals than publishers.

[Binge]

Originally Posted by fritoking

I personally dont like the whole "kickstarter" thing...make a good game or product and i will buy it...

I would love to skip all of the middle men and get funding direct from the end-user once in a while. I think the option should be more widely used. Sort of like donating to a cause.

[AsRock]

How games sell to day and how their prices drop i think times of the publisher needs to be removed..

I know i be so sad to spend 3+ years on a game to see it go on these sales on steam but i guess the publisher is making enough so they don't care about the people who actually put the time and hard work in these games..

legal robbery

[Frick]

Originally Posted by FordGT90Concept

Which? About id is the only one that has any staying power and that's because they make big bucks off of licensing their engine. Most independent developers either closed or got bought out by a publisher.

I'm not talking about low-budget indie developers here. I'm talking developers that produce AAA titles (have or had 50+ staff).



It's public investment as opposed to private (e.g. bank loans and/or publisher funding). It's easier to sell an idea to a fan base than loan executives and it's easier to get money out of fans/individuals than publishers.

double fine and obsidian both did succesfull kickstarters.

[FordGT90Concept]

Double Fine is still pitching games to publishers

Publishers Wanted Obsidian To Use Kickstarter
Publishers Tried Exploiting Obsidian's Kickstarter To Keep IP Rights And Profits

They may have succeeded at Kickstarter but, in terms of publisher independence, they both failed. Double fine is still seeking publisher investment and Obsidian still makes everything licensed through a publisher (e.g. Alpha Protocol is owned by Sega, Fallout: New Vegas is owned by Zenimax). Obsidian hasn't said who is backing Project Eternity but Urquhart strongly suggested Obsidian doesn't own it.

Taylor hasn't talked much about how he is going to get Wildman published. I doubt he has given it much thought because finishing it doesn't seem very realistic.

[Binge]

I don't know if we can cut out publishers entirely I wouldn't want DoubleFine to stop working with publishers to get better exposure, but I do think it slightly morally agitating to attach a publisher's name to a product if a kickstarter is funding it.

[qubit]

I hope GPG don't go down, since more players means a healthier PC gaming market.

[Frick]

Originally Posted by FordGT90Concept

Double Fine is still pitching games to publishers

Publishers Wanted Obsidian To Use Kickstarter
Publishers Tried Exploiting Obsidian's Kickstarter To Keep IP Rights And Profits

They may have succeeded at Kickstarter but, in terms of publisher independence, they both failed. Double fine is still seeking publisher investment and Obsidian still makes everything licensed through a publisher (e.g. Alpha Protocol is owned by Sega, Fallout: New Vegas is owned by Zenimax). Obsidian hasn't said who is backing Project Eternity but Urquhart strongly suggested Obsidian doesn't own it.

Taylor hasn't talked much about how he is going to get Wildman published. I doubt he has given it much thought because finishing it doesn't seem very realistic.

So you want them to be completely independant. Not gonna happen for quite some time.

[EiSFX]

I have to say one of the most successful kickstarters i have seen was for Star Citizen there at roberts space industries which is sitting at $7,564,271 that pretty good if you ask me and 100 of this is from me lol

[DannibusX]

In reference to Ford's post:

I find the possibility that a publisher using Kickstarter to fund the development of a game to be vomit inducing. Any developer using Kickstarter to fund development is awesome, in my mind, but to double dip your "market" like that is disgusting.

The impression I got from his comments were that the publisher tried to get him to do just that and he told them to pound sand. At least, I hope that's the case because it seems an awful lot like profiteering to me.

Obsidian put up the Kickstarter, they get to fund the game they want, they get to own the IP, they get to profit from their work.

[FordGT90Concept]

Originally Posted by Frick

So you want them to be completely independant. Not gonna happen for quite some time.

No, I want them to only use good publishers that let GPG own the rights so GPG gets almost all of the money on sales. About the only successful "completely independent" publisher is Mojang because of Minecraft. Even then, they still have to use other publishers like Apple and Microsoft to publish their product on iOS and Xbox. Mojang still owns Minecraft though--no one has rights to publish without Mojang's approval.

Originally Posted by DannibusX

The impression I got from his comments were that the publisher tried to get him to do just that and he told them to pound sand. At least, I hope that's the case because it seems an awful lot like profiteering to me.

I'm 99% sure GPG is not working for any publishers right now. That's why they are in deep trouble. This is Taylor's last ditch effort to get investment money to make a game without becoming indebted to someone like a bank or a publisher.

[lyndonguitar]

I liked Supreme Commander 1, although I did not like the "super big robots" looking more like toys than massive machines, and they messed up with SC2,

Originally Posted by 3870x2

Demigod was a pretty good moba, but did not garner enough attention.

I liked it aswell, but the problem is few heroes