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RIP Vigil Games (2005-2013)

M

MrCookiepants

Member
Reallink said:
From the bankruptcy filing:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=504815&highlight=thq

It sold 2.4 million units and generated $78.2 million in revenue. Even with all that, it was still a $500k loss, which means it was a $78.7 million project.
Click to expand...

This really does not make any sense. It says they expected WWE 13 to generate $75 million for only a $6 million profit. There's no way a yearly sports title cost that much. Unless all that money is getting burned.

Edit: That also means Saints Row 4 was budgeted at $120 million and Homefront 2 nearly as much. Wat.
 
P

Pikma

Banned
MrCookiepants said:
This really does not make any sense. It says they expected WWE 13 to generate $75 million for only a $6 million profit. There's no way a yearly sports title cost that much. Unless all that money is getting burned.
Click to expand...

That right there is exactly what got THQ and many more companies in this situation.
 
tragic

tragic

Developer
To preface this, I have no inside information.

That being said, I think the Platinum tweet may have been taken out of context. This is simply looking at it objectively. Now, that isn't to say it wouldn't be amazing, but I think Inaba-san may have been reacting as any shocked outsider would have... "Hey, what the hell... I want to buy it!"

Of course, I may very well be wrong (and how great would that be?).

Anyway. I've been reading all the threads and I'm sure many of my co-workers and fellow THQ employees have as well. All of the positive feedback goes a long way.

Thanks.
 
TaroYamada

TaroYamada

Member
Inaba has talked of PC gaming in the past, maybe he wants a western franchise to lead Platinums way onto the platform? After Metal Gear R, if that port still happens.
 
C

Corto

Member
MrCookiepants said:
This really does not make any sense. It says they expected WWE 13 to generate $75 million for only a $6 million profit. There's no way a yearly sports title cost that much. Unless all that money is getting burned.

Edit: That also means Saints Row 4 was budgeted at $120 million and Homefront 2 nearly as much. Wat.
Click to expand...

Licenses (in the case of the sports games), marketing and development costs. All adds up. Development of a game to a complete outsider of the process (like myself) should seem the most wasteful process in the world with the iteration process going on with hours and hours of work just thrown away to start all over again.
 
S

Sid

Member
How come none of the console makers are involved? this would be a great IP and studio to buy especially for Sony and MS since their first party portfolio lacks a game like this.
 
T

TrutaS

Member
I really can't understand these studios execs. How can you not see the talent of Vigil and their enormous potential. Good games are so rare and suddenly a company makes 2 great games in a row, that despite some flaws manage to hold their own against top tier releases at least in quality (if not really in sales).

I can't quite understand how there was not a single bid for Vigil, not the most ridiculous one, like it is completely worthless. This industry is so strange...
 
F

Feature

Banned
Sid said:
How come none of the console makers are involved? this would be a great IP and studio to buy especially for Sony and MS since their first party portfolio lacks a game like this.
Click to expand...

No, sony has god of war which is miles better.
 
1

1st Course

Member
Sid said:
How come none of the console makers are involved? this would be a great IP and studio to buy especially for Sony and MS since their first party portfolio lacks a game like this.
Click to expand...

Seeing how the game wasn't able to turn a profit on 4 platforms it's pretty understandable actually.
 
TaroYamada

TaroYamada

Member
Sid said:
I say budget it lower but keep the IP alive,if the game is good word of mouth would help it to sell decently a least.
Click to expand...

This, also the games are too ambitious with features that can afford to be dropped and frankly don't have a place in the series. Drop random loot and leveling, focus on fewer items that all have uses. The world is also too big in the sequel, make one somewhere between DS1/DS2, closer to DS1, and avoid long padded sections (like earth in 2) that serve to water down the game and add significantly to dev costs and time.

Quality > Quantity. Apply it.
 
K

kewlmyc

Member
It's always sad to see someone lose their job and for a company to close. RIP.

At least Darksiders II should be dirt cheap during steam sales now.
 
E

erila

Neo Member
The whole THQ story is so sad :(

I hope that something does come of the Platinum talk. I loved both of the Darksiders games so really want to see that IP kept alive.
 
F

fenners

Member
Terrell said:
At least there's a developer or 2 in the exact same city who are a little talent-hungry.
Click to expand...

Austin is a wasteland for game jobs at the moment. Almost all the large studios have had layoffs in the past year and don't have a huge number of vacancies. The studios that haven't had layoffs are very carefully managing their growth & don't have a lot of vacancies.

There were more people looking for jobs than jobs available /before/ Vigil closed. I hope everyone lands on their feet but the vast chunk of these talented people will be leaving Austin in the long term. We just don't have the jobs.
 
S

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
kewlmyc said:
It's always sad to see someone lose their job and for a company to close. RIP.

At least Darksiders II should be dirt cheap during steam sales now.
Click to expand...

Why is that? There is no publisher to discount it anymore, it may not even be available to purchase.
 
8

8byte

Banned
With this, publishers sent a message to us all: Fuck you.

Seriously, stop buying shooters. Stop buying MILITARY shooters, specifically. STOP.
 
S

Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew

Banned
Skimmed through the thread after my last post. Anyone else saw this?

FnljCbX.png


He's the Lead Level Designer @ Sony Santa Monica.

Do it, Ben!
 
B

Brofield

Member
8byte said:
With this, publishers sent a message to us all: Fuck you.

Seriously, stop buying shooters. Stop buying MILITARY shooters, specifically. STOP.
Click to expand...

But then the U.S. military would actually have to advertise again to boost recruitment rates.

By which making their own military shooter with the occasional disclaimer JOIN THE ARMY.
 
T

ThoughtsOfSpeaking

Banned
tragic said:
To preface this, I have no inside information.

That being said, I think the Platinum tweet may have been taken out of context. This is simply looking at it objectively. Now, that isn't to say it wouldn't be amazing, but I think Inaba-san may have been reacting as any shocked outsider would have... "Hey, what the hell... I want to buy it!"

Of course, I may very well be wrong (and how great would that be?).

Anyway. I've been reading all the threads and I'm sure many of my co-workers and fellow THQ employees have as well. All of the positive feedback goes a long way.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

If push came to shove, would you be willing to move to Japan if offered a job?
 
G

gl0w

Member
This is really sad... somehow i liked a lot Vigil, maybe because of Darksiders.

Good luck for them all.
 
H

HitokiriNate85

Member
This sucks.

Not sure if we have any Vigil employees in this thread, but if so, I'm sorry to see you guys go. Thanks and good luck. Guess today is a good day to listen to the DSII soundtrack(one of my favorites this gen.).
 
G

gabbre

Member
Looks like he won't have any difficult to find a new job. It does not surprise me, the combat system of Darksiders 2 is really good
 
D

derFeef

Member
gabbre said:
Looks like he won't have any difficult to find a new job, it does not surprise me, the combat system of Darksiders 2 is really good
Click to expand...

Agreed, and that's why I think working on GOW would be a bit of a waste - his talent needs to be unleashed into something new (or more Darksiders)
But grab the job for sure! :)
 
S

Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew

Banned
derFeef said:
Agreed, and that's why I think working on GOW would be a bit of a waste - his talent needs to be unleashed into something new (or more Darksiders)
Click to expand...

Sony Santa Monica doesn't just work on God of War. It's better than going to Infinity Ward i.e. COD-Land. Ubisoft Montreal would also be a good choice, but that requires relocation.

Regardless, I hope everyone gets a great job in great companies respecting and implementing their great vision.
 
F

FrankT

Member
Sid said:
How come none of the console makers are involved? this would be a great IP and studio to buy especially for Sony and MS since their first party portfolio lacks a game like this.
Click to expand...

Been saying it for years now and again this could have been a perfect grab for MS, but they still seem very little interested in acquiring any studios. Building a few of their own and doing some second party will be interesting for the next Xbox. Might be fine but they used a lot of 3rd party exclusive stuff early on with 360. Not so sure how willing publishers will be this time around. They need more solid studios.
 
P

patchday

Member
Good to see a thread dedicated to vigil. They made some great games. This sucks they got skipped over. It's really messed up yo
 
I

iavi

Member
Darksiders is dead. It's not being bought in the first round as even piecemeal shows the desire, I think.

The combat talent deserves to live on, though; It's fantastic to see so many people thinking that. Death, in particular, is an absolute joy to fight with.
 
I

iavi

Member
Interrobang said:
There's a separate round for IP not bought in the studio purchases I think. Or are you stating opinion?
Click to expand...

? I don't get what you're asking. Of course it was an opinion. To clarify a bit more, I get the feeling that this next round of IP will be bought up by pubs that plan to just park on them for a long while, if bought at all. Darksiders as we knew it is probably dead, as if there was a desire for the DS Vigil did, they would have bought Vigil.

It's just a shame. DS2 was a step back from DS1 in areas, but felt very much like its own thing, instead of a mashup of ideas. I would have loved them to get comfortable with the identity the series found in the second go and really give us something great in the third.
 
S

sflufan

Banned
The Darksiders IP was dead before Vigil passed on.

Look, Rubin himself said that if DS2 didn't make its sales projections that the IP was in jeopardy. DS2 didn't break even so the chances that even if Vigil had survived that they'd work on DS3 were slim-to-none.
 
O

Orayn

Member
Miizy F Baby said:
Darksiders is dead. It's not being bought in the first round as even piecemeal shows the desire, I think.

The combat talent deserves to live on, though; It's fantastic to see so many people thinking that. Death, in particular, is an absolute joy to fight with.
Click to expand...

Some people are saying that the Darksiders IP itself wasn't on the table, just Vigil.

But yeah, I'm not expecting a miraculous recovery.
 
GraveRobberX

GraveRobberX

Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.
hwalker84 said:
So many studios destroyed this generation.
Click to expand...

Well this one isn't due to games not selling gangbusters or studios hemorrhaging money for the publisher

It was a greed tactic to try catch lightning in a bottle twice bu releasing a uDraw HD version

Market didn't want it, it was based off assumption of the Wii version selling and using that as a proxy to garner more money...

A bet, which they failed, very bad, couldn't even double down, house wins, you go broke

Fuck uDraw HD are the Mini-ET Atari for this generation
(Best Buy couldn't get rid of them, and they were selling them for $7.99, almost $41.99 cheaper from the original MSRP!)
 
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