Factor 5 Animator Claims Studio is Cutting Projects, Needs Funding

[Slavik81]

[I AM JOHN!]

Alright, I really wanna share some of my insight on this, considering I'm probably responsible for the guy editing his post.

Back before he edited the post to include an explanation for why he decided to take down the offending post, the blog was open for comments. Before I got involved, there were two comments: one from some guy wishing him the best and saying how terrible it was that 1UP was making a big deal out of nothing to try and get pageviews, and an anonymous comment that pointed out how he was overreacting. So at around 7 EST post a comment along the lines of this (obviously, both of these quotes aren't exactly verbatim):

I don't think 1UP was intentionally trying to misconstrue your post, so if you felt that you or the state of Factor 5 was being misrepresented, why not send a message to Garnett Lee, 1UP's news editor, and tell him so? Deleting the entire blog just makes your motives look suspicious.

Fifteen minutes later, he deletes my comment. This annoys me, so I decide I need to get the last word in:

And for the record, I never said anything bad about you or your employer, so deleting my post just makes you look even more suspicious. :\

Ten minutes later, he removes commenting and edits the blog to how we see it today.

Now I don't think I was being rude or anything, so this doesn't make any sense to me. If you wrote a blog post and someone interpreted it as you saying something you didn't mean, why would you delete said post, change your blog to only have a kind of nasty post about the offending organization, and then attempt to silence anyone who calls you out on it? I hope it's not true, because even though they aren't my favorite developer, no one should lose their job in this market, but his actions make it hard for me to think otherwise...

[Totobeni]

Is Lair REALLY that bad? I mean, has anyone here actually played it after the update? I want to try it, but I can't even find anywhere that rents the damn game. The pictures of it were pretty, and I mean damn! You're flying a dragon! That has to be at least SOMEWHAT fun...

a lot of people here in gaf played it after the analoge update , believe me it's still the king of shit kingdom .

it was not the Sixaxis motion that broke the game , it was the broken game design and full of wrong decisions in that area it's like 101 of Game Design the Wrong Way , some missions not only boring but stupid as well .

sad thing is PS3's Sixaxis got a lot of hate just because of that crappy game , but infact , sixaxis interaction is very good when developers use it in the right way like to catch souls in Folklore , Mirror's Edge or for steady aim in Killzone 2 ect .



Sony still own Drakan IP , use Warhawk engine , put hot semi-naked girl with sword on Dragon and give me Drakan 3 RIGHT NOW

[2real4tv]

Demo Cover mechanics/Navigation's

Wow just noticed one of those animations is in KZ2

[Madman]

^^^They're similar, but I don't think they're the same.

Demo Cover mechanics/Navigation's

It sucks this got canceled. Probably as a result of the guy who told Jaffe not to do God of War.

[Jtyettis]

Not looking good at all.

A well-placed source has told Edge that a recent employee blog posting about layoffs and delayed pay at Lair developer Factor 5 is "all true." The source, who wished to remain anonymous, said 37 people were laid off from the San Rafael, Calif. studio on Friday afternoon. Around 38 people remain, he said. "The last time staff got paid was October 15th," the source stated. Workers who were laid off could get paid back this week, although this is unconfirmed. Word of trouble at Factor 5 went public earlier this month, when Sam Baker, an artist with the studio, posted in his personal blog that workers hadn't been paid for weeks, health care was nixed and a project eight months deep had been canned. The firm had been urgently scrounging for funding in order to maintain operations, said Baker. He later updated his blog claiming the reason behind the troubles was the recent closing of licensed game producer Brash Entertainment. To that, our source said, "The thing that bothers me the most about it all is they could have avoided all of this ages ago. It wasn't really the Brash deal going south that was the big problem, but it didn't help much either." Factor 5, which was originally founded in Cologne, Germany, announced in March this year that it had a multi-game contract with Brash. Since his blog posting, Baker has resigned from the studio. Our source said the widespread news coverage of Baker's post "was quite shocking" to the artist. "He's young, and was totally devastated by his new found fame. He didn't think anything of it, innocently posting his heartfelt concerns." But that might not be the end of the effects surrounding the post, which was later deleted. "The kicker is, Factor 5 is thinking of suing [Baker] for good measure." Multiple calls to Factor 5 were left unanswered as of press time. Factor 5 made a name for itself on Nintendo platforms, developing technically impressive Star Wars titles in the Rogue Squadron series, among many other games. The most recent game from Factor 5 was 2007's PS3 exclusive Lair, which flopped with critics and failed to light up sales charts.

http://www.edge-online.com/features/...ctor-5-cuts-37

[I AM JOHN!]

Baker messed up bad, but suing him? Come on Factor 4.9, that just seems petty.

[The-Switcher]

I hope none of those laid off were working on awesome HD-like Wii games.

[FoneBone]

Guessing that their last-ditch efforts to find a publisher for Superman fell flat.

[Dante]

It's pretty much official, as we were interviewing a couple of former F5 employees today.

[norinrad21]

Does it come as a surprise to some of you guys that half of these developers who did well on [insert Console here] are now struggling after betting on the wrong horse? There was a time when these shitty developers had a stable income from creating games for [insert console here]

sigh

[Aaron]

Baker messed up bad, but suing him? Come on Factor 4.9, that just seems petty.

They obviously need the money.

[I AM JOHN!]

Does it come as a surprise to some of you guys that half of these developers who did well on last-gen consoles are now struggling after betting on the wrong horse? There was a time when these shitty developers had a stable income from creating games for last-gen consoles sigh

Filled in those blanks for you. Seriously, the rising development costs of HD games plus the economic collapse means that a lot of companies are going to be falling by the wayside if they aren't smart or up to quality.

[Spire]

Factor 5 has used up any good will they earned with the early Rogue Squadron games. It's sad to see people lose their jobs, but I can't say I have any attachment to the developer anymore.

[theBishop]

Suing Baker? was he under NDA or something?

[Mario]

Suing Baker? was he under NDA or something?

His employment contract would have included a confidentiality clause. Releasing commercially sensitive information in the way he did would have been in violation of that, and quite possibly could have damaged the company's ability to secure further work.

That would provide reasonable legal grounds to sue, but I doubt they would as it would cost them more money than they could ever hope to get out of a young, now unemployed animator.

[Yamauchi]

That's sad. Chris Huelsbeck is still my favorite game music composer. Also heard that Funcom downsized last month.

[Mejilan]

Damn. It's just a shitty situation for everyone. Baker, Factor 5, gamers. Say what you will about their last game or three, but no one wins here, IMHO.

[Jtyettis]

Damn. It's just a shitty situation for everyone. Baker, Factor 5, gamers. Say what you will about their last game or three, but no one wins here, IMHO.

Aye

[ZeroGravity]

From Matt-IGN on the message boards over at IGN:

Was hoping the rumors weren't true. Contacted Julian over at F5 to shed some light, but he didn't get back to me. Got an e-mail from an inside source tonight: "Hi Matt, How have you been? Haven't seen you guys since E3. I hope that you're doing well! [Edit] wanted me to contact you with some late breaking news. We just learned from inside sources that developer Factor 5 has officially closed their doors as of today. That's some pretty big news considering that those guys have been around for quite a while. It's definitely a real shame! I hope that this information is helpful to you. Take care, and please say hi to Bozon for me." Beh. Not sure what this does to Kid Icarus, either, but it sure doesn't sound good. I'll keep you posted. I'm still holding out some kind of hope there may yet be a light at the end of the tunnel. Matt

http://boards.ign.com/nintendo_wii_g...75069162/p1/?1

[Black-Wind]

From Matt-IGN on the message boards over at IGN: http://boards.ign.com/nintendo_wii_g...75069162/p1/?1

Wooow! His first line was to talk about KI . . . when like 30something people are out of jobs if this is true?

Wish I could follow the link . . .

This should be it's own thread!

[Chrange]

His employment contract would have included a confidentiality clause. Releasing commercially sensitive information in the way he did would have been in violation of that, and quite possibly could have damaged the company's ability to secure further work. That would provide reasonable legal grounds to sue, but I doubt they would as it would cost them more money than they could ever hope to get out of a young, now unemployed animator.

I'm pretty sure his contract also said he'd be getting paid on a regular basis.

[element]

If they had a development deal with Nintendo, they would still be open.

[TheListener]

If they had a development deal with Nintendo, they would still be open.

Agreed. Matt is weird for sticking to that story..

[xfactor]

If there's any sense left, Nintendo should scoop those people up and give them a studio to make hardcore games for the Wii

[Kafel]

So much for Lair and Haze ...

[Mockingbird]

Make one bad HD game and look what happens <=(

[KevinCow]

Silicon Knights is next.

[J-Rock]

They're dropping like flies this gen. Insane.

[AniHawk]

Silicon Knights is next.

You say that when every video game company fails.

[Ysiadmihi]

If there's any sense left, Nintendo should scoop those people up and give them a studio to make hardcore games for the Wii

No thanks. I couldn't stomach another Rebel Strike.

[Hesemonni]

If there's any sense left, Nintendo should scoop those people up and give them a studio to make hardcore games for the Wii

Yea, rite.

[Mockingbird]

Speaking of which, what were the sales for Haze, Lair, and Too Human?

[KevinCow]

You say that when every video game company fails.

Well most of them have been failing for the last decade or so, but they'll be the next to go out of business.

[Revelations]

And there goes more wood for the fire... :(

[magash]

Another one? this console generation realllyyyy SUCKS

[Mario]

I'm pretty sure his contract also said he'd be getting paid on a regular basis.

Which means he will have legitimate legal actions of his own he can take.

[suaveric]

If they had a development deal with Nintendo, they would still be open.

So what has Matt been hinting at for this last year? Factor 5 was working on an unauthorized KI hoping Nintendo would pick the game up?

[jaundicejuice]

What's more likely? Factor 5 went down in flames while secretly working on Kid Icarus for Nintendo or Matt spouting unfounded bullshit?

[civilstrife]

This is pretty crazy. The stakes for creating tech heavy games this gen and absolutely huge, and they're only going to get bigger. There's just no room for error anymore, and to be honest, that's a bit of a scary thought. Is there a future for developers with quirky ideas that also want to throw some tech and a decent budget behind it (eg. Little Big Planet)?

You've got to give Nintendo credit for predicting this trend and doing something about it, whatever you feel about their strategy.

[JoshuaJSlone]

Wow.

I would've hoped licensing things like MusyX and their DivX ports would've continued bringing in money, especially as "GameCube" development has picked up; but I guess they can't support a company on their own.

[Phife Dawg]

Another one bites the dust? Too bad, although their RS-formula got a bit old - just putting on a fantasy coating isn't enough.

[Forsete]

Is there a future for developers with quirky ideas that also want to throw some tech and a decent budget behind it (eg. Little Big Planet)?

Of course there is. You just have to have enough oversight to understand when your game sucks and cancel it then to save the company or redesign. Sorry to see this happen to Level 5.

[Psychotext]

Hard times indeed for the game development industry.

[1138]

Sad to see them go. I loved the Rouge Squadron games on gamecube, and always hoped they would release a new game in the series on PS3. Battle of Endor in HD with tons of capital ships would be amazing. Too bad it will never happen.

[RandomVince]

I'm pretty sure his contract also said he'd be getting paid on a regular basis.

This is a very salient point and well made.

[Phife Dawg]

Of course there is. You just have to have enough oversight to understand when your game sucks and cancel it then to save the company or redesign. Sorry to see this happen to Level 5.

Lair was backed and funded by Sony though. But the game being a failure of epic dimension both in reception and sales probably made people hesitant in giving F5 money or projects. With the exception of Nintendo of course, who paid lots of cash moneys for Kid Icarus.

This is a very salient point and well made.

Not really - one hasn't got to do with the other. But like Mario said, getting an enforceable judgement/title is of no use if the guy is just some unemployed animator with no money.

[RandomVince]

It's a broken contract if you dont get paid, surely?

[Neo C.]

If there's any sense left, Nintendo should scoop those people up and give them a studio to make hardcore games for the Wii

No offense to you, but why do people always suggest that Nintendo should take the opportunity, but never mention other companies like MS, Sony and other big players? MS isn't poor either.

[timetokill]

No offense to you, but why do people always suggest that Nintendo should take the opportunity, but never mention other companies like MS, Sony and other big players? MS isn't poor either.

Sure, MS and Sony have the money, but I'm sure Sony is feeling kinda burned over Lair Might make MS hesitant too.

The main reason to suggest Nintendo is because Factor 5 has already proven to be great with the Cube hardware, so giving them upgraded hardware that they already have expertise with would help Nintendo make more Western games with a studio that knows how to push a similar platform architecture to the Cube.