• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Tequila Works reaquired the rights to RiME

I think they had that one level they were focus testing over, and over, and over, and over...

3 years later, over, and over...

Honestly, if after 3 years you can't manage to get a good playable slice together that has at least a third or so of the game finished and fun, you should just pack it up and do something else.

I don't think there are many game genres out there that are as difficult to pull off as ICO and SOTC, but after 3 years, I'd expect a dev to have their shit in order.
 

Lime

Member
I didn't know Raul from MercurySteam exploitative fame was head of this game. What a fucking travesty that he remained in power.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Honestly, if after 3 years you can't manage to get a good playable slice together that has at least a third or so of the game finished and fun, you should just pack it up and do something else.

I don't think there are many game genres out there that are as difficult to pull off as ICO and SOTC, but after 3 years, I'd expect a dev to have their shit in order.

Agreed, and apparently so did Sony.
 

SeanTSC

Member
All this info comes from a source very close to the studio.

First of all, I was told that the reveal trailer was all cinematic. It was faked to mimic gameplay, assets, etc. from a real game but 0% of the game was implemented.

So the real challenge for the studio was to put that vision into the final game. And apparently this has been impossible to achieve.

This words are a direct quote from my source about this news and the studio itself (it contains his personal opinion):

"Sony required about one month ago the DEV KITs to be returned and canceled the fundings into Tequila Works, due of the game had no-sense. Basically there wasn't a game.

This is a consecuence of the bad studio direction, basically Raul Rubio thinks that he is the next Tim Schafer. The truth is that Raul was fired from MercurySteam. The people from MercurySteam speak really bad about him (the main critics are: he has no idea about games, technology and he has crazy ideas without sense). If you add that his wife is the chairman of Tequila Works and looking for info about her you can find this:

http://www.notariado.org/liferay/we...4233524_ELIG_NOT_PARAM_SITUACION=AC&FLAG=MAIL

You could see that she is public notary in Spain. She hasn't any background making games. The results are, that Rime has no publisher and it is not cancelled due of they got public spanish founds to develop games:

http://www.minetur.gob.es/PortalAyu...nts/Listado_PropuestaProvisionalConcesion.pdf

If you take a look into their website and you compare the hellworkers list with the original team from Deadlight , only a couple guys remains from the original team. If all the team has left the studio, you must think that something wrong there is into the top of the company."

I'm a bit sad to be honest since i was there in the first days of the studio (not working).

Well, that sucks. Rime looked gorgeous and I was pretty excited for it. Time to delete it from my list of upcoming games that I'm going to buy since it's dead. Oh well.
 

Fbh

Member
Damn, that's dissapointing to hear.
At some point it was my most anticipated game for ps4.

I hoped they were just doing slow progress because of being a small team. But it sounds like it's way worse than that
 
Man if people at Mercury Steam disliked Raul Rubio as well, I wonder how they even functioned considering the rumors about Castlevania's crazy director. Suddenly this RIME situation ain't so surprising..
 
I mean, I was really excited about this at one point, but the ridiculous wait makes this kind of unsurprising. There must be something amiss over there.
 
Like this one? :^)





Wow, if all of this is true I'm really saddened and disappointed. Seems like a huge lack of character on the developer's part if this is legitimate.

Corporations are like this, even if the game is bad they are going to try to recoup some losses. RIME sounds like it never was close to become a game.
 

RamzaIsCool

The Amiga Brotherhood
Unless Tequilla can selfpublish this somehow, the "game" is most likely dead and buried

I reckon a third party may have a plunge at this. Whatever the state of the game may be it still had the benefit of being heavely promoted (Edge cover, conferences, etc.) by Sony, so the exposure is already there. And it's been in developement for like 3 years now, so there should be enough there for somebody to try to salvage it somewhat. I think TW will be contacted by various parties right now for an appointment to see the state of the game. Who know who might bite. But the game alot of us had in our minds when we saw the reveal trailer... yeah that one is dead. I don't think it will resemble that one bit when it gets released.
 
I reckon a third party may have a plunge at this. Whatever the state of the game may be it still had the benefit of being heavely promoted (Edge cover, conferences, etc.) by Sony, so the exposure is already there. And it's been in developement for like 3 years now, so there should be enough there for somebody to try to salvage it somewhat. I think TW will be contacted by various parties right now for an appointment to see the state of the game. Who know who might bite. But the game alot of us had in our minds when we saw the reveal trailer... yeah that one is dead. I don't think it will resemble that one bit when it gets released.
Microsoft passed on the game and Sony pulled funding, what 3rd party will dare risk putting money on this project?

If rumours are led to be believed, they did jack shit in these 3 years and have nothing to show for it, they aren't tricking people with another vertical slice or concept.
 

Esque7

Member
This was one of the games that almost made me get a PS4 over Xbone, but I thought it was weird there was no information on the game so I figured wait until it actually releases. Shame it seems to be in development hell, but hopefully it will still release at some point in the future with some semblance to the trailers.
 

Whompa02

Member
Guys don't worry, at least we have "Vane" to look forward to now that "Rime" is basically a development cluster F...from one four letter Ico inspired child adventure to well...another four letter one. But at least Vane is being maybe made by two ex Last Guardian devs.

http://youtu.be/RXe5t7iIzoQ
 
Wait what?! Rime was supposed to be a tower defense type game? I hadn't gotten that vibe from it at all, maybe I should go back and rewatch those announcement trailers.

That was the original pitch, the one that Microsoft turned down. The game Sony picked up was a very different game from that original pitch.

That's why you should take talk like "Nintendo turned down LittleBigPlanet" with an enormous grain of salt, because a lot of the time those games turn out completely different from what was originally pitched.

Well Mercury Stream supposedly fired him, but another poster said that Alvarez guy was responsible.

He founded Tequila Works in 2009, so he would've been fired before the first LoS was even out. The problems with LoS 2 were unrelated to him.

Anyway, well this sucks because I was looking forward to the game but at the same time, I was prepared for the worst anyway, what with how mediocre Deadlight was and all the rumours surrounding the game. Oh well, I hope they turn things around independently but I have a lot of doubts.
 

Elandyll

Banned
If true, then ItsDeadJim.gif

But how is it that even before the debut trailer at Gamescom, Sony hadn't seen a playable build? How did TW even manage to pitch this without some sort of playable vertical slice, no matter how rough?
If we follow what lhere's been posting, it seems that they put together a very enticing demo concept, got Sony on board with that, and then it was downhill from there.

They promised something (a game matching the concept), and were unable to deliver. In Sony's position, you have two choices: drop 'em quick or give them support to try to have it done, at cost in time and money. And even then, it didn't pan out (if everything lhere posted is true, there was some downright shady stuff done to mislead Sony about their capability to even deliver in the first place).
Nearly 3 years later, Sony had enough and the IP reverted (either a buy back, or a contract clause imo). Either they found a sucker to financially back them, or they are on their own looking for one (apparently the Spanish gov is also bankrolling).

What a waste of time and talent (for the concept that is). Part of me wish the IP had stayed with Sony and been reassigned to another dev, but maybe that never was possible, depending on the contract signed in the first place.

I still have the (faintest) hope that this title eventually releases and looking like what was promised, and this time multiplat, but it's a far fetched hope with what we know.
 

Dabanton

Member
"Sony required about one month ago the DEV KITs to be returned and canceled the fundings into Tequila Works, due of the game had no-sense. Basically there wasn't a game.

Wow, that's astounding. I don't think this will ever come out.

Although what does this mean for any future TW games I expect MS and now Sony will probably be ignoring their calls here on out. And if things are as bad as the rumours make out. What third party would even take the risk?
 

RamzaIsCool

The Amiga Brotherhood
Microsoft passed on the game and Sony pulled funding, what 3rd party will dare risk putting money on this project?

If rumours are led to be believed, they did jack shit in these 3 years and have nothing to show for it, they aren't tricking people with another vertical slice or concept.

Dunno man, just saying that this industry works in weird ways. This title has enough going for it that some small publisher (koch, deepsilver) or an independent studio (RaD, Insomniac Games) might take interest and see what they can do with it. I am pretty sure that at the very least various of parties are trying to get in contact with them when the news broke out.
 

Mr. Tibbs

Member
Yep - pretty much the same situation as the Prey 2 trailer.

If you're going to spread lies, at least get the basic details right! It was a gameplay presentation, neither of the trailers featured any gameplay.
http://www.pcgamesn.com/prey-2-was-lot-more-demo-claims-ex-human-head-employee
http://www.develop-online.net/inter...uman-head-recovered-from-cancellation/0205225
www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/05/what-went-wrong-with-human-heads-prey-2

Re Rime: I hope it manages to release in some form. That Edge cover story really sold me on the game.
 

sflufan

Banned

Alright, I admit that I misspoke.

There wasn't more to Prey 2 than a really well-executed, highly-scripted E3 gameplay presentation.
 

Mr. Tibbs

Member
There wasn't more to Prey 2 than a really well-executed, highly-scripted E3 gameplay presentation.
That's not the case, either.

The Bowery, the level you're dismissing as smoke and mirrors, was essentially a hub. It was massive, and featured more than just a "scripted chase." There were two more of those, Undercity and Locktown, in addition to a Casino, a War Sphere, a Syndicate hideout, the airplane crash site on the Sphere, Killian's aparment and many others.

The gameplay presentation was finished by April 2011. There were massive changes and improvements (In the leaked screenshots, you can see a new hud, light maps, etc) before development stopped in November 2011 after Bethesda tried to purchase the studio through milestone abuse. So many neat things the public never saw: a grappling hook, a laser whip, dozens of gadgets, etc...
 

Head.spawn

Junior Member
All this info comes from a source very close to the studio.

First of all, I was told that the reveal trailer was all cinematic. It was faked to mimic gameplay, assets, etc. from a real game but 0% of the game was implemented.

So the real challenge for the studio was to put that vision into the final game. And apparently this has been impossible to achieve.

This words are a direct quote from my source about this news and the studio itself (it contains his personal opinion):

"Sony required about one month ago the DEV KITs to be returned and canceled the fundings into Tequila Works, due of the game had no-sense. Basically there wasn't a game.

This is a consecuence of the bad studio direction, basically Raul Rubio thinks that he is the next Tim Schafer. The truth is that Raul was fired from MercurySteam. The people from MercurySteam speak really bad about him (the main critics are: he has no idea about games, technology and he has crazy ideas without sense). If you add that his wife is the chairman of Tequila Works and looking for info about her you can find this:

http://www.notariado.org/liferay/we...4233524_ELIG_NOT_PARAM_SITUACION=AC&FLAG=MAIL

You could see that she is public notary in Spain. She hasn't any background making games. The results are, that Rime has no publisher and it is not cancelled due of they got public spanish founds to develop games:

http://www.minetur.gob.es/PortalAyu...nts/Listado_PropuestaProvisionalConcesion.pdf

If you take a look into their website and you compare the hellworkers list with the original team from Deadlight , only a couple guys remains from the original team. If all the team has left the studio, you must think that something wrong there is into the top of the company."

I'm a bit sad to be honest since i was there in the first days of the studio (not working).

well, damn
 

Axass

Member
All this info comes from a source very close to the studio.

First of all, I was told that the reveal trailer was all cinematic. It was faked to mimic gameplay, assets, etc. from a real game but 0% of the game was implemented.

So the real challenge for the studio was to put that vision into the final game. And apparently this has been impossible to achieve.

This words are a direct quote from my source about this news and the studio itself (it contains his personal opinion):

"Sony required about one month ago the DEV KITs to be returned and canceled the fundings into Tequila Works, due of the game had no-sense. Basically there wasn't a game.

This is a consecuence of the bad studio direction, basically Raul Rubio thinks that he is the next Tim Schafer. The truth is that Raul was fired from MercurySteam. The people from MercurySteam speak really bad about him (the main critics are: he has no idea about games, technology and he has crazy ideas without sense). If you add that his wife is the chairman of Tequila Works and looking for info about her you can find this:

http://www.notariado.org/liferay/we...4233524_ELIG_NOT_PARAM_SITUACION=AC&FLAG=MAIL

You could see that she is public notary in Spain. She hasn't any background making games. The results are, that Rime has no publisher and it is not cancelled due of they got public spanish founds to develop games:

http://www.minetur.gob.es/PortalAyu...nts/Listado_PropuestaProvisionalConcesion.pdf

If you take a look into their website and you compare the hellworkers list with the original team from Deadlight , only a couple guys remains from the original team. If all the team has left the studio, you must think that something wrong there is into the top of the company."

I'm a bit sad to be honest since i was there in the first days of the studio (not working).

not-like-this.gif


It was THE game I was looking forward to on PS4. I still hope someday something comes out of this, as unlikely as it seems.
 

Boke1879

Member
Tequila's PR man is saying that they are having a good laugh with this thread in their Whatsapp group. Instead of laughing you could shed some light so people don't spread "misinformation", don't you think?

Right? Say something because based on all accounts why wouldn't anyone believe this info? Nothing said or seen of the game since the trailer .
 
Tequila's PR man is saying that they are having a good laugh with this thread in their Whatsapp group. Instead of laughing you could shed some light so people don't spread "misinformation", don't you think?

If their PR guy is reacting to news like that by laughing it off, I'd get rid off that PR person. What a way to treat your fans.

The next thing Tequila Works would need to do to control this disaster is to actually show in-engine stuff that looks exactly like the videos did....
 
Top Bottom