Deadly Cyclone
Pride of Iowa State
KAOS
I know so many devs have failed we barely have any games to play....oh wait.
I didn't even know we had a list like this. Thank god we do. But it does not do us any good if it is being constantly updated but never bumped so people can see it.
Someone should print out t-shirts, with the most up to date lists, and sell them in order to promote awareness of how dangerously close the current console game developing model is to becoming completely unsustainable.
Quoting from another thread.
It's okay, guys. We shouldn't care because we've still got great devs like Treyarch and EA's crappy internal studios churning out high quality software.
Lets ditch 3D graphics and go back to sprites.
Where's the list of studios opened since 2006?
Because I'm sure it's much bigger. And IOS and Zynga type studios do count.
Get out with your perfectly logical question. We are all doomed, don't you see?Where's the list of studios opened since 2006?
Because I'm sure it's much bigger. And IOS and Zynga type studios do count.
Where's the list of studios opened since 2006?
Because I'm sure it's much bigger. And IOS and Zynga type studios do count.
Get out with your perfectly logical question. We are all doomed, don't you see?
Also, Zipper.
It doesn't fit the narrative some people want to present?
One last point: yes, this list is depressing, but I'm pretty sure the list of studios created from 2006-2012 is much longer than the one below.
I agree. Forget about poor management, it's all the hardware's fault. Hopefully the big 3 charges us over $300 for sprite based consoles. Every studio will be saved!
It doesn't fit the narrative some people want to present?
Not in reference to the OP, but to individual posters. Look back a few pages and you'll see posts along the lines ofAm I high, or is this addressed right there in the OP?
And so forth.Wow, this generation killed a lot of studios. : (
I would pay $300 for a console with nothing but 2D games if the library was good and it had some hand-drawn ones like Muramasa and Dragon's Crown.
Where's the list of studios opened since 2006?
Because I'm sure it's much bigger. And IOS and Zynga type studios do count.
Where's the list of studios opened since 2006?
Because I'm sure it's much bigger. And IOS and Zynga type studios do count.
Because they weren't really closed, just reshuffled. They did lose some key staff in the process though, as did Artoon and Feelplus.It's so sad that no one even seems to remember Cavia
It's so sad that no one even seems to remember Cavia
http://i.imgur.com/BglQC.jpg[IMG]
Good night sweet prince, and thanks for that godly OST.[/QUOTE]
I hate how they're remembered for Nier and not drakengard...after all Nier is a sequel!
I agree. Forget about poor management, it's all the hardware's fault. Hopefully the big 3 charges us over $300 for sprite based consoles. Every studio will be saved!
We're excluding iOS/Facebook developers? Then the list of new studios and hires is significantly smaller than the list of closed ones, by quite a wide margin.
But you are correct that this doesn't represent a collapse of gaming. It's just a general exodus away from console-style development and towards iOS/Indie/Facebook style.
I think this list however, does represent the complete disappearance of the B-list developers, and I think if we ever look back on this generation, that will be it's highlight: your second tier devs are pretty much gone. Either you move up towards AAA or you scale down closer to XBLA, and having a game that was "just average" won't do it anymore.But you are correct that this doesn't represent a collapse of gaming. It's just a general exodus away from console-style development and towards iOS/Indie/Facebook style.
But that still creates the problem of destroying mid-level devs, which is something people have been saying for some time. Having nothing but the two extremes - exorbitantly budgeted hit or flop games and indie level XBLA or iOS mobile games - isn't healthy for the video game industry. It's specifically bad for the console market because a fewer number of titles will be able to really thrive. And I'm sure plenty of people will chime in and say "what the hell do I care, it just means higher quality games for me to enjoy," but I'm going to stop them right now and say that's an incredibly short sighted, and frankly fucking stupid, stance to take.
The audience apparently doesn't want those types of games in large enough quantities to justify investment in those types of games. It's not healthy or unhealthy; it's the industry adapting to the market rather than throwing good money after bad.
XBLA-level games are often better games than those B-tier games of years gone by, anyway.
I have the faint feeling that Nintendo will suffer most because of this. No facts to back it up but I think they're one of the more prominent developers still churning out a lot of B-level software.
Whoa...what? Nintendo's titles are about as far away from B-level as you can get.
Where do people draw the line between top tier and middle tier developers? I consider these developers to be middle tiers, but maybe I´m wrong in somce cases.
Double Fine
Firaxis
Telltale is an interesting case, in that they have adopted a business model that few others have been able to successfully use. If you look at each episode as a product, they'd probably fall into the low-budget space. They probably have the manpower to release middle-tier failures, but have instead gone with a business model that makes sense.Telltale
Not Mario, Zelda and the like. I was thinking of Wario, Golden Sun, Sin & Punishment... all the minor stuff. Obviously not in quality but in mass appeal, budget etc.
Where do people draw the line between top tier and middle tier developers? I consider these developers to be middle tiers, but maybe I´m wrong in somce cases.
Double Fine
Sports Interactive
Creative Assembly
Paradox
Firaxis
Bohemia
Gaijin
Telltale
Firaxis is a AAA studio.
In terms of what? AAA usually just refers to a budget that the developers usually works with. So technically even a studio like Ninja Theory would be AAA.
Their stuff seems AAA in terms of production level. The nature of their games probably allows for some savings here and their compared to a shooter, but overall I think they're up there.Creative Assembly
Their stuff seems AAA in terms of production level. The nature of their games probably allows for some savings here and their compared to a shooter, but overall I think they're up there.
I guess I can agree with that since those are all developed by B-level developers (Good-Feel, Camelot and Treasure), Nintendo simply acted as the publisher in those instances. But i'm not sure why they would put Nintendo in trouble. Nintendo is all about making profit, so i'd imagine that they have a pretty good idea of what type of budget those games need in order to turn a quick profit. I think that's one of the biggest things that Nintendo has over nearly every other publisher. They aren't going to sink 10's of millions of dollars into a game that "might" have a chance of being a hit.
I thought we were talking about budgets. Firaxis is a big studio. Apologies if I missed the point of what he was asking, but that seemed to be the gist of his question.
I guess it just depends on how you define A-level and B-level developers. I personally view A-level devs as a combination of sales, quality and budget. They're given big budgets but they're able to deliver a great game that sales a lot. There are only so many developers out there that are able to deliver on all 3 fronts. Some might be given a AAA budget but they aren't able to deliver the sales or quality that's expected (a recent example of that would be Homefront).
I think this list however, does represent the complete disappearance of the B-list developers, and I think if we ever look back on this generation, that will be it's highlight: your second tier devs are pretty much gone. Either you move up towards AAA or you scale down closer to XBLA, and having a game that was "just average" won't do it anymore.
I just checked some of the employee numbers off that list, actually, surprised SI still only has about 70 staff.
What did surprise me, though, apparently Creative Assembly have a staff of 200+?! What the? Are they working on something new? Seems huge just for Total War.
I honestly had no idea there were this many studios that were shut down this gen....
OP, could you please arrange the companies in the first post from 2006-2012 please?
That list is BRUTAL.
Was last gen as depressing?
Is next-gen going to be a bloodbath?
That list is BRUTAL.
Was last gen as depressing?
Is next-gen going to be a bloodbath?