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David Jaffe leaving Eat Sleep Play for new studio (Browser games?); ESP->iOS/Android
- Thread starter Saty
- Start date
David Jaffe posted in tm thread -
No conspiracy theories. To my NEOGAF family and friends, some details:
1- Me, Scott,and the core ESP team are STILL on TM crunching bugs, working on balance, POURING over message boards (including this one) for likes/dislikes for us to put into future TM patches, and making numerical vehicle and weapons tweaks. And ALL of us will be doing so at least untill end of March and then SOME of us will be doing it most likely a bit beyond (and you KNOW even once I officially leave, I'll be playing the game daily and sending ESP and Sony my notes and desires...I'm one of TM's dad's- no WAY I'm abandoning this kid!)
And it is our kid! This is our baby, we are passionate about it, we LOVE the great demo response (save for the shitty matchmaking issues that I am promised will NOT be on the retail game and will even improve for the demo potentially as early as today). We have no intention of abandoning Twisted Metal. I still work for ESP and will continue to do so up until end of March.
2- DLC- I've been saying for near over a year there are no DLC plans unless the game is a big hit. Trust me- if the game is a big hit, do you think Sony would NOT go to ESP and say 'DLC- stat!'? But right now- as I've been saying- no DLC plans. I've lied to you guys only once and that was for entertainment (i.e. E3 Surprise)...no other time. Including all the times I've been saying NO DLC. But again, if it's a huge hit, it still remains a possibility for sure.
3- Layoffs suck. Breaks out heart to no longer be working with some of our colleagues and friends. It was sad for me and triply sad for Scott as he worked with this crew for a long time and saw them every day, face to face. It has to suck for them- and my hearts and thoughts and well wishes for a smooth, soft landing are with all of the folks we had to let go.
4- I remain a passionate fan of Sony and Sony Playstation and am eternally grateful to them for the wonderful career I've had so far. They have given me - professionally and personally- SO MUCH and if the games our new company make are fortunate enough to have a PUBLISHED BY Sony logo on them, I'd consider it an honor.
5- But no decisions have been made as ALL of my focus (and Scott and the team's as well) is Twisted Metal. Again, the wonderful love the demo has gotten on this site has us fucking OVER THE MOON. You have no idea! Cause look: some of the folks- on this very site- who say stuff like 'Jaffe is not a next-gen designer', well that shit hurts,man,because all we can do is the best we can and follow our own internal GPS and gut, and Twisted Metal on PS3 represents the BEST game- in our minds- we've EVER made and it's sure as fuck relevant to US and we just LOVE it!
So the fact that it seems there are a nice size crew out there who played the demo and also seem to be feeling the same? Man, just makes our day. And as I've said in the press, if it sells 2000 copies or 2 million, we got to make a big budget, full featured game that we love and that we want to play. And we have Sony to thank for that. And if being 'relevant' in the console space in 2012 means you have to fall in line and just make flavor of the year style games (or even make totally original games that are NOT appealing to us, the folks who are making them) then, yeah, perhaps I am no longer relevant cause I would not want to live a creative life like that and I would not want to model such soul crushing behavior for my kids.
6- No conspiracies why I'm leaving once TM duties wrap (again, that is NOT today or next week...we are STILL working on our baby and will be doing so post launch)- I just want to get back to doing development internally as games are more complex and it's just getting too hard to direct and/or co-direct from a remote location. I also miss the energy of being with a crew and making something day in/day out together. No conspiracy- I just was not getting that with ESP because of location. Also: Scott's been wanting to do iphone and ipad style stuff for a looooong time and I think once ESP begins small game dev (and again, to beat a dead horse- we are ALL STILL ON TM!, the mobile/pad games they make are gonna be amazing! They have my sword, and my axe, and all my love and support moving forward.
Ok- tons to do- but I wanted to clear that shite up! Thx ya'll- and looking forward to seeing a lot of you guys/gals online with TM next week!
David
Why? I thought it was glorious.
To Far Away Times
Member
I don't think Jaffe is one of the legendary game designers but he's still pretty damn good at his craft. He knows his stuff well and knows how to interact with the fans.
MiniBossBattle
Member
Good luck to Jaffe. My friends who went to browser/social media type games are drowning in money but the milestone churn is never ending (its all about daily active users and getting new advertisements.) They are not challenged at their work, just really busy.
I am quite confident Twisted Metal will sell 2 million+ before year end. Of course it depends on how well Sony promotes it, anyone from the US seen ads for the game and such? Well anyway Heavy Rain came out around Feb in 2010 and was a surprise hit(selling 2+mill), and TM which has more gameplay and is genuinely entertaining, no gamer will be able to resist. BELIEVE!
I'm sure Jaffe and ESP will bounce back in no time
I'm sure Jaffe and ESP will bounce back in no time
Well, I didn't neceassarily mean PSN exclusive. More like PSN/XBLA stuff. Whether it was exclusive to PSN or not makes no difference to me, as long as it hit there.
To Far Away Times
Member
I am quite confident Twisted Metal will sell 2 million+ before year end. Of course it depends on how well Sony promotes it, anyone from the US seen ads for the game and such? Well anyway Heavy Rain came out around Feb in 2010 and was a surprise hit(selling 2+mill), and TM which has more gameplay and is genuinely entertaining will of course be a hit with the gamers all round. BELIEVE!
I'm sure Jaffe and ESP will bounce back in no time
I think every game has more gameplay than Heavy Rain. =P
Anticitizen One
Banned
I am quite confident Twisted Metal will sell 2 million+ before year end. Of course it depends on how well Sony promotes it, anyone from the US seen ads for the game and such? Well anyway Heavy Rain came out around Feb in 2010 and was a surprise hit(selling 2+mill), and TM which has more gameplay and is genuinely entertaining, no gamer will be able to resist. BELIEVE!
I'm sure Jaffe and ESP will bounce back in no time
the game comes out in 2 weeks and there hasnt been a single ad for it.
It should have been a ps4 launch title instead.
ElRenoRaven
Member
Yup. If someone be it mod or op could update the op with that it would probably be a good thing.
He has been living in San Diego while Eat Sleep Play is based in Utah. So he was doing remote development. (Telephone conferences, video meetings, all that jazz)
He wants to go back to being there day to day. And obviously he can't go living in Utah with him loving the chronic so much.
It reads like he's working with the team remotely, and hence doesn't see them everyday, and not fighting with them in the trenches.
Dead Man Typing
Member
EDIT: I should refresh before replying.
ElRenoRaven
Member
Yup. Dave works from home while they're in Utah. He's not there everyday though in the office with them. That's all he's meaning by that.
Henry Jones Jr
Member
I worked from home (in San Diego I think) and the ESP team was located in Utah. So he was rarely with the team, but did his work from home. In some podcast he said he wanted to get back to working with the teams in house. So my guess is this is what he wants to do, but being so far from ESP, he feels he can't do it with them. Maybe he will help develop smaller games with Santa Monica since they are much closer geographically.
a secret-boss
Banned
Call it the FBomb studio
funkystudent
Member
after the demos reception, hearing there is no DLC planned and this news I get the feeling they have zero fate in Twisted metal.
I've been following the demo impression thread very closely and it's overwhelmingly positive.
Unless you count the people that bitch about the matchmaking, the actual gameplay demo impressions are 8-2 or 9-1 on the positive side.
You seem to imply it was negative.
I have my preorder, and I'm still skeptical of it. I'm guessing that it sells in the sub-300k range when it's all said and done.
ElRenoRaven
Member
Yup. Scott and the guys have always been based in Utah for some reason. Singletrac was there. Incognito was there. Now Eat Sleep Play is there. IF anything that's the one thing that gets to me. I'm like pick a name and stick with it damn it. I really miss the Incognito name & Logo. But Eat Sleep Play is a good one too.
Twisted Metal has never sold sub 300k. Each game has sold well over it's life. Usually 1 to 2 million range. If anything I think with the way a lot of newcomers are finding this one to be so fun it will probably be the best selling Twisted Metal. Just a feeling I get.
funkystudent
Member
well I wasnt fallowing it closely but I heard enough comments from friends to think it was a bit busted.
But I didnt think it was that important ... plenty of good games have iffy demo's. Burnout Paradise had a bad demo but that was a great game. Dead Space is another example.
but now all this news....
I mean if your studio head is leaving and you announce you are leaving the console gaming market... well its not exactly a great marketing move.
I agree that marketing wise this was very poorly timed.
But then again, GAF is not going to make or break a game and we're probably part of the few percent of game players that know or care about studios' decisions.
According to what has been said, ESP has a maintenance contract with Sony for balancing patches and highly critical bug fixes.
Sony San Diego is taking care of the servers and when they close up shop people can start being concerned about console gaming. ;-)
In general I don't understand the hysteria behind all these things, it was the same with "Insomniac is never making a new Resistance game".
But then again, GAF is not going to make or break a game and we're probably part of the few percent of game players that know or care about studios' decisions.
According to what has been said, ESP has a maintenance contract with Sony for balancing patches and highly critical bug fixes.
Sony San Diego is taking care of the servers and when they close up shop people can start being concerned about console gaming. ;-)
In general I don't understand the hysteria behind all these things, it was the same with "Insomniac is never making a new Resistance game".
NervousXtian
Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
I just don't think there is the huge market for TM anymore.. the demo is great, but it's still just TM.. been there/done that. I played the shit out of TM1, and my son and I played the crap out of the XBLA V8 game that came out, so eventually I'll probably get this as well.. it's just not got me all that hyped.
I cared about TM 5 years ago. Now? Not so much, I've moved on from vehicle combat.
I cared about TM 5 years ago. Now? Not so much, I've moved on from vehicle combat.
mysticwhip
Banned
i hope tm sells 800,000 in it' first month at the least
Being a fan of old school Twisted Metal I was surprised how fresh the new one feels based on the demo. Sure it's same ol same ol but if games like COD, Assassins and Fifa can get away with making yearly games and sell well then surely there is a market for TM which imo will feel fresh-er than these yearly titles to gamers depite being much older then most. I think many people will be surprised in how well it actually sells.
Dreams-Visions
Member
If Apple ever creates a d-pad/button attachment for their iOS devices, the mobile gaming world will fucking tremble before them.
If this is true, why not go into the demo thread and post it then? Jaffe has been taking feedback from this board.
Sadly I do see this with some developers and the way they talk about fans. It's always a bit weird when I have to try and explain to other developers that I genuinely like fans and the community that builds around games and care about what they have to say. I think it eats at devs over time; fans can be insulting, really demanding, and ignorant about development. At the end of the day though the only reason you're hearing from them is because they care about your project and they're interested enough to speak up about it... I want to give those people a good game to play, and leave them feeling happy with the money they've spent.
Liamario
Banned
HEY! That's what I said.
It would cover big budget (relatively) and mobile game in one!
SafeinSound
Member
I don't get the point of announcing this before the game is out. I guess so it makes it seem like there is no bad blood. I don't know.
LunaticHigh
Member
These sort of comments make no sense. The gameplay of TM didn't get poor overnight. It's still a much fresher and innovative experience than any of the modern shooters/rpgs that still sell very well.
TM's message is just as clear today as it was a long time ago. Fast, fun, chaos. Playing the demo shows that, just like Jaffe said, good game play is timeless.
Yes, you probably don't care about TM anymore, but it's probably one of the least "been there done that" game to be released this generation. When everyone is copying everyone else and every single game is basically the same as the other, you are saying that about TM?
I doubt this game does under 1 million.
keltickennedy
Member
Have you played other Twisted Metal games? Cause.....I mean its definitely Twisted Metal. What were you expecting?
mattiewheels
And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
Hope this news doesn't cast a shadow on TM....
I heard Jaffe's interview on the Gamelife podcast, loved it... just super thoughtful and super honest as always. Obviously he's very passionate about making the perfect TM game, but maybe the writing was on the wall about mainstream appreciation of it.
I heard Jaffe's interview on the Gamelife podcast, loved it... just super thoughtful and super honest as always. Obviously he's very passionate about making the perfect TM game, but maybe the writing was on the wall about mainstream appreciation of it.
Sgt.Pepper
Banned
It would shake gaming for sure, but it is highly unlikely. But who knows, Tim Cook might like gaming a little more than Jobs.
Mario Kart?
The demo of TM was fucking awesome.
As a TM fan, I loved every single bit/minute of it.
I hope it's a success and I already urged all my friends to buy it day 1.
Why? Because I love the TM franchise and I want more games in the future
I hope Jaffe remains a PlayStation-exclusive developer (with his new studio) in the future.
I love his games
As a TM fan, I loved every single bit/minute of it.
I hope it's a success and I already urged all my friends to buy it day 1.
Why? Because I love the TM franchise and I want more games in the future
I hope Jaffe remains a PlayStation-exclusive developer (with his new studio) in the future.
I love his games
GhostWriter24
Member
That's asking a lot but I hope so too.
Anticitizen One
Banned
He probably saw which way the winds were blowing:
