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IGN: ~50 Layoffs at Sony Santa Monica, Project Canceled [Up2: Was Stig's New IP]

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S

sn00zer

Member
Andrew_Korenchkin said:
http://www.vg247.com/2014/02/27/son...ps4-ip-jon-blow-calls-out-the-business-suits/
Click to expand...

Dumb...... especially since from what IU gleaned over the concept was very similar to Destiny and thats when things when wrong.....sounds very similar to Pixar's cancellation of Newt

One film with a plot similar to newt had been released - Rio - which is made by 20th Century Fox and animation studio Blue Sky. The similar plot in the film could be a reason why newt was canceled. John Lasseter admitted there was a plot resemblance of newt and Rio[2], but did not give any confirmation if it was a reason of cancellation.[3]
Click to expand...
http://pixar.wikia.com/Newt
 
A

AAK

Member
Now that we can basically confirm this was a multiplayer shooter, I can sort of see how this got cancelled. The market is definitely over saturated with them.
 
A

Audible Phonetics

Member
J.Blow is a cool dev. But that was a very short sighted answer. Outside the fact development cost are now way more now than it was at the time when those IP's he mentioned were created, during that time creating a game cost substantially less. Sinking a couple million dollars into creating a game that perhaps is existing to closely in a space another unpublished game is, is bad business.

As much bad press as he's giving the "suits" they are just simply doing their job.
 
V

viveks86

Member
EatChildren said:
Diminished emphasis. I'm still lead to believe a lot of staff have gone over to God of War, just not all of them. But since I don't work at Santa Monica and can't vouch for the information personally I think it pays to leave room for interpretation.
Click to expand...

Cool. A lot of people have been reducing this whole situation into "New IP cancelled; All SSM has left is GoW and some side projects". I like the diminished emphasis better. This, along with DemonNite's earlier comment gives me hope that they will rebuild the team when the time is right.

StuBurns said:
I think very highly of Jonathan Blow, but that's a pretty stupid thing to say.

Games used to cost a lot less, so the risk was a lot less. When it costs $5m to make a new IP, you only need to sell 150k to get in the black, now people are looking at 3/4m units to get in the black.
Click to expand...

Audible Phonetics said:
J.Blow is a cool dev. But that was a very short sighted answer. Outside the fact development cost are now way more now than it was at the time when those IP's he mentioned were created, during that time creating a game cost substantially less. Sinking a couple million dollars into creating a game that perhaps is existing to closely in a space another unpublished game is, is bad business.

As much bad press as he's giving the "suits" they are just simply doing their job.
Click to expand...

Agree with you guys. Blow doesn't have a clue what really transpired, like most of us here. Have a lot of respect for him, but using this incident to go off on a rant about his aversion of "business suits" seems quite ill-advised.
 
V

viveks86

Member
mxCTzhO.png


LOL
 
H

hey_it's_that_dog

benevolent sexism
StuBurns said:
I think very highly of Jonathan Blow, but that's a pretty stupid thing to say.
Click to expand...

I agree. Blow's analysis is way too facile. It's self-evident that among all new IPs there is great variation in levels of success. Presumably the people making a game have at least *some* insight into whether things are going well and whether the game will be a success. In other words, they have the information necessary to predict at a rate better than chance what new IPs are going to meet their expectations for success and which aren't.

Perhaps Blow strongly believes it's completely random which IPs succeed and which don't. That would explain his response to this, but I don't think it's a defensible stance, even if luck does play a large role in the success of any product.

That said, of course new IPs are crucial and of course every blockbuster IP was new at some point. That's reason to keep on pushing for new IPs, but it's not reason to abandon all reflection and analysis in determining which new IPs are developing well and which aren't.

edit: for context
Blow said:
“Game publishers like to talk about how new IPs are scary and risky and usually not worth it,” he began, “but this is clearly poor thinking, because every single megablockbuster franchise, that Mr. Business Suit Guy would rather put the money toward, was once a new IP.

“God of War was once a new IP. Call of Duty was once a new IP. etc, it is so obvious, how does Mr. Business Suit not see this? Maybe next time I meet Mr. Business Suit I will ask him to name an Old IP that was not once a New IP.”
Click to expand...

Basically, his argument stands against the claim that no one should ever make new IP (which is a claim no one has ever made) but is not a sound argument against sometimes cancelling projects that aren't going well.
 
E

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
I ate chicken last night...
 
A

AgentChris

Member
A couple days later and it still hurts. This is like SCE cancelling The Last of Us because it's too similar to Resident Evil or something. I will never forget. RIP Stig's New IP. In another dimension, a different me is playing this game.
 
A

AgentChris

Member
If I was the head of SSM, I would've contacted Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann to take over before they started their next project...

But I'm not surprised that SSM is going down. Allan Becker is gone and running SCEJ.
 
S

Stark

Banned
AgentChris said:
If I was the head of SSM, I would've contacted Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann to take over before they started their next project...

But I'm not surprised that SSM is going down. Allan Becker is gone and running SCEJ.
Click to expand...

I think you're jumping the gun here. By a lot.
 
R

Rogue_Ledr

Banned
AgentChris said:
A couple days later and it still hurts. This is like SCE cancelling The Last of Us because it's too similar to Resident Evil or something. I will never forget. RIP Stig's New IP. In another dimension, a different me is playing this game.
Click to expand...

I want to open up a "tear" into that universe Bioshock Infinite style.

Sheeeesh! I really feel your pain man. This is probably the worst PS4 related announcement yet.

I just wish there was some way to, at least, partially ressurect the situation. I mean, is there any way this cloud could possibly have a silver lining?

I really hope Sony comments on this situation and gives us some reassurence that they will make the best of this situation and provide more content in the future. Too much to hope for? Probably, but AT LEAST give us something.
 
R

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
AgentChris said:
If I was the head of SSM, I would've contacted Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann to take over before they started their next project...

But I'm not surprised that SSM is going down. Allan Becker is gone and running SCEJ.
Click to expand...
Pretty sure that they can't just pull someone from another studio. They would have to quite ND to move over to SSM and I doubt they want to work on someone else's project that wasn't considered good enough to complete.
 
A

AgentChris

Member
Rogue_Ledr said:
I want to open up a "tear" into that universe Bioshock Infinite style.

Sheeeesh! I really feel your pain man. This is probably the worst PS4 related announcement yet.

I just wish there was some way to, at least, partially resurrect the situation. I mean, is there any way this cloud could possibly have a silver lining?

I really hope Sony comments on this situation and gives us some reassurance that they will make the best of this situation and provide more content in the future. Too much to hope for? Probably, but AT LEAST give us something.
Click to expand...
I feel like SCE needs to unleash one of their game announcements to get our minds off of this game.
RoboPlato said:
Pretty sure that they can't just pull someone from another studio. They would have to quite ND to move over to SSM and I doubt they want to work on someone else's project that wasn't considered good enough to complete.
Click to expand...

Just to consult and give them a direction to follow. 4 years of work gone...
 
C

cuyahoga

Dudebro, My Shit is Fucked Up So I Got to Shoot/Slice You II: It's Straight-Up Dawg Time
StuBurns said:
I think very highly of Jonathan Blow, but that's a pretty stupid thing to say.

Games used to cost a lot less, so the risk was a lot less. When it costs $5m to make a new IP, you only need to sell 150k to get in the black, now people are looking at 3/4m units to get in the black.
Click to expand...
Yep, this post nails it. Sony would probably have to spend $60M-80M at least at the end of the game, and if it is mediocre, they very well might not recoup it.
 
I

I-hate-u

Member
BlackBuzzard said:
The only thing ive seen in PR from Microsoft is Titanfall this Titanfall that.
Click to expand...

Sorry for replying to this so late.

Titanfall is absolutely the biggest game of the year until Destiny comes out. Its the game with most hype that is not only associated with Xbox (like COD/BF), but not on PS systems. That a huge get for MS and there is no reason why they should not be flailing it around as much as they can. Titanfall aside, I personally think they are doing better so far in having buying the Gears IP, in Phil Spencer doing a damn good job hyping people about Xbox games on twitter, and in the recent price cut. All positive news, and MS should be commended for that.

Sony on the other hand:
-canned SSM ip
-no DriveClub info at all
-fumbling The Order 1886 reveal. They showed the wrong stuff (in my humble opinion)
-potential stumbling with VR in GDC
-No Infamous hype despite the potential it has. (I am probably wrong on this one)

Such a step down compared to their amazing job last year. Which is a shame because apparently insiders tell us of the amazing games in development @ WWS, but that doesn't matter because we nothing about them. S###, they could cancel them too like the SSM game.
 
E

eddfromtheriver

Banned
I-hate-u said:
Sorry for replying to this so late.

Titanfall is absolutely the biggest game of the year until Destiny comes out. Its the game with most hype that is not only associated with Xbox (like COD/BF), but not on PS systems. That a huge get for MS and there is no reason why they should not be flailing it around as much as they can. Titanfall aside, I personally think they are doing better so far in having buying the Gears IP, in Phil Spencer doing a damn good job hyping people about Xbox games on twitter, and in the recent price cut. All positive news, and MS should be commended for that.

Sony on the other hand:
-canned SSM ip
-no DriveClub info at all
-fumbling The Order 1886 reveal. They showed the wrong stuff (in my humble opinion)
-potential stumbling with VR in GDC
-No Infamous hype despite the potential it has. (I am probably wrong on this one)

Such a step down compared to their amazing job last year. Which is a shame because apparently insiders tell us of the amazing games in development @ WWS, but that doesn't matter because we nothing about them. S###, they could cancel them too like the SSM game.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with your points... and it kind of hurts.
 
S

Sword Of Doom

Member
I-hate-u said:
Sorry for replying to this so late.

Titanfall is absolutely the biggest game of the year until Destiny comes out. Its the game with most hype that is not only associated with Xbox (like COD/BF), but not on PS systems. That a huge get for MS and there is no reason why they should not be flailing it around as much as they can. Titanfall aside, I personally think they are doing better so far in having buying the Gears IP, in Phil Spencer doing a damn good job hyping people about Xbox games on twitter, and in the recent price cut. All positive news, and MS should be commended for that.

Sony on the other hand:
-canned SSM ip
-no DriveClub info at all
-fumbling The Order 1886 reveal. They showed the wrong stuff (in my humble opinion)
-potential stumbling with VR in GDC
-No Infamous hype despite the potential it has. (I am probably wrong on this one)

Such a step down compared to their amazing job last year. Which is a shame because apparently insiders tell us of the amazing games in development @ WWS, but that doesn't matter because we nothing about them. S###, they could cancel them too like the SSM game.
Click to expand...

I own a PS3 so of course I'm grateful of the amazing lineup of 2013. But as a PS4 owner I would have appreciated it more if games like TLOU, GT6 and Beyond Two Souls were somehow PS4 releases. At this rate I don't expect anything from Sony's Flagship studios until around 2016 which is reminiscent of the PS3 launch. Oh well. It is what it is I guess.


edit: and for MS they aren't really making games are they. They're buying games with their seemingly endless supply of money.
 
N

NotSaladin

Neo Member
It's a shame for Sony to cancel a new IP, especially one being headed by Stig...but knowing absolutely noting about this game makes it hard to judge as to whether it was the right decision.

After that many years of development, something must have not been going as planned otherwise they wouldn't have stopped production.

I wonder if we will ever find out the reasons why, but Sony aren't the only ones doing this. There are countless examples and it will certainly not be the last, from any publisher. Others will be cancelled or have been cancelled and we have no idea.
 
S

StuBurns

Banned
I-hate-u said:
Sorry for replying to this so late.

Titanfall is absolutely the biggest game of the year until Destiny comes out. Its the game with most hype that is not only associated with Xbox (like COD/BF), but not on PS systems. That a huge get for MS and there is no reason why they should not be flailing it around as much as they can. Titanfall aside, I personally think they are doing better so far in having buying the Gears IP, in Phil Spencer doing a damn good job hyping people about Xbox games on twitter, and in the recent price cut. All positive news, and MS should be commended for that.

Sony on the other hand:
-canned SSM ip
-no DriveClub info at all
-fumbling The Order 1886 reveal. They showed the wrong stuff (in my humble opinion)
-potential stumbling with VR in GDC
-No Infamous hype despite the potential it has. (I am probably wrong on this one)

Such a step down compared to their amazing job last year. Which is a shame because apparently insiders tell us of the amazing games in development @ WWS, but that doesn't matter because we nothing about them. S###, they could cancel them too like the SSM game.
Click to expand...
How can you possibly list 'potential stumbling with VR in GDC'? It hasn't happened yet, and you put it on the negative list?

You say no hype for InFamous, but the US InFamous bundle is doing better on Amazon preorders than the XBO TitanFall bundle. You can't possibly know how it'll sell. It won't outsell TitanFall of course, but it's going to be a fine seller.
 
A

anexanhume

Member
I-hate-u said:
Sorry for replying to this so late.

Titanfall is absolutely the biggest game of the year until Destiny comes out. Its the game with most hype that is not only associated with Xbox (like COD/BF), but not on PS systems. That a huge get for MS and there is no reason why they should not be flailing it around as much as they can. Titanfall aside, I personally think they are doing better so far in having buying the Gears IP, in Phil Spencer doing a damn good job hyping people about Xbox games on twitter, and in the recent price cut. All positive news, and MS should be commended for that.

Sony on the other hand:
-canned SSM ip
-no DriveClub info at all
-fumbling The Order 1886 reveal. They showed the wrong stuff (in my humble opinion)
-potential stumbling with VR in GDC
-No Infamous hype despite the potential it has. (I am probably wrong on this one)

Such a step down compared to their amazing job last year. Which is a shame because apparently insiders tell us of the amazing games in development @ WWS, but that doesn't matter because we nothing about them. S###, they could cancel them too like the SSM game.
Click to expand...

We know nothing about their WWS games, while a big swatch of MS' forthcoming exclusives may have been leaked. With even more studios under their control, who do you think is going to have the bigger E3? E3 hype is a big deal. That stuff shows up on major news channels.
 
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