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Lightbox (Starhawk) lays off 24 people, moves to iOS development

V_Ben

Banned
Ouch, what the fuck... Starhawk was great, I thought that the MP only version would have at least done something. I hate this industry sometimes.
 

KissVibes

Banned
The writing was on the wall when they announced all the DLC was going to be free right before the game came out.

Hopefully they'll find work elsewhere and if a new studio is formed out of this, they steer clear of exclusive deals with Sony without* a guarantee of a strong marketing campaign. I also hope they don't try to kickstart a game.
 
I am going to sound like a prick but I was very vocal in the private beta for starhawk and said they wouldn't sell this game with build and battle being the sole focus.it created lopsided games and barren maps with mostly everyone setting in spawns building elaborate death traps.

Sadly I saw this coming after the first day of the private beta and after they showed an unwillingness to change their philosophy.
 

antitrop

Member
I've never heard of StarHawk. First I thought this thread was about WarHawk, until I realized it wasn't. Now I'm left wondering what StarHawk is.
 

kuroshiki

Member
The writing was on the wall when they announced all the DLC was going to be free right before the game came out.

Hopefully they'll find work elsewhere and if a new studio is formed out of this, they steer clear of exclusive deals with Sony with a guarantee of a strong marketing campaign. I also hope they don't try to kickstart a game.

Actually it was sony that made possible of lightbox's survival until now. Their games were, frankly, not that awesome.
 

NBtoaster

Member
Seems like the same mistake as Socom 4, lots of effort wasted on a single player campaign, should have been a $20 PSN title and out faster.
 

Derrick01

Banned
I downloaded starhawk's single player for free from PS+ and it was pretty bad and forgettable. Sucks for more job losses but I can't honestly say it'll affect me any.
 

V_Ben

Banned
Seems like the same mistake as Socom 4, lots of effort wasted on a single player campaign, should have been a $20 PSN title and out faster.

It really should have been. Starhawk's SP campaign was mediocre and uninteresting, but the MP was absolutely wonderful. I really hope it gets a second wind on PSN.
 
Actually it was sony that made possible of lightbox's survival until now. Their games were, frankly, not that awesome.

They also plugged the hell out of the beta but truthfully the beta left a sour taste in people's mouth and therefore had terrible word of mouth. I remember complaints of barren maps and teams reaching building limits with no second spawn. And then you had some of the worst base rapes ever in gaming and you have a recipe for disaster.
 

jbug617

Banned
I believe this and Twisted Metal launched around the same time (maybe a month apart). They both really didn't get a lot of commercials if I remember correctly
 

Carl

Member
Seems like the same mistake as Socom 4, lots of effort wasted on a single player campaign, should have been a $20 PSN title and out faster.

Exactly. Warhawk was incredibly and had no need for a single player. It had loads of players, did fairly well, and had 3 DLC packs.

I see no reason why a SP needed cramming into Starhawk.
 

leroidys

Member
I didn't buy starhawk (just not my kind of game, don't have time for multiplayer anymore), but everything I saw of it looked really, really good. A shame to lose a solid developer. Good luck to all those who lost their jobs.
 

Mileena

Banned
Tried the beta out and it was just absolutely terrible. Not hard to see why it bombed. Sucks for those who lost their jobs though.
 
SOCOM 4 also fell victim to the PSN crash during its launch. Never had a shot, really.

Trust me socom fans are nuts and PSN or not they would have held that game up if the multiplayer stuck to its roots. I know people that still play Confrontation to this day, only because it is closer to a real socom.
 

A.R.K

Member
Loved Warhawk but SH demo and beta was a let down though...unfortunately they deviated from the core mechanics of WH which killed the fun.

Does Sony owns the IP? If so there is hope for it to be revived at some point?
 
Could have been better if their effort wasn't divided.

Or without bothering with single player Socom 4 could have been out long before the hack.

Starhawk released in May right? Do you know when the private beta began? November.....let that sink in. 7 months they had of player feedback. 7 months of people like myself calling for prebuilt permanent structures in the homebase and capturable bases that build and battile would then be used to fortify and add extra units. What did they do in 7 months....tweak the flying to make it more like Warhawk leaving in place a foundation for a terrible online experience. and then introduce things in the retail build that broke the game further.

I know it had its fans, but you would be kidding yourself if you thought that beta didn't repel a lot of people from this game.
 

Concept17

Member
I enjoyed Warhawk, but it felt like it was missing something, not really sure what.

Wanted to play Starhawk but just never got around to getting it. Sad that they're already closing.

Its weird because I have such fond memories of the original Warhawk back in the day.
 

Acosta

Member
This fucking sucks Sony, stop obliterating talent, your problems are not on the studios.

Your price/schedule strategy sucks, your marketing sucks big way, but sure, close the studio that managed to make a perfectly good game, that'll solve the problem.

Big meh, best of luck to Dylan and the rest of the team, you deserved more than this.
 

B.O.O.M

Member
Exactly. As much as it is distasteful, it's a necessary evil and something Sony did not do in the past.

Yep, sad but true. Which is the reason why I left the word 'now' in there in the comment I fixed. Actions like these are, from a business point of view, long over due for Sony. Things like closures of some studios, relocating resources and combining some studios together are actions that may seem evil, but are necessary going forward

that said I repeat, these are talented devs. I hope they find employment soon and I wish for their future projects to be more successful
 
I've never heard of StarHawk. First I thought this thread was about WarHawk, until I realized it wasn't. Now I'm left wondering what StarHawk is.

I came into the thread trying to remember whether Starhawk was the recently released sequel or not.

Which speaks wonders about Sony's marketing, heh.
 
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