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[Persona7]

I agree completely.

The company had got so fucking lucky. When so many PSX/Saturn small developers had gone bust, Silicon Knights had been picked up by Nintendo, the financially-secure highly-respected pillar of the industry.

They had funding, development time, experienced guidance, devkits, Nintendo resources, Nintendo marketing, and enjoyed an increasingly prestigious profile. With Nintendo's help, they nailed Eternal Darkness, and with Shigeru Miyamoto's personal recommendation, they were trusted with exclusive access to the high profile AAA Metal Gear franchise. Dyack and Nintendo were jointly-signing patents. There were talks of future collaborations with Kojima! Fans were naming them as potential Zelda developers. A sequel to Eternal Darkness was begged for! What more could they have hoped for?

And they left...?!

My God. What in the Hell were they thinking? Were the fancy graphics of the 360 really worth it?

Maybe Nintendo wanted wider creative control. If I were a company in that position I would not exactly be happy with a situation like that.

We will probably never know what really happened.

 

[Mifune]

I agree completely.

The company had got so fucking lucky. When so many PSX/Saturn small developers had gone bust, Silicon Knights had been picked up by Nintendo, the financially-secure highly-respected pillar of the industry.

They had funding, development time, experienced guidance, devkits, Nintendo resources, Nintendo marketing, and enjoyed an increasingly prestigious profile. With Nintendo's help, they nailed Eternal Darkness, and with Shigeru Miyamoto's personal recommendation, they were trusted with exclusive access to the high profile AAA Metal Gear franchise. Dyack and Nintendo were jointly-signing patents. There were talks of future collaborations with Kojima! Fans were naming them as potential Zelda developers. A sequel to Eternal Darkness was begged for! What more could they have hoped for?

And they left...?!

My God. What in the Hell were they thinking? Were the fancy graphics of the 360 really worth it?

I don't think Nintendo was much interested in working on the types of games SK was, and SK game sales didn't exactly set the world on fire. It was probably a mutual decision.

Still, to think that SK could have been another Retro...yeah, in hindsight leaving was dumb.

To me the real downfall of SK was dropping UE3 for Too Human. That was the point where they alienated everyone, Microsoft ultimately slashed the marketing budget, etc. Should have just worked through the problems with the engine. And at the very least, not fucking SUED.

 

[EatChildren]

I'm pretty sure the public knowledge of the SK/Nintendo split was very much that Dyack and co wanted to make games that Nintendo did not. As far as I'm aware Eternal Darkness and Twin Snakes both underperformed. And this was coming off the back of the middling GameCube, where games like ED and MGS were clearly targeting a specific audience they hoped to grab, while moving through to the Wii and Nintendo's blue ocean strategy.

I mean, staff not wanting to work with Nintendo any more due to a difference in creative vision isn't unusual. This is (apparently) exactly what happened with the Retro exodus. Nintendo wanted to make certain games. SK/Retro wanted to make other games. People go where their heart is, rightly so, and if you cant be as creative as you want under one management it makes plenty of sense to find a spark elsewhere. Every creative industry works like that.

But yes, in the case of SK, leaving Nintendo probably wasn't the most secure business move.

 

[wrowa]

With all of the talk about Dyack, I'm reminded of that GAF special GT is planning. I heard Dyack was one of the people who got interviewed? It would be so interesting to know what he's got to say, now that all the "communicating with the fans" thing is going on. Is he still boiling over or might he be trying to make peace (for the good of his project)?

 

[phosphor112]

This game will never make it out the gates.

 

[CrisKre]

This game will never make it out the gates.

I hope you are wrong.

 

[EatChildren]

I hope you are wrong.

As I said in the other thread, unless funding comes from elsewhere the probability of it even getting in the ballpark of the goal, let alone half, is extremely low. Even the most generously turned around Kickstarter disasters hadn't really dropped off this quick. The first three or so days are essential, and this just doesn't have the support behind it.

Backers won't fund this to success.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Huh, so this confirms that Precursor Games is a Proxy for SK more or less. Or as a way to get Eternal Darkness anyway.

 

[CrisKre]

As I said in the other thread, unless funding comes from elsewhere the probability of it even getting in the ballpark of the goal, let alone half, is extremely low. Even the most generously turned around Kickstarter disasters hadn't really dropped off this quick. The first three or so days are essential, and this just doesn't have the support behind it.

Backers won't fund this to success.

Then I hope they find the necessary backing elsewhere. I really really wanna play this.

 

[kirby_fox]

I have a feeling the name isn't there because of all the potential legal backlash that could come out of it more so than wanting to support ED2.

Though wouldn't it be funny if ED2 was Retro's game? I think I'd find that hilarious.

 

[Clevinger]

TLDR; Dude laid off by Denis hires Denis, as he abandons his old company that's got a $9 million torpedo hole in it due to his Epic (pun intended) lawsuit backfire, and then "purchases" art assets from SK so that the new company can continue to work on SK's project in all but name, while taking painstaking and obvious steps to keep themselves legally walled off from the lawsuit fallout.

This whole thing is a fucking shell game.

Jesus...

I feel bad for all the people who lost their jobs because of this asshole.

 

[jmizzal]

Nintendo should just jump in and publish it as a eShop only game, its not like they would be backing it as an AAA game, 1-2 mil is not that much, maybe they can even give them the Eternal Darkness name back.

It would be a small investment to give to fans of the series

 

[reptilescorpio]

Sounds like the Timegate situation, I wonder if Epic will sue Precursor Games if they don't end up with all their court winnings.

 

[Beth Cyra]

Nintendo should just jump in and publish it as a eShop only game, its not like they would be backing it as an AAA game, 1-2 mil is not that much, maybe they can even give them the Eternal Darkness name back.

It would be a small investment to give to fans of the series

If hardly anyone buys it though then it could still be a loss. While Nintendo needs product, and they most certainly do, they need product that sell. As it stands Eternal Darkness hardly did that on a platform that was doing better then Wii U and on top of that we don't know all of Nintendo's collabs right now.

After Fatal Frame 2/4 it's very possible that Nintendo could already have something with a horror theme going and not see the need to take on a risky investment like this.

 

[monocle_wearing_hyrax]

In not gonna judge Dennis Dyack. I dont know the specifics of what happened and the Epic trial sounds like what lead to his current situation. What i do know is that Eternal Darkness was a great game and him directing a game inspired by that one sounds very interesting and promising.

 

[Uncle Rupee]

It would be a small investment to give to fans of the series

Eternal Darkness isn't a series. It was a one-off.
The vocal minority that love this game is similar to the Mother series, meaning it won't happen.
BTW I'm not a fan, and I find it hard to believe such a fiercely ugly game came out on the same system that hosted Resident Evil 4. It may have had some good ideas, but the actual execution was terrible.
The staff of Silicon Knights (now Precursor) never seemed to grow, look at the art in the 360 games: it is terrible.

 

[Beth Cyra]

Eternal Darkness isn't a series. It was a one-off.
The vocal minority that love this game is similar to the Mother series, meaning it won't happen.
BTW I'm not a fan, and I find it hard to believe such a fiercely ugly game came out on the same system that hosted Resident Evil 4. It may have had some good ideas, but the actual execution was terrible.
The staff of Silicon Knights (now Precursor) never seemed to grow, look at the art in the 360 games: it is terrible.

Well Mother was a series, and from everything we know could very well have continued. It's just the creator has put his foot down and said no.

I agree on ED being ugly as hell though.

 

[Hiltz]

Eternal Darkness sequel with a big catch! It's like a cruel joke. Precursor better start thinking of a plan B or else this project will be eternally over with.

 

[DocSeuss]

I don't know a lot about businesses as legal entities. Can you elaborate a bit?

I don't understand US bankruptcy. If Silicon Knights owes millions to Epic - but doesn't make any actual games or apparently have any actual employees - shouldn't there be some public notices of bankruptcy?

How can Precursor purchase assets when they have not sold any product to produce capital - presumably someone invested - I wonder who?

I don't know a whole lot either, but basically, the company exists on paper, someone controls it (lawyers, maybe?), and it 'owns' assets.

My assumption is that the team basically just gutted Silicon Knights and the company only exists on paper in a lawyer's office somewhere. The team created a new company, then bought stuff from the old company super cheap.

Also, this isn't US bankruptcy, is it? Isn't it Canadian?

This. Corporations are people under US law, so it's very much possible to buy from a company as long as there is someone there to sign the documents.


It makes for a good tax dodge as well... I imagine it was a lot more than "art assets" that were "bought" and it was likely for a sum around $1. Whether this is legal and all.... well... It's very possible it is, but it's also possible that the loop hole they found won't save them.

Yeah, just checked: SK was Canadian, not US.

 

[wsippel]

Would be only logical after they went from a hardcore franchise to something family-friendly like DKCR and supporting MK7. I dont think they'll do the next Wii Fit.

Their current art team certainly doesn't scream "family-friendly".

 

[SMT]

Knowing Nintendo it was a "Thanks for the money, you're on your own'' type of deal.

How do I download Episode 1 on PC or Wii U?
This game is planned for digital distribution on both PC and Wii U. Details will be announced at a later date.

http://www.precursorgames.com/shadowoftheeternals/faq/

Cheap assets confirmed.