Support NeoGAF

[Nightengale]

I mean, you could flip it too. You're a new studio, with a new IP, launching on new hardware. Wouldn't a huge marketing partner, combined with risk mitigation help?

Not sure which is preferable, but it isn't as one sided as you make it.

True, but in this case, Respawn didn't get the cake they thought they could have.

Being a small team, single-platform focus made sense, and being 'exclusive' meant getting a ton of marketing support from the console manufacturer + publisher.

After exhausting the marketing support from both of them at launch, thus making the brand stronger, they could then release everywhere after the initial timed deal was done.

Win-win.

Now it's a smaller slice of the cake.

 

[BigDaddyFatSack]

Take his word as a grain of salt? Thats a new one.

So his words make the truthlies easier to swallow?

Yes grain of salt. He does not have the final say in this.

 

[Guerilla]

I mean, you could flip it too. You're a new studio, with a new IP, launching on new hardware. Wouldn't a huge marketing partner, combined with risk mitigation help?

Not sure which is preferable, but it isn't as one sided as you make it.

You're talking about MS, right? Um, isn't that what EA is for? Why the fuck would Respawn want to risk it with such shitty publisher like EA if it can't even handle a freaking marketing campaign?

 

[PBY]

True, but in this case, Respawn didn't get the cake they thought they could have.

Being a small team, single-platform focus made sense, and being 'exclusive' meant getting a ton of marketing support from the console manufacturer + publisher.

After exhausting the marketing support from both of them at launch, thus making the brand stronger, they could then release everywhere after the initial timed deal was done.

Win-win.

Now it's a smaller slice of the cake.

Well, presumably they lose the "cake slice" but recoup some of that from MS's money.

 

[Mifune]

I mean, you could flip it too. You're a new studio, with a new IP, launching on new hardware. Wouldn't a huge marketing partner, combined with risk mitigation help?

Not sure which is preferable, but it isn't as one sided as you make it.

EA is already a huge marketing partner and are helping with risk mitigation. Throw in the timed MS exclusivity and you have more of both. I'm not sure what full exclusivity does for Respawn besides relieving them of hiring more people.

 

[GrizzleBoy]

If you are a new company trying to launch a new IP to become hopefully a runaway success, you would want as many potential buyers of your game as possible. If the terms of the original deal were truly timed exclusive and PS3 and PS4 owners (over 80 million people) eventually were going to gain access to your new IP, getting your IP brand name in front of as many eyes as possible, isn't that possibly more valuable than a truckload of money to recoup lost sales from exclusivity?

These days are different than the Halo 1 days, especially since the genre has blown up so much more on consoles, and they didn't treat Respawn like they treated Bungie where they took them under their wing to be their first party studio, they basically said "we're going to pay you and you are going to sell less copies of your new IP and that's the end of it, so thanks for your continued effort towards OUR cause."

lol you greatly underestimate the power of console war bound fan boys.

If there's something worth talking about and its exclusive to their favourite hardware, they'll NEVER shut up about it.

Freakin' "cross game chat" and "matchmaking" were actually talking points this gen.....and they actually worked.

Having a game like Titanfall to fanboyfap over will boost the importance of the brand more than simply selling more copies.

 

[Faustek]

That pretty much insures I won't play titanfall 2. Just like The Witcher.

Wait what? Witcher is PC exclusive.... How does that factor in with MS and Sony?


Edit: The Witcher as in the first game.

 

[IdreamofHIME]

Stupid for anygame to be exclusive unless it's 1st party. Developers want their games released to a big an audience as possible, but the paranoid publishers would rather take the moneyhat and use it as a safety net in case of bomba.

 

[Easy_D]

This also validates CBoT's insider info as being times exclusive initially.

We all know the doubters will use this as a way to discredit Buttocks though :\

 

[scitek]

So in a couple of years, are we going to hear about Zampella being sued by EA because he's trying to leave for Ubisoft?

...then he leaves Ubisoft to start a developer which gets bought up by Devolver Digital, which then gets bought up by Ubisoft, whom he leaves again and proceeds to sue because they end up cancelling his game.

 

[Frodo]

It rarely works that way.

Developers are typically paid for each milestone delivery. Whether a game is successful or not... doesn't impact that. It only will, in the sense that it will affect if your studio gets a subsequent game from that publisher (their choice).

Here's an example:
I worked on a game; which ended up getting cancelled during our last milestone (right before the set release). We had our last milestone delivery paid off (our contract stated that if the project is cancelled; we should be paid for the milestone it happens). We ended up making just as much money without release; as we would have if the game actually shipped.

As a publisher; you're putting your money on the line and contracting a studio to deliver a product. The publisher then profits from their investment; while the development studio gets paid for their work noted in their contract.

When Respawn settled on a contract for this project; it would have detailed milestone expectations and platform targets. If we even go so far as to assume the PS4 was originally in the cards; the only thing this changes, is one less platform to deliver.

Similarly; when I was working on the Publisher end. We had a project that was not localized and destined for North America only. After completion; we went on to localize it (not even with the original developer) and distributed it to the rest of the world. It ended up being a hit in Europe and our profits exploded. The developer didn't see an extra dime.

It's not all perks for the publisher. Imagine if the game tanks. The developer is safely paid for their work; with the publisher taking the hit for the failure in sale expectations. It's their monetary risk; as such, it's their reward.

Source:
I've worked over a decade between publishing and developing.

Great post, thanks.

 

[Justified]

Im even more convince this MS/EA deal was foul for Respawn....

In a interview from June....

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...r-come-to-playstation-respawn-and-ea-weigh-in

 

[Jest Chillin]

Wait what? Witcher is PC exclusive.... How does that factor in with MS and Sony?

The first Witcher was only on PC, so he didn't play the subsequent sequel that released for 360 maybe?

Some people don't like coming into a series if they can't play it from the beginning on their preferred console/format.

 

[PBY]

Im even more convince this MS/EA deal was foul for Respawn....

In a interview from June....

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...r-come-to-playstation-respawn-and-ea-weigh-in

what does this add ?

 

[trixx]

why does the industry and it's fans care so much about first person shooters. This is why i don't even want to buy a next gen console

 

[Wille517]

I think EA is going to give them a cut- maybe its not ideally what Vince wanted, but I don't think he's gonna get screwed financially.

Thaaat being said, if he loses out on $ due to this deal, he will definitely have a judicial remedy.

Right. And if this happens, and Respawn didn't sign off on it and got screwed- you'll know soon because they'll be in court

I totally agree the thing that sucks is that with the amount of money EA has in its legal fund they could drag such a case out for years bankrupting Respawn in the process and the possibility such an outcome is normally more than enough to make a smaller company like Respawn just take the hit.

 

[Imm0rt4l]

They own the IP so if the games does well they can mosy on outta there.

The way the tweets read seem like they gave publishing rights to EA, so I don't think so. Maybe I'm wrong though.

 

[MasterOfPastures]

Good. No issues with exclusivity. Buy a PC or an Xbone.
BUT... I want a Steam release.
Where is my fucking Steam release!?

 

[DukeBobby]

why does the industry and it's fans care so much about first person shooters. This is why i don't even want to buy a next gen console

Because people find them fun. That's all that matters.

 

[Zeth]

So all the people who yelled and gloated about it not being exclusive... are wrong?

edit: oh wow, forgot about 360+Windows. Still not an exclusive.

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

Good. No issues with exclusivity. Buy a PC or an Xbone.
BUT... I want a Steam release.
Where is my fucking Steam release!?

Never happening.

 

[GrizzleBoy]

Im even more convince this MS/EA deal was foul for Respawn....

In a interview from June....

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...r-come-to-playstation-respawn-and-ea-weigh-in

Just sounds like spin, pandering and trying his best to answer a question that for whatever reason doesn't have an actual definitive answer.

 

[redtails64]

Microsoft and EA... Why am I not surprised?

 

[Justified]

what does this add ?

That this was a side deal, not in the original publishing deal

 

[BigDug13]

It rarely works that way.

Developers are typically paid for each milestone delivery. Whether a game is successful or not... doesn't impact that. It only will, in the sense that it will affect if your studio gets a subsequent game from that publisher (their choice).

Here's an example:
I worked on a game; which ended up getting cancelled during our last milestone (right before the set release). We had our last milestone delivery paid off (our contract stated that if the project is cancelled; we should be paid for the milestone it happens). We ended up making just as much money without release; as we would have if the game actually shipped.

As a publisher; you're putting your money on the line and contracting a studio to deliver a product. The publisher then profits from their investment; while the development studio gets paid for their work noted in their contract.

When Respawn settled on a contract for this project; it would have detailed milestone expectations and platform targets. If we even go so far as to assume the PS4 was originally in the cards; the only thing this changes, is one less platform to deliver.

Similarly; when I was working on the Publisher end. We had a project that was not localized and destined for North America only. After completion; we went on to localize it (not even with the original developer) and distributed it to the rest of the world. It ended up being a hit in Europe and our profits exploded. The developer didn't see an extra dime.

It's not all perks for the publisher. Imagine if the game tanks. The developer is safely paid for their work; with the publisher taking the hit for the failure in sale expectations. It's their monetary risk; as such, it's their reward.

Source:
I've worked over a decade between publishing and developing.

This needs to be requoted, I really learned something about the publisher/developer relationship from this. Hell, this deserves to be stickied to the top of the forum, LOL

 

[Guerilla]

what does this add ?

For starters it shows that your assumption that the only reason for Respawn's decision to be multiplatform is money, is kinda wrong.

 

[Cirekiller]

what does this add ?

The fact that Respawn was willing to work on with more platforms before this, however the deal EA and MS struck made it so that is impossible now ( for Titanfall 1 at least).

 

[bidguy]

why does the industry and it's fans care so much about first person shooters. This is why i don't even want to buy a next gen console

i love them
its like christmas for me everytime when a fps gets announced

 

[SuperD77]

Just saw this, good lord it's like Sony hired someone to put a voodoo curse on Microsoft. They can't have good news for more than half a day before something comes along to flip the PR narrative.

 

[IAmRandom31]

The hearts of hundreds of X1 fans everywhere cried out in terror.

Titanfall 2 on PS4.

I will enjoy the first on the PC, see what all the hype is about. If it ends up living up to the hype, will def. pick it up on the PS4.

 

[Hyunashi]

I respect this guy for his honesty. I hope Titanfall sells well and look forward to Titanfall 2 on the PS4 at a later time.

 

[MThanded]

Yes grain of salt. He does not have the final say in this.

It's "with a grain of salt" not "as a grain of salt"

Salt makes the food go down easier. You are implying his words are the salt.

 

[EmptySpace]

has always been exclusive at launch aka timed. The rest refers to EA making it a permanent exclusive.

so the supposed owner of the ip did not know his game just became a forever exclusive? either he's stupid or naive for not making sure ea couldn't make a deal for respawn unless respawn agrees. dealing with "the worst company in the usa for 2 consecutive years" should automatically mean you don't let them make deals for you.

 

[scitek]

Good. No issues with exclusivity. Buy a PC or an Xbone.
BUT... I want a Steam release.
Where is my fucking Steam release!?

At this point, not putting a game on Steam when you're able to is just fucking stupid if it's not called Minecraft, Star Citizen, or made by Blizzard.

 

[rakkadakka]

Seems like a hedge on EA's part with a new franchise more than anything else. They've had their share of blow-ups with new games the last few years.

 

[Fornaximus]

EA's three-peat for "Worst Company in America" should be a lock now.

 

[TheRealTalker]

Just saw this, good lord it's like Sony hired someone to put a voodoo curse on Microsoft. They can't have good news for more than half a day before something comes along to flip the PR narrative.

well they do have a Sucker Punch Character that is well known for voodoo

 

[Mr. Waffle]

I'm surprised this happened with Titan Fall... but it's not like MS hasn't thrown massive amounts of money at publishers for other games. Titan fall had probably the most hype coming out of E3... MS needed something to show they still do games on xbox.

IMHO I don't think it will sell enough to make it worth it for MS... it's an online only shooter... no single player... Think about the online only games of this past gen... I don't think any of them were that huge.

 

[walltowall]

If you are a new company trying to launch a new IP to become hopefully a runaway success, you would want as many potential buyers of your game as possible. If the terms of the original deal were truly timed exclusive and PS3 and PS4 owners (over 80 million people) eventually were going to gain access to your new IP, getting your IP brand name in front of as many eyes as possible, isn't that possibly more valuable than a truckload of money to recoup lost sales from exclusivity?

These days are different than the Halo 1 days, especially since the genre has blown up so much more on consoles, and they didn't treat Respawn like they treated Bungie where they took them under their wing to be their first party studio, they basically said "we're going to pay you and you are going to sell less copies of your new IP and that's the end of it, so thanks for your continued effort towards OUR cause."

If the "money hat" allows you to polish your game to a military shine + give you free marketing, and your poised for a hugely anticipated sequel on more platforms with a larger user base because of platform maturity then it's a no brainier vs. trying to stretch your team to launch on two new platforms each with a small user base.

I just don't think Vince is so naive to have gotten screwed again.

 

[FlyStarJay]

How can respawn not know what EA was doing? We should not only blame EA. Couldn't Respawn say no?

 

[Nightengale]

so the supposed owner of the ip did not know his game just became a forever exclusive? either he's stupid or naive for not making sure ea couldn't make a deal for respawn unless respawn agrees. dealing with "the worst company in the usa for 2 consecutive years" should automatically mean you don't let them make deals for you.

He knew 'recently', which meant he knew prior to the announcement, but it was a check that exchanged places only maybe weeks ago. Or maybe even yesterday,

 

[BigDaddyFatSack]

It's "with a grain of salt" not "as a grain of salt"

Salt makes the food go down easier. You are implying his words are the salt.

Still doesn't change the fact that there's a high possibility Titanfall won't be coming to PS4 ever. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

 

[Foghorn Leghorn]

??? why wouldn't MS be a great partner?

He would be mad at EA. Not MS.

He has no deal with MS. At all. Zero.

You are weird. Do you know how sad faces work

His tag explains it all. It's one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

 

[Neuromancer]

what does this add ?

What's wrong with it?

 

[Imm0rt4l]

I'm surprised this happened with Titan Fall... but it's not like MS hasn't thrown massive amounts of money at publishers for other games. Titan fall had probably the most hype coming out of E3... MS needed something to show they still do games on xbox.

IMHO I don't think it will sell enough to make it worth it for MS... it's an online only shooter... no single player... Think about the online only games of this past gen... I don't think any of them were that huge.

I think they're targeting the COD market, and COD may as well be an online only shooter.

 

[Nightengale]

How can respawn not know what EA was doing? We should not only blame EA. Couldn't Respawn say no?

Respawn can say no to Titanfall 2,3,4, and 5, because it's at their discretion to make that game.

But it seems they've sold all publishing rights of Titanfall to EA, so welp, Vince.

I think they're targeting the COD market, and COD may as well be an online only shooter.

True, but Battlefield didn't start doing single-player campaigns for no reason.

Titanfall, be it the 2nd or 3rd one will eventually have some sort of single player because somehow having them 'adds value' to the game.

 

[Moosehole]

Well as a PS4 only owner next gen I have to admit I'm disappointed that I won't get to play this, as the game looks really sweet.

Hopefully their next game will be multiplat so I can enjoy it and give them money.

 

[Justified]

How can respawn not know what EA was doing? We should not only blame EA. Couldn't Respawn say no?

When it comes to Publishing Titanfall, Respawn has no say

 

[Syphon Filter]

wow i''m surprised they actually get to keep the first titan fall. that's a good look for ms, it will be looked as a MS franchise.

 

[Sweep14]

At this rate, even the second Titanfall won't be coming to PS4. I remember during this year's E3, Vince saying something about how Titanfall will be coming to PS4 sometime after they were done with X1,360 and PC versions. Now, it's not the case. Vince doesn't have any control in this so please do take his words as a grain of salt.

There's a thing he can do although : Ditch EA as their publisher and sign a new deal with another one