Victims of Recession: FASA Studio

Elven6 - 341 days 9 hours ago

The closure of FASA was already planned before the launch of Shadowrun.

Edit: Freelancer didn't sell horribly well and Brute Force sold insanely well breaking Halo: CE record. Regarding when the recession started, that's still being debated now and I'm sure it will be debated decades from now, although in 2007 people started murmuring about it.

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Cajun Chicken - 341 days 8 hours ago

Then what valid reason was there for MS closing these good developers?

Closing these devs was like the equivelent of Sony closing down Naughty Dog or Team Ico. It just doesn't add up. They were the best devs MS had when they started in the console buisness.

The fact that Brute Force sold more then Freelancer seriously shocks me.
How Brute Force even came close to Halo in sales is just stupid. I guess if MS shove a faux 'MS seal of quality' and backing on any subpar titles they publish it sells like hotcakes due to MS publishing Halo all those years back.

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Elven6 - 341 days 8 hours ago

Future proofing is all I really consider to be honest, it comes down to fire X amount of people now and save XX amount in the long run.

I was actually a fan of both Freelancer and Brute Force, in my opinion both should have sold really well and unfortunately only one of them did.

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Cajun Chicken - 341 days 8 hours ago

I loved Freelancer.
But I can't say the same for Brute Force I just didn't like the way Brute Force felt and I thought the engine was weak compared to the excellent engine on Freelancer.
I thought Armed and Dangerous was a much stronger third person shooter than Brute Force on the XBOX.

So I guess MS still own the Freelancer IP then?
I'm expecting they'll do something with that since I heard that some Digital Anvil members were merged MGS so the main designers are probably there.
They'd better, because that was a great exclusive IP, suprised we haven't seen a Freelancer title for 360 yet, seeing MS are keeping their cards up against their chests with games this year so far, maybe we still will.

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Elven6 - 341 days 8 hours ago

Yep they own all the ips of the ex studios, and yes like with all studio closures half the staff were relocated to other parts of Microsoft Game Studios.

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Cajun Chicken - 341 days 8 hours ago

Also on topic, I loved Crimson Skies on XBOX.

That alone is the reason I'm supporting and looking forward to Dark Void so much.

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Pixel_Addict - 340 days 17 hours ago

The recession began after the .com bubble burst- around 1999-2000. Then after 9/11 the markets sunk even further. The only reason the economy boomed was because economic regulation were lifted and banks were allowed to start making risky loads and people where using credit cards (spending money they didn't have) and that gave the public a false sense of prosperity for about 10 years under the Republican administration. Basically, our economy was broken and instead of fixing it we just borrowed money (mostly from China) and now its catched up with us.

For analogy.. lets say a person loses their job. Then instead of looking for work they use credit cards to buy everything. This person (who use to have a good job) has a high credit limit because of his good job he use to have. So a couple of months go by a this person hasn't look for a job because he is happy using borrowed money. Suddenly his credit limit has been reached, his credit maxed and now the banks (the enablers, who knew of your joblessness) are banging down your door looking for cash. Now the bank, you, the people bank promised the money to, are ALL out of cash... take that example and apply it to our government and its people.

If the recession was dealt with 10 years ago, responsibly, we could have avoided the recession (which is actually a slow marching depression). Recession is basically a different way of saying depression. President Hoover tried to use propaganda by called the economic meltdown a "depression", but obviously was bad choice of word. If you think about it a 'depression' doesn't sound as bad as something like a "meltdown", but I digress... we are really in a slow moving depression.

I agree that Microsoft's acquistion of FASA studio was their down fall, but that happens when companies acquire someone else's talent. EA, Activision/Blizzard all have closed studios. It is sad really. On their own they probably would have lasted a bit longer or released some better games without the corporate hand of doom holding them down to trends and expectations.

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Cajun Chicken - 340 days 17 hours ago

My point all the way up there is that MS got rid of developers before even the public or the media even touched upon the fact of the recession now.

These weren't average developers to me, Digital Anvil and FASA were great developers and at the seperate times both of these were shutdown no such thing was going on as it now. Midway wasn't really in trouble until about 2007.

I mean, EA are considering closing studios, THQ has shedded about three now, Free Radical seem doomed, Ensemble was closed purely to sort into a new team and to organise a price cut and probably also to get the next FF on the system. That wasn't happening 10 years back, or even 5, not as much and high profile devs, anyway.

Its not just the jobs, its the spirit these developers had. Its a waste for them to be gone. FASA and Digital Anvil would of been great first party members for MS to have in this generation and especially now.

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Elven6 - 340 days 16 hours ago

The media doesn't decide the recession, Shane Kim didn't just wake up one morning and say "That Githleman really pisses me off, shut down his studio pronto!". Alot of decision making goes into a decision like that, everyone from analysts to accountants looked at Microsoft's market condition and speculated what their next move should be.

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Elven6 - 341 days 9 hours ago

Free Radical technically is still around, just not in the best state, hopefully they get bought or credited, they are a recognized studio after all.

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Cajun Chicken - 340 days 17 hours ago

I often wonder the same.

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Pixel_Addict - 340 days 17 hours ago

their PC software domination is deteriorating and they have lost a chance to rival google on the internet-super-highway. The Xbox 360 is their last hope, but instead of investing millions of dollars in repairing hardware issues and building better 1st party studios, they simply threw millions at 3rd party developers (they couldn't buy) who have NO REAL loyalty to Microsoft. Now their neglect of their own in-house developers have let to their demise. The PS3 is going to have a spectacular year and the growing sales will convince more 3rd parties to invest in Sony.

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Elven6 - 340 days 16 hours ago

Just to put it into perspective, Rare has over 200 developers working for them, Microsoft may not have the studios but they definitely have the developers, these developers can then be split into teams and work on different projects.

Although I would have preferred having the studios though instead of cramming everyone into 3 studios, even if FASA Studio only had 30 developers, that would be good enough.

But Microsoft still owns the ip so they can bring the studio back if they want to.

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Cajun Chicken - 340 days 16 hours ago

You can bring back a studio in name, but not in spirit, wouldn't be much point.
When these teams get broken up/merged/liquidated the spirit and identity of that developer is lost and what you are left with is an shallow echo of what was before.

They may be able to bring the IP back, but probably not the games.

EDIT @Elven6 below:
As much chance as Planet Moon forming back with Shiny when the members of Shiny leave Double Helix to work with Interplay again. Not gonna happen, never has happened to a developer, never will.

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Elven6 - 340 days 15 hours ago

Half the original FASA team is still at Microsoft anyway so they can come back if they wanted to, not to mention ex team members not employed at Microsoft will always have the option to return to a apply at FASA again if it were reopened.

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Swarm - 340 days 12 hours ago

In a perfect world that might be the case, but in reality once a group like that has been broken up its for good.

I very much agree with Cajun Chicken. A perfect example would be the Fallouts. The spirit of the original games was what made it great, the devs poured their heart and souls into it. Fallout 3 may of gotten all the atmosphere right, but it just doesn't have that same spirit.

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crillyconlig - 340 days 16 hours ago

lionheart, rare, xbox live productions, wingnut, turn10, not alot compaired to sony

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Elven6 - 340 days 16 hours ago

How many developers does Sony actually pay, meaning how many work for Sony.

For instance, Rare has over 200 employees and I'm sure many other big name studios under the MGS brand have at least 100.

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Cajun Chicken - 340 days 16 hours ago

SCE's First Party Studios

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

A lot. Aquiring and keeping instead of closing down studios paid off for Sony. Its all well and due buying a good developer for inhouse, but keeping them open is what really matters.
Look at some of the Amiga afflicated legends there. Pygnosis and Millennium Interractive... :D

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GWAVE - 340 days 16 hours ago

@ Elven6

200 people at Rare? That's nothing compared to the 1000+ developers employed between Sony's 20+ development studios, not to mention the fact that...well, not to be crude, but Rare kinda sucks a sh*t popsicle these days.

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