Did Space Empires V kill Space Empires?

[DarkHorse]

The odds are there might be a viable successor to the SE games, but there won't ever be any further development of existing, or hope for any new, SE franchise games

Worse, they made a Facebook game out of it

[Gandalf Parker]

And not a very good FaceBook game either. It appears to be a game shell used for many of the FB games which has strained itself to seem to be Space Empires themed. But it doesnt feel like an SE game.

[jRides]

I had no idea Aaron had been barred from developing Space Empires. I actually thought that his new ground combat game was him developing ground combat for the next SE incarnation.

[Gandalf Parker]

Barred? Thats news to me.
I guess I do remember something about him selling the game to Strategy First.

[jRides]

It was news to me too, Gandalf. I was just going by what Black Knight posted on the first page of this thread (post 20);

Secondly, and more importantly, selling off the franchise to Strategy First was a catastrophic mistake, and a costly one to Aaron personally. They even went so far as to have barred him contractually from working on another 4x space game for quite some time, and then all but abandoned any further development or support for SE5.

[Azselendor]

Strategy First turned space empires into farmville

And it sucks!

[Ironmanbc]

Financial difficulties

On March 12, 2009 Strategy First's parent company Silverstar Holdings Ltd was formally delisted from the NASDAQ market after failing to meet a timeline extension to become compliant with NASDAQ Marketplace Rules, specifically they "had not regained compliance with the stockholders’ equity requirement"[10]. The final statements publicly published by Silverstar were for the period ending December 31, 2008, filed on February 20, 2009[11]. In these statements, Silverstar indicated that Strategy First revenues were minimal for the three months ended December 31, 2008 ("about $400,000" out of revenues of $8.7 million), with the bulk of revenues coming from the Empire Interactive division. Silverstar's total loss for this period was $3.4 million. As of December 31st 2008 Silverstar reports current assets of about $4 million versus liabilities of $17 million. Accounts Payable and Royalties Payable totaled $4.3 million, versus only $422,000 in available cash. In their management review Silverstar states "These factors raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Since June 2008, the Company has been seeking to raise additional capital in the form of both debt and equity; to this point with no success. The results of the quarter ended December 31, 2008 have further impacted the Company’s liquidity position and without a very short-term solution to this lack of liquidity, there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ongoing viability."

Subsequent to the SEC 10-Q filing, Silverstar reported that on May 1st 2009 their Empire Interactive division filed for "administration" (bankruptcy) in the UK, and that "Empire has sold its intellectual property assets to New World IP, LLC ",[12] and all 49 staff were laid off.[13] New World IP then leased the rights to publish Empire's entire catalogue to Zoo Games.[14]

Additionally, Silverstar has reported that it is in default on its repayments on both its 2008 and 2006 Debentures

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategy_First

[dumbluck]

heh. if SF is that desperate for cash, maybe Aaron can buy the rights to SE back with the change in his pocket... :P

[Gandalf Parker]

And again we see some of the pros and cons of the big boys business plan vs someone like Shrapnel who was created by an independent developer specifically to give other options to independents. The marketing/shelfware version vs the publicity/distribution version.

[rant mode on]
The M/S version requires too much cash paid out ahead of time. That can mean advance payments for developers and big payback (eventually), and large sales audience, and games that go in bargain bins like some people keep harping about in the other Shrapnel forums. But it also means large debt to the distrib company which must be paid back before profit checks appear, sometimes 1 or 2 years. Also tends toward much more distributor control setting deadlines on the developers to finish the game in order to meet the advance advertising, setting DRM standards, setting prices, and of course buying the future rights. AND the possibility of total losses before the developer ever sees any profits. Possibly with a still outstanding debt that must be paid back.

The publicity/distrib version requires almost no advance money being laid out. The game gets covered in every online gaming magazine, blog, newsgroup, etc. The profits are quick, easily tracked by both parties so no hard feelings over questionable incomes, and the developer sees checks quickly. And because there is no gambling with advanced funds this model supports independents that otherwise wouldnt be touched by the big boys.

So for those who continually want to tell Shrapnel what they should be doing like the big boys do it so you can hope for bargain bin copies later, remember that everything has its pros and cons.
[/rant off]

[Azselendor]

To imply that it's the Microsoft model is a bit wrong. If you look, Microsoft only throws its money into games that print money (looking at you Halo), companies like activision, ea games, etc. tend to take on semi-safe bets while others yet take biggest risks. Just look at the quagmire that is Duke Nukem Forever.

The current model in game publishing seems to be very similar to that of the music, movie and book industries at times, which works sometimes and other times it doesn't. Just imagine how much money was pissed away in Tommy Wisaeu's "The Room" or on any SyFy original movie.

I think shrapnel's model is fantastic for what it does and hopefully can only bring them greater success.