(Shocking) News!!!!!

Strategia_In_Ultima · #1 March 8th, 2005, 01:36 PM

I don't know if you have read the SG Blog lately, but I found this.....

Quote:

As some of you who follow us pretty closely may have already surmised, Malfador Machinations has chosen not to publish Space Empires V with Shrapnel Games, opting instead to publish through Strategy First and go after the retail market. Although we regret Aaron Hall�s decision, we respect his motivation and wish him the best of luck at retail with a niche product. We only hope he makes enough changes in his game to allow for a broader audience. All of us here at Shrapnel Games wish him a great deal of success.

We will continue to sell Space Empires IV Gold and Space Empires: Starfury until current inventories are exhausted. We want to thank everyone who has supported Shrapnel Games and Malfador Machinations with their purchases of these excellent games.

We have grown to love the Space Empires IV forum community and want to extend an invitation to these rowdy, crazy, and somewhat warped individuals. We would like you to stay with us, and to that end, we will install a Space Empires V forum for you to populate and enjoy! You are always welcome at Shrapnel Games.

Thanks to all who made Space Empires IV a roaring success.

Comments please?!?

My first comment:
Whoa.....

Captain Kwok · #2 March 8th, 2005, 02:26 PM

Yes indeed. Unexpected I'd say.

Phoenix-D · #3 March 8th, 2005, 02:27 PM

Definitely unexpected.

And probably quite annoying for Shrapnel- this has happened several times now.

Arkcon · #4 March 8th, 2005, 02:29 PM

I said *woah* too, and I was worried. Where will we get useful tips and tricks, friendly OT discussions, and give feedback to modders? And selling SE5 through commercial outlets? *shudder* How many "Sphereworld components won't fit on a baseship, and all my colonys are empty"-type questions will we have to field.

Then I see that Shrapnel Games is going to keep an SE5 forum up for us. That's nice of them.

So ... give some thanks the folks at Shrapnel. Click on something in the border. Dunno if it'll help, but I like to give support back where I can.

Captain Kwok · #5 March 8th, 2005, 02:30 PM

Yeah, SE:V would have been a good money maker with an already established and somewhat fanatical base. A big loss for Shrapnel.

RudyHuxtable · #6 March 8th, 2005, 02:42 PM

It will be a loss for Shrapnel, yes, but I also think Aaron lost out on SEIV because of the limits on distribution. It's generally accepted that SEIV is current pinnacle of 4X gaming, and if he had reached a bigger audience, wow. Lexus anyone?

Now, I'm not saying that bigger is better. Give me the chintzy bitmap graphics over flashiness every day (I play War in the Pacific regularly, which features NO graphics).

But let's be honest. He deserves all the success (and capital) that he's entitled to, and a bigger distributor would make that possible. Not to mention the funding it would provide for SE6

I like Shrapnel Games, and appreciate their efforts to help indie developers. Even Electronic Arts operated out of a garage at one time. I'm just wondering if there is something they can do that is more aggressive and would attract a bigger market. I think TheGamingNews.Com will help a bit. Even I would like to see more games like Dominions or SEIV make it mainstream.

Phoenix-D · #7 March 8th, 2005, 02:47 PM

Another interesting side effect:

As far as I can tell, this means that -every 4x game on the market- is being sold by the same publisher.

Richard · #8 March 8th, 2005, 03:27 PM

Quote:

RudyHuxtable said:
It will be a loss for Shrapnel, yes, but I also think Aaron lost out on SEIV because of the limits on distribution. It's generally accepted that SEIV is current pinnacle of 4X gaming, and if he had reached a bigger audience, wow. Lexus anyone?

Now, I'm not saying that bigger is better. Give me the chintzy bitmap graphics over flashiness every day (I play War in the Pacific regularly, which features NO graphics).

But let's be honest. He deserves all the success (and capital) that he's entitled to, and a bigger distributor would make that possible. Not to mention the funding it would provide for SE6

I like Shrapnel Games, and appreciate their efforts to help indie developers. Even Electronic Arts operated out of a garage at one time. I'm just wondering if there is something they can do that is more aggressive and would attract a bigger market. I think TheGamingNews.Com will help a bit. Even I would like to see more games like Dominions or SEIV make it mainstream.

Well we can differ on this subject but I don't think SE:IV in retail would have helped much. I also can guarantee you that SE:IV in Retail would have meant less money for Aaron over it's sales cycle.

We have been offered retail deals, and even considered taking Dom 2 and SE:IV (as well as other games) into retail ourselves through our own contacts in the industry, but it just isn't a good deal for developers or any one else involved.

I wish him luck, this has always been my personal favorite game that we currently publish.

Ragnarok-X · #9 March 8th, 2005, 03:34 PM

Pretty surprising. In my opinion Aaron did a mistake here. Shrapnel is known for publishing of "niche" games, i dont think a better publisher for SEV could have been found. In addition im wondering if the publisher/sale change will have any effect on the development of the game.

Puke · #10 March 8th, 2005, 03:34 PM

Im sorry to see it moving away from Shrapnel. This company publishes alot of good games. I might not like all of them, but I certainly enjoy a larger percentage of them than any other publisher that I have met.

Being in "good company" can attract the attention of like-minded individuals that might not be shopping for your game, but would be interested based on the quality of other games under the same unbrella. This works for both Malfador and for Shrapnel.