f13.net

Triforcer beat me to one punch, but the full article has Gazillion publishing a MMO for every target group (http://venturebeat.com/2009/03/16/gazillion-to-launch-series-of-major-online-games-with-marvel-comics-characters/), a chicken for every pot.

So, 2010. Good luck with that.

Also, just a point to all the gaming site people who are commenting on this article: this is the fourth company to have a MMO deal with Marvel and the second to have an exclusive ten year contract. The last ten year contract lasted less than 3 years. Do your damn research.

Yeah, fail.

Notice that one of the investors is Hearst? It'd be interesting to know how much stake Hearst has in them, as I can guarantee you that a company that's basically entered into extended death throes is not going to be very patient when it comes to "when it's done!"

Re-reading the article, Gazillion is huge. With huge, expensive, must-succeed IPs. It's like Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment's plans on speed.

EDIT: How did I not see that Slipgate Ironworks, John Romero's MMO company, is alongside NetDevil as the two 'known' MMO studios Gazillion has on board? Oh, my sides.

(http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/rob-hutter.jpg)

We're going to entertain your... children.

That guy creeps the shit out of me.

For a moment I though you were speaking about George Romero and was thinking how awesome an MMO directed by the Romero would be ! Zombies!

These games are going to be awesome!

WTF was that even in the article?

I read Hutter as Hitler and was confused. 

It was much more entertaining though.

Cuz he kicked old schoo'.

Any MMO start-up that references how much money films of a certain IP make or how big the MMO industry is going to get automatically raises warning flags in my brain.

So, Lum: I think you'd be part of Amazing Society, right?  :why_so_serious:

Heh, that thought crossed my mind too.  But whatever Lum does will be great as long as it has skill-based PvP in a game without levels that lets players change the world but also is friendly to newcomers by not changing.

Lum's Ten Things list from a few months ago makes me think a lack of classes and levels being The Best Thing Ever is the One Thing we disagree on. :sad_red_panda:

(At least he backed up my assertion on AI being easy to make, but not what most people want.)

"i haz bl@z0r i can haz funding?? no waii!"

Yeah. What would Activision Blizzard possibly be able to bring to the table for an online game.

The names may actually have the same root.  Hitler is a variant of "hut dweller" alongside "Huetler", "Heidler", and a few others I can't be arsed to research.

EDIT: Buying Romero is clownshoes, he's the biggest fucking running joke in gaming.

EDIT2:

(http://christiandivine.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/1179372927_bitchad.jpg)

This was my thought upon reading that quote.

Success.

It's a Marvel game afterall.  Can't break with tradition.

A little bit more info on what Gazillion is doing. (http://www.massively.com/2009/03/30/gazillion-vp-shares-plans-for-marvel-universe-lego-universe-an/)

Six MMOs in production (Jumpgate doesn't count - NetDevil did a deal with Codemasters before Gazillion came along and bought them). Slipgate Ironworks to do a "WoW-level quality MMO". NetDevil has an unannounced MMO in development along with its other projects.

Still sounds like a house of cards to me.

Well, Slipgate Ironworks is really the only company that can probably always secure funding as necessary due to the names attached. The rest?

What Gazillion is doing is throwing all sorts of shit at the wall hoping something sticks.

How NetDevil continues to do well in terms of funding and property FUCKING BAFFLES ME BEYOND ALL RECOGNITION.

Well, their practices are like night and day compared to the development of auto assault, and Jumpgate. Jumpgate is a very measured, very focused design...auto assault was not. And they technically have brought a game to market, that's more than some can say, failure or not.

Not sure if any of that matters.

Anyone who knows the name "John Romero" also has to know the name "Daikatana" and term "epic fail".

I'm pretty sure Gazillion went to potential investors saying that MMOs were recession proof and pointed at WoW. Then promised one, if not two, titles out by next year.

There are more senior level people in MMOGs that have nearly nothing but epic fail on their resume and they keep moving on up. I fail to see how that's a valid point.

this dead yet?  No?  Ok.

... and suddenly I get the feeling that Brad McQuaid is going to be announced as the head of one of these new studios.  :why_so_serious:

Bringing a game to market that was a net loss for its "investors" is not something I would be bragging about. In any other industry that would've been it for them but unfortunately in the NA MMO world it doesn't work like that.

If I can't catapult dead fetuses I'm not playing it.

With the Super Hero Squad MMO, Gazillion can tap into the latest Marvel creations:  :oh_i_see:

(http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/images/deadpool_wolverineontherun-580x482.jpg)

What powers does Motorcycle have again?  I am not up to date on the Marvel Universe  :oh_i_see:

My new avatar. With the retconning of Episode IV and the latest Indiana Jones this completes the desecration of my fictional history.

Those are the Super Hero Squad figurines for the Wolverine movie. And a cartoon coming out later on this year. And then the MMO in 2010.

I'd never looked them up properly. Wolverine and Sabertooth look like they are about to get into a tickle fight with Deadpool. Meet Galactus, Hugger of Worlds:

(http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1150/1013090704_f6202c7072.jpg)

DC has a line like that too, complete with a cute widdle Batman. Hey, gotta hook them kids early.

They make 'em for Star Wars, too.  My son and nephews have a bunch of those and their vehicles.  Playskool does indeed pimp that line out to any of the big movies or franchises to hook fans early.

Marvel says Marvel MMO due out in 2012 because that's when the movies are planned. (http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/03/25/marvel-targeting-2012-for-new-mmo-leading-out-of-avengers-movie/)

It's not just MMOs. So many projects get cancelled and so many people of questionable talent are trying to get a foot in the door that shipping *any* title is at least a minor accomplishment.

It's not uncommon to see resumes where more than half the projects a person has worked on have been cancelled. And I don't mean after 2 months of pre-production by a skeleton crew, I mean projects that had already staffed up to production levels.

Normally when they release a video game and movie combo all we get is a classic turd of a video game.  In this case, though, pairing the movie timeline with the design complexity of an MMO is going to yield a trainwreck of McQuaid proportions. 

Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration.  But I still can't imagine anyone looking at MMO design is trying to plan it around anything else. 

Heh heh: okay, according to JZig who saw an early release about who was working at Gargantuan (http://doublebuffered.com/2009/03/18/is-john-romero-making-marvel-universe/) (who are doing the Marvel MMO) there's a chance that Gargantuan is a spin off of Slipgate Ironworks (both are located in San Mateo, Ca.; he believes that some Slipgate employees have shifted to the 'new' studio that doesn't even have a website yet).

Meaning that John Romero might be in charge of developing the Marvel MMO.

If he is, that would be :drill: for train-wreck spotters everywhere.

They have a website, there's just jack-all there. 

http://www.gazillion.com/gargantuan/

god that's ugly

That site is new-ish: it wasn't there last time I checked the Gazillion site. Or I may just have missed it.

Gazillion hires former Stargate Worlds studio head. (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/13/stargate-worlds-studio-head-gates-to-gazillion/)

This does not instill any faith. 

Gazillion - "We fail at hiring too."

I'd give him a break.  The person that story refers to is Dan Elggren, who was in charge of the developers (artists, designers, programmers) but reported to the top management of CME.  He was not allowed to make changes like the reductions in staff that might have gotten the company past the tougher periods in time, and was not, to the best of my knowledge, involved with investors / funding. 

I'm glad he found another position in the industry.  In the us (CME developers) vs them (CME top management), Dan was on the "us" side, not the them side.  (Didn't support things like MMOguls, etc.) 

I'd work with him again. :)

Gazillion does not smell like something to be glad about.

Elggren has left one unproven umbrella publisher with several unreleased, heavily IP dependent titles to go work for another unproven umbrella publisher with several unreleased, heavily IP dependent titles. Yeah, I think that Gazillion is a step up for him from CME, but only because it'll come with a pay cheque for the next few months. All it takes is Marvel to pull another contrarian 'let's pull our IP rights off this MMO publisher' and Gazillion is left with the professionalism and proven performance of NetDevil (minus J:E, because Codemasters is publishing that) and John Romero.

Gamasutra article. David Brevik to head up development on Marvel MMO. (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24506)

Apparently, another Blizzard refugee is getting into the super-hero MMO business.

Gazillion has hired Diablo creator David Brevik to head up the studio creating the Marvel MMO. (http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090721005321&newsLang=en)

Well they must have some decent pockets at least.

Sadly,


Then again, Roper landed over at Champions Online and has yet to ruin it theoretically.

EDIT:  Damn, beaten to the punch.

My optimistic self likes to think that the Flagship experiences that these gentlemen have had, will express themselves as lessons learnt, and not as things to be repeated in hopes of different outcomes. We will see.

One person from Blizzard does not a difference make. Unless they can somehow transplant the entire culture and talent with them - which is, uhmmmm, not gonna happen.

I'd really like this sort of PR to just stop.

But hiring one star athlete always turns a loser team into a success story!

What about a star athlete that hires 2 burnout star athletes from the 90s?

I KID, I KID

or do I?

*groan*

 :oh_i_see:

"Of course it's boring. That's the point. Write it down."

I wish people would stop throwing money into the netdevil fire. The can just give it to me if they don't want it.

But can you fill them with confidence and guarantee returns?  :why_so_serious:

I can most certainly guarantee returns ( I can, and in fact will, guarantee anything you want), and you can call if confidence if you want to.  I never really heard of that euphemism before, but whatever floats your boat.

Gazillion forms up (another) MMO studio in joint venture "to focus on the creation of Arabic content for the Middle East gaming market" (http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/43526/98)

Could they even release a game first? I'm seriously seeing Gazillion as CME Mk II.

THIS IS STARTLING.

CAN YOU ENLIGHTEN ME?

I CAN NOT IMAGINE WHAT WOULD LEAD YOU TO BELIEVE THAT.

On that note. I have no problem with Gazillion stealing those dudes' moneyz and upgrading their Porsches.

Romero's Slipgate Ironworks cancels sekret MMO, sends 50 people out to pasture, some of whom are then re-housed within other parts of Gazillion. (http://kotaku.com/5383644/romeros-slipgate-ironworks-hammered-down-mmo-project-still-on)

The old "we're just changing direction on the title" by firing 50 people really screams out that someone worked out whatever Slipgate was working on would have failed miserably in today's market, so it gets cut. Plus the money is seen coming out of the Marvel titles, who really have to be screaming for people in order to meet the 2010 (for Super Hero Squad) and 2012 (for the Marvel MMO).

I know people who've worked there for years. >.< Wish I knew what their status was.

Well, now you do.

If they weren't let go, they're probably looking for a job (since anyone at Gazillion is probably thinking "yea, this'll work").