Square Enix wants to crowdfund its Eidos IPs on Indiegogo, including Anachronox

[Gurkog]

In other words, their new plan is to change stuff that I might buy from a bargain bin to shit that I wouldn't touch with a 10' pole. GG Squeenix

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Square just won't give up on Final Fantasy Agito, I remember reading about it on a magazine while I still was in high school. It's like an asian Grimoire.

You will believe a bishie can fly!

 

[80Maxwell08]

Well it's launched with 3 games on it. Here's an article on them and a direct link to the website itself.
http://www.siliconera.com/2014/01/27/square-enixs-crowdfunding-platform-launches-indie-rpg/
Home | Square Enix Collective
I haven't looked at any of them extensively myself so I leave that to you guys.

 

[Ninja Destroyer]

Square Enix’s Crowdfunding Platform Launches With An Indie RPG And More
By Ishaan . January 27, 2014 . 8:31am


Last year, Square Enix launched a crowdfunding initiative for indie developers, dubbed “The Collective”. This morning, the initiative went live and Square Enix revealed the first three developers that will use The Collective to attempt to fund their games.





Ruffian Games, developers of Crackdown 2, are launching a 2D building and resource management game. You manage a Scottish clan competing in the Highland Games, build structures, and launch your clan members at opponents. This one is called Game of Glens, and you can learn more about it here.





The second game is an action RPG featuring mechs, titled World War Machine. This game is developed by Tuque Games and has a focus on customization. It will feature both a single-player mode as well as co-op support for up to five players at a time. You can learn more about it here.





The last game is Moon Hunters by Kitfox Games. This is a 2D, top-down open-world adventure for 1-4 players. It uses 8-bit graphics and takes place in a procedurally generated world. You can learn about it here.


Each of the above three games can be voted on, regarding whether you would crowdfund it or not. If a game can generate enough support, it moves on to the next phase in the process—actual crowdfunding via IndieGogo. If the crowdfunding phase is successful, and the game is completed, Square Enix will offer to distribute the game for the developers, although this choice will be left in the hands of the developer.


Square Enix previously stated that developers will have a chance to utilize certain Eidos I.P. as well, should they participate in The Collective.


The Collective was launched shortly after Square Enix’s recently-appointed president, Yosuke Matsuda, expressed his desire to change how videogames are developed. Matsuda stated that he felt a business model where games remained in development for several years and made no money until they were actually released was becoming increasingly less viable in today’s industry. Instead, he proposed, the solution might be to learn something from Kickstarter and Steam’s Early Access Program, both of which involve fans in the process in return for their support.

Currently World War Machine is the most liked, but frankly I don't see the need of labeling it as indie. It could be easily made as AAA game. Co-op campaign, customizing your mech (which thanks to it makes WWM a proper RPG title), and proceduraly generated world. The other two games looks to bland for me.

 

[DeepOcean]

Their robot game has an interesting premise:

World War Machine takes place after a cataclysmic mass extinction event has decimated all forms of organic life on Earth. Before the end of civilization, millions of human beings were able to upload their minds into a vast computer network – transforming themselves into artificial intellects. The remains of our planet are now populated solely by these intellects and machines of their creation.

During the cataclysm, the computer network that worked to maintain millions of uploaded human minds was shattered – breaking into three major Nodes and countless smaller ones. Each Node continued running its own group of intellects, though their minds were flawed by the damage. Operating on corrupted hardware, these intellects have been divorced from their memories of humanity and the goals for which they were created. With their minds broken and spread across multiple platforms, the artificial intellects fell into chaos and a perpetual war erupted between the three main network nodes.

The battles that rage through the sterilized ruins of human civilization are fought by hundreds of thousands of Machines – humanoid robots outfitted for various tasks of war, each imbued with an artificial intellect from a parent Node. If destroyed, the Machine transmits its intellect back for reconstitution in another Machine. The fight continues, and the war will never end.

Countless battles have been planned and fought by viciously clever intellects who are entrenched on well defended Mainline Nodes, blind to their own madness. This war has been fought for over five hundred years in perfect equilibrium with no end in sight...

...until one day, a lone Machine remembers.

If you call a node simulationist, another combatfag and another storyfag, you have a pretty accurate description of the codex.

If it will get funding and if it will be a decent game, that is another story.

 

[Psquit]

How low the mighty have fallen.

 

[Severian Silk]

Their robot game has an interesting premise:

World War Machine takes place after a cataclysmic mass extinction event has decimated all forms of organic life on Earth. Before the end of civilization, millions of human beings were able to upload their minds into a vast computer network – transforming themselves into artificial intellects. The remains of our planet are now populated solely by these intellects and machines of their creation.

During the cataclysm, the computer network that worked to maintain millions of uploaded human minds was shattered – breaking into three major Nodes and countless smaller ones. Each Node continued running its own group of intellects, though their minds were flawed by the damage. Operating on corrupted hardware, these intellects have been divorced from their memories of humanity and the goals for which they were created. With their minds broken and spread across multiple platforms, the artificial intellects fell into chaos and a perpetual war erupted between the three main network nodes.

The battles that rage through the sterilized ruins of human civilization are fought by hundreds of thousands of Machines – humanoid robots outfitted for various tasks of war, each imbued with an artificial intellect from a parent Node. If destroyed, the Machine transmits its intellect back for reconstitution in another Machine. The fight continues, and the war will never end.

Countless battles have been planned and fought by viciously clever intellects who are entrenched on well defended Mainline Nodes, blind to their own madness. This war has been fought for over five hundred years in perfect equilibrium with no end in sight...

...until one day, a lone Machine remembers.

If you call a node simulationist, another combatfag and another storyfag, you have a pretty accurate description of the codex.

If it will get funding and if it will be a decent game, that is another story.

How often does a good premise actually carry over to a good game?

 

[DeepOcean]

Their robot game has an interesting premise:

World War Machine takes place after a cataclysmic mass extinction event has decimated all forms of organic life on Earth. Before the end of civilization, millions of human beings were able to upload their minds into a vast computer network – transforming themselves into artificial intellects. The remains of our planet are now populated solely by these intellects and machines of their creation.

During the cataclysm, the computer network that worked to maintain millions of uploaded human minds was shattered – breaking into three major Nodes and countless smaller ones. Each Node continued running its own group of intellects, though their minds were flawed by the damage. Operating on corrupted hardware, these intellects have been divorced from their memories of humanity and the goals for which they were created. With their minds broken and spread across multiple platforms, the artificial intellects fell into chaos and a perpetual war erupted between the three main network nodes.

The battles that rage through the sterilized ruins of human civilization are fought by hundreds of thousands of Machines – humanoid robots outfitted for various tasks of war, each imbued with an artificial intellect from a parent Node. If destroyed, the Machine transmits its intellect back for reconstitution in another Machine. The fight continues, and the war will never end.

Countless battles have been planned and fought by viciously clever intellects who are entrenched on well defended Mainline Nodes, blind to their own madness. This war has been fought for over five hundred years in perfect equilibrium with no end in sight...

...until one day, a lone Machine remembers.

If you call a node simulationist, another combatfag and another storyfag, you have a pretty accurate description of the codex.

If it will get funding and if it will be a decent game, that is another story.

How often does a good premise actually carry over to a good game?

Almost never, but this is the year of incline. With Ubisoft publishing Might and Magic: X, I believe anything can happen. There is 90% chance it will be shit but the cool premise almost make me hopeful they going to hit the 10%.

 

[Outlander]

They are now accepting pitches from devs for these IPs: Anachronox, Gex and Fear Effect.

http://www.incgamers.com/2015/02/square-enix-collective-wants-pitches-for-anachronox-gex-fear-effect

 

[Luckra]

There is so much potential with Anachronox but I doubt a competent studio will do something with it.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Everybody wants Tom Hall to pick up the pieces and finish Anachronox. Problem is, everybody wants to make money off of him while he does so.

 

[taxalot]

Oh boy, oh boy.

So excited that I actually sent a tweet to Tom Hall.

 

[Jedi Exile]

And he said that it is 'possible', if I am reading it right http://twitter.com/ThatTomHall/status/567566487276118016 Even he wants to do it, it doesn't mean that Square Enix will accept his pitch though.

 

[Ninjerk]

They won't use him. They're going to take a big steaming dump all over Anachronox.

 

[Cassidy]

Raping franchises alone no longer is the shittiest thing a publisher can do. Squeenix is now attempting to jump over an entirely new level by crowdfunding franchise rape.

If you have any hopes for this, you're really naive.

Leave Anachronox in peace! Enough classics have been defiled already!

 

[Ninjerk]

Raping franchises alone no longer is the shittiest thing a publisher can do. Squeenix is now attempting to jump over an entirely new level by crowdfunding franchise rape.

If you have any hopes for this, you're really naive.

Leave Anachronox in peace! Enough classics have been defiled already!

They're getting the crowd in on the dastardly deed.

 

[tuluse]

They won't use him. They're going to take a big steaming dump all over Anachronox.

It's interesting, DX:HR was quite a hit for Squeenix while Thi4f was a huge bust and Tomb Raider was disappointing*. So they are probably more inclined to target the "core audience" than shit on things right now.

Ofc this assumes they are even capable of discerning the difference.


*I think it eventually got to the sales numbers they were wanting, but not as quickly as they were hoping.

 

[taxalot]

They won't use him. They're going to take a big steaming dump all over Anachronox.

You sound pretty certain that they're going to use the franchise at all.

 

[Ninjerk]

They won't use him. They're going to take a big steaming dump all over Anachronox.

You sound pretty certain that they're going to use the franchise at all.

Nothing is safe

 

[Don Peste]

Better a zombie transvestite Anachronox than nothing.

 

[Turjan]

They won't use him. They're going to take a big steaming dump all over Anachronox.

It's interesting, DX:HR was quite a hit for Squeenix while Thi4f was a huge bust and Tomb Raider was disappointing*. So they are probably more inclined to target the "core audience" than shit on things right now.

The tiers in the new Humble Bundle may be an indication, but have of course to be corrected for age of the game to some extent.

Lowest tier: Hitman Absolution, Supreme Commander 2
Middle tier: Thief, Murdered: Soul Suspect, Deus Ex: HR
Highest tier: Tomb Raider, Sleeping Dogs

Of course, given how new Murdered: Soul Suspect and how old Deus Ex: HR are, the former might move one tier down and the latter one tier up.

 

[Sceptic]

They won't use him.

No Tom Hall, no interest, no purchase.

DraQ

 

[J1M]

Have they changed how this is supposed to work? As in, if they pick your idea do you get any sort of creative control over the project? Or a salary?

 

[Bubbles]

You get to put "Lead Developer on Anachronox 2 for Square Enix" in your CV, which can be very important for a young graduate wanting to get into the market.

 

[J1M]

You get to put "Lead Developer on Anachronox 2 for Square Enix" in your CV, which can be very important for a young graduate wanting to get into the market.

Of course! And it will also show EA that you are willing to work for free on shitty licenses.