Slitherine acquires Master of Magic IP from Atari

[LESS T_T]

http://www.slitherine.com/news/2907/Slitherine.acquires.the.Master.of.Magic.franchise

Slitherine acquires the Master of Magic franchise

In a continuous bid to update and modernize popular strategy IPs and bringing them to the 21st century, Slitherine has acquired the full publishing rights to the Master of Magic franchise from Atari.


This is one of the most recognizable names in videogames history. It’s one of the key pillars of turn-based strategy gaming and it has created a genre of its own that is still alive and thriving today.

Master of Magic first released on MS-DOS twenty-five years ago in 1994 and it quickly became one of the most cherished games of its genre with its infinite replayability and the sheer number of customisation options it gave to the players.

“We are looking forward to working on this immensely popular franchise”, said Iain McNeil development director at Slitherine. “We know there is a high level of responsibility when we try and develop sequels or successors to popular IPs. We have proven it is possible to fulfil players expectations with the likes of Panzer Corps when it comes to work on these legendary products”.

Sequels to Close Combat and Fantasy General, both coming this year, are also a testament of Slitherine’s ongoing mission in this space.

“The foundations of what we play today are still traced back to that golden age of gaming. We cannot ignore that, like we cannot ignore that technology has moved on with player’s expectations in other areas such as social integration, multiplayer, narration, ease-of-access and more. It will be a challenge, but we are happy to accept it and try our best to make a game that does justice to the brand”.

 

[rezaf]

I dunno about those old franchise acquisitions. Don't they do more harm than good at this point?

First we get Fantasy General 2, and now Master of Magic 2?
Is there really anyone left buying these games because of their name? Like, I wouldn't have purchased this, but Fantasy General / Master of Magic? Sign me up on this!
These are long dead franchises, and the few players that still actually remember them are probably super hardcores that will be inclined to nitpick at every difference from the original, so why bother / risk enraging them?
Slitherine should have learned from Panzer Corps that you do not need to own the franchise to make a modern reimplementation - and for all the things you decide on doing differently ... well, it's a different IP...

I can't say I can't muster SOME enthusiasm for a new MoM, it's one of my fondest gaming memories. I even still unearth it every couple of years, albeit usually not for long.
Unfortunately, every single attempt at remaking the game has fallen way, WAY short the mark.

In my palanthir I see: Civ5-style UI, drastically reduced spell selection, fewer races, several minor features cut.
I hope I've glimpsed into a future which will not manifest itself...

 

[Melan]

<fapping cautiously>

Are they a good company?

 

[Space Satan]

Mediocricy claims another great franchize...

 

[Transfiguring Roar]

F

 

[Gondolin]

It's going to be meh.

 

[Grauken]

I dunno about those old franchise acquisitions. Don't they do more harm than good at this point?

First we get Fantasy General 2, and now Master of Magic 2?
Is there really anyone left buying these games because of their name? Like, I wouldn't have purchased this, but Fantasy General / Master of Magic? Sign me up on this!
These are long dead franchises, and the few players that still actually remember them are probably super hardcores that will be inclined to nitpick at every difference from the original, so why bother / risk enraging them?
Slitherine should have learned from Panzer Corps that you do not need to own the franchise to make a modern reimplementation - and for all the things you decide on doing differently ... well, it's a different IP...

I can't say I can't muster SOME enthusiasm for a new MoM, it's one of my fondest gaming memories. I even still unearth it every couple of years, albeit usually not for long.
Unfortunately, every single attempt at remaking the game has fallen way, WAY short the mark.

In my palanthir I see: Civ5-style UI, drastically reduced spell selection, fewer races, several minor features cut.
I hope I've glimpsed into a future which will not manifest itself...

I wonder if its less about them thinking it has brand-potential, and maybe just former fans wanting to finally make the sequel they always wanted to do

That said, the screens I've seen of FG2 don't exactly inspire confidence in their abilities to make something similiar to the originals, seems just overly generic fantasy strategy

 

[Makabb]

we cannot ignore that technology has moved on with player’s expectations in other areas such as social integration, multiplayer, narration, ease-of-access and more.

ruh-roh , you had one job to do


http://www.slitherine.com/news/2907/Slitherine.acquires.the.Master.of.Magic.franchise

 

[tabacila]

FFS, social integration? Get fucked.

 

[luj1]

social integration, multiplayer, narration, ease-of-access and more.

Cucks

 

[Fishy]

Don't mind their "social integration" too much as it might just be big words for "a button to play with your friends on Steam", but I do have low expectations tbh. I feel like the biggest thing that made MoM so good was the wild and complete disregard for any attempt at Balance (tm), which has these days become the ultimate obsession of game devs, to the point where you still see single player games with monthly patches micro-tuning damage numbers and stats because it's so critical to the player experience, apparently.

 

[Hobo Elf]

I've enjoyed some of Slitherin's published games so I look forward to seeing what they do with this.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

another one rapes the dust.

 

[Modron]

Another new makaab new's scoop TM https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.p...cquires-master-of-magic-ip-from-atari.129022/