Development Info South Park: The Stick of Truth delayed

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: Obsidian Entertainment; South Park: The Stick of Truth; THQ

The highly anticipated South Park: The Stick of Truth cRPG by Obsidian Entertainment has been delayed a bit it seems:

THQ announced today that South Park™: The Stick of Truth™ is now planned for launch worldwide in early fiscal 2014. South Park: The Stick of Truth had previously been slated for release on March 5, 2013.

Additional changes to fiscal 2013 release dates include those for Company of Heroes® 2 and Metro: Last Light, both of which are expected to ship in March, later than initially planned.

“When I joined THQ the company made a public commitment to quality titles. We always expected that in some cases this would mean that more time would be needed to make sure that every title is of the highest possible quality,” said Jason Rubin, THQ’s President. “Our fourth quarter releases are the first titles that I have had the ability to materially impact, and experience told me that the games needed additional development time to be market-ready.

“I believe South Park’s market opportunity is significant. It is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated titles of calendar 2013. It is also an expansive title, encompassing multiple television seasons’ worth of content. We have been working closely with the co-creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, to make sure all of the game’s content performs to the high standards of the TV show, and this takes time. THQ is committed to giving gamers no less than the rich South Park game they have been waiting for and deserve.

 

[J_C]

Well the 2014 fiscal year starts at april 2013, so if we are lucky, they just delayed it one month. This is clearly a business decision, and not connected to the development. They just want the revenue of these games to fall into the 2014 fiscal period.

 

[Mrowak]

THQ announced today that South Park™: The Stick of Truth™ is now planned for launch worldwide in early fiscal 2014. South Park: The Stick of Truth had previously been slated for release on March 5, 2013.

That's some major delay. And that's considering THQ's problems - they jus need a major blockbuster released at the soonest. If we take into account Obsidian's shifting priorities I doubt this will see the light of the day.

See guys? This is what you get when you cannot into planning.

 

[Mrowak]

Well the 2014 fiscal year starts at april 2013, so if we are lucky, they just delayed it one month. This is clearly a business decision, and not connected to the development. They just want the revenue of these games to fall into the 2014 fiscal period.

I thought that in US fiscal year starts in October... Every day you learn new things.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

no, iirc it starts October exactly like you thought

 

[ironyuri]

Wikipedia wrote:

For example, the United States government fiscal year for 2013 ("FY 2013" or "FY13") is as follows:

• 1st quarter: 1 October 2012 – 31 December 2012
• 2nd quarter: 1 January 2013 – 31 March 2013
• 3rd quarter: 1 April 2013 – 30 June 2013
• 4th quarter: 1 July 2013 – 30 September 2013

Therefore, early fiscal year 2014 == October - December 2013.

That's a 4-6 month delay. Not hugely significant, really in video game development world, non?

 

[Stinger]

Well Obsidian makes money as long as they have a project in the pipe so this is only a good thing for them right?

 

[CrustyBot]

THQ announced today that South Park™: The Stick of Truth™ is now planned for launch worldwide in early fiscal 2014. South Park: The Stick of Truth had previously been slated for release on March 5, 2013.

See guys? This is what you get when you cannot into planning.

re: fiscal years - I think Matt Barton's right. IIRC, companies in the Kwa can choose when their FY starts as long as it lands on a quarter (April, July, October & January), I know the Fed starts in October. Quick google check indicates that THQ's FY starts April 1st. I wouldn't be surprised by a June release.

In fact, in the linked article (a THQ investor press release), it says this:

Fiscal Periods
The company’s fiscal year ends on the Saturday nearest March 31st. For simplicity, all fiscal periods are presented as ending on a calendar month end. THQ’s fiscal 2013 second quarter ended on September 29, 2012, and its fiscal 2012 second quarter ended on October 1, 2011.

That said, there's still a pretty good chance of the game getting cancelled and/or THQ going under before FY 2014. Looks like a lot of Obsidian's eggs are in the Eternity basket.

 

[Infinitron]

THQ is near bankruptcy, this decision may have little to do with Obsidian (or Relic)

 

[J_C]

Don't blame me. I just quoted what I've read on RockPaperShotgun. They said the the early 2014 fiscal year could be in april 2013.

 

[ironyuri]

If Matt & Trey own the license, they can probably find another Publisher if THQ goes down the tubes. I doubt the game will be mothballed or cancelled at this stage, as Parker & Stone will be able to do what they like with it, I'd assume.

 

[DwarvenFood]

So early fiscal year 2014 is in this case from April 2014 2013 onward. Hope OBS get their share out of all of this.

 

[crafthack]

THQ are a bit like Interplay in too much reliance on licensed ip, for iply it was D&D and for THQ it was the wrestling games and in recent years Warhammer 40k

 

[Infinitron]

Hope OBS get their share out of all of this.

They've been paid for the job. That's their share.

 

[IDtenT]

Don't blame me. I just quoted what I've read on RockPaperShotgun. They said the the early 2014 fiscal year could be in april 2013.

English cannot into Kwa.

I'll be enjoying Eternity with the rest of you guys in 2016. :D

 

[DarkUnderlord]

ITT, we learn that the Stick of Truth will be a higher quality title than Project: Eternity.

From SOT's rumoured start of March 2012 to Oct 2013 = 19 months.

P:E's Sep 2012 to Apr 2014 = 19 months.

 

[ironyuri]

Hopefully, unlike the Alpha Protocol delay, Obsidian won't be forced to stop work and sit on the project for 9 months before release, then take the blame for any development issues that they weren't paid to fix.

 

[Stinger]

From SOT's rumoured start of March 2012 to Oct 2013 = 19 months.

What.

At the very least, they were hiring artists around DS3's launch of May/June 2011.

 

[Mrowak]

Hopefully, unlike the Alpha Protocol delay, Obsidian won't be forced to stop work and sit on the project for 9 months before release, then take the blame for any development issues that they weren't paid to fix.

Irrelevant. It's not like Sega cut 9 months of development - they merely deleyed the publishing date. The product was supposed to be ready on due date, and Obsidian submitted what they had agreed upon. Publisher was not obliged to provide them with extra funding to "fix" issues that weren't supposed to be there in the first place. That Obsidian failed to negotiate a condingency option and were unwilling to work on "fixing" the damn thing for free is their problem and a signal of bad planning.

 

[ironyuri]

Hopefully, unlike the Alpha Protocol delay, Obsidian won't be forced to stop work and sit on the project for 9 months before release, then take the blame for any development issues that they weren't paid to fix.

Irrelevant. It's not like Sega cut 9 months of development - they merely deleyed the publishing date. The product was supposed to be ready on due date, and Obsidian submitted what they had agreed upon. Publisher was not obliged to provide them with extra funding to "fix" issues that weren't supposed to be there in the first place. That Obsidian failed to negotiate a condingency option and were unwilling to work on "fixing" the damn thing for free is their problem and a signal of bad planning.

You're forgetting that Sega demanded a total rewrite of the game and that all of the work Brian Mitsoda put into it be changed, which meant MCA came on board late to rework the game from the ground up on an extremely tight schedule.

Obsidian then released free fixes and tweaks for PC players to correct issues in the game, eventhough SEGA had cut post-release support off entirely and mothballed the game (much like they did with Binary Domain).

What good is planning when your publisher is as capricious as SEGA? Second example: Aliens RPG cancelled when Feargus thought it was almost ready to go out the door by SEGA.

 

[Roguey]

From SOT's rumoured start of March 2012 to Oct 2013 = 19 months.

What.

At the very least, they were hiring artists around DS3's launch of May/June 2011.

South Park went into development a few months before Fallout New Vegas shipped. So this delay gives them over 2.5 years. 2.5+ years for a simple 2D South Park game using their own technology, whereas Eternity's only getting 18 months.

You're forgetting that Sega demanded a total rewrite of the game and that all of the work Brian Mitsoda put into it be changed, which meant MCA came on board late to rework the game from the ground up on an extremely tight schedule.

Sega only demanded gameplay changes, the decision to scrap Mitsoda's script was all Avellone's.

Obsidian then released free fixes and tweaks for PC players to correct issues in the game, eventhough SEGA had cut post-release support off entirely and mothballed the game (much like they did with Binary Domain).

I don't recall this. They officially released one patch and the contention was that Obsidian wanted to release one sooner and then another later, but Sega preferred to wait a few months so they could fix everything in one go and never have to bother with spending any more money on that shitty game again.

What good is planning when your publisher is as capricious as SEGA? Second example: Aliens RPG cancelled when Feargus thought it was almost ready to go out the door by SEGA.

What Feargus thinks may not be compatible with reality. Patrick K Mills has posted a quite a bit of AP info on the Something Awful forums and he's alluded that Sega wouldn't have taken over the project if Obsidian had its shit together in the first place.

 

[ironyuri]

From SOT's rumoured start of March 2012 to Oct 2013 = 19 months.

What.

At the very least, they were hiring artists around DS3's launch of May/June 2011.

South Park went into development a few months before Fallout New Vegas shipped. So this delay gives them over 2.5 years. 2.5+ years for a simple 2D South Park game, whereas Eternity's only getting 18 months.

You're forgetting that Sega demanded a total rewrite of the game and that all of the work Brian Mitsoda put into it be changed, which meant MCA came on board late to rework the game from the ground up on an extremely tight schedule.

Sega only demanded gameplay changes, the decision to scrap Mitsoda's script was all Avellone's.

Obsidian then released free fixes and tweaks for PC players to correct issues in the game, eventhough SEGA had cut post-release support off entirely and mothballed the game (much like they did with Binary Domain).

I don't recall this. They officially released one patch and the contention was that Obsidian wanted to release one sooner and then another later, but Sega preferred to wait a few months so they could fix everything in one go and never have to bother with spending any more money on that shitty game again.

What good is planning when your publisher is as capricious as SEGA? Second example: Aliens RPG cancelled when Feargus thought it was almost ready to go out the door by SEGA.

What Feargus thinks may not be compatible with reality. Patrick K Mills has posted a quite a bit of AP info on the Something Awful forums and he's alluded that Sega wouldn't have taken over the project if Obsidian had its shit together in the first place.

The free fixes on the forums were for mouse issues and other tweaks to fix problems players were having post-release.

Do you have a source for MCA scrapping Mitsoda's work, I'd assumed it was SEGA related because of comments from Mitsoda here.

 

[Infinitron]

Roguey As somebody who likes reading between the lines, I'm sure you've seen a few subtle admissions in certain interviews that Project Eternity will most likely take a bit more than 18 months.

 

[Roguey]

The free fixes on the forums were for mouse issues and other tweaks to fix problems players were having post-release.

Weren't those just ini tweaks that some people just figured out on their own?

Do you have a source for MCA scrapping Mitsoda's work, I'd assumed it was SEGA related because of comments from Mitsoda here.

Roguey As somebody who likes reading between the lines, I'm sure you've seen a few subtle admissions in certain interviews that Project Eternity will most likely take a bit more than 18 months.

That's not what Avellone told Rex.

How are you guys coping with the $4M+ budget and the heightened media attention?
The budget means more hiring than we expected at first - no surprise considering it’s roughly 4x the funding goal and the stretch goal content additions. The good news is we already have a capable crew to draw from, not to mention volunteers who popped out of the woodwork. It doesn’t affect time frame of the project, and considering we have the logistic info from the Black Isle Infinity Engine games (resources, time frame per asset, etc. – this is important because of one of the questions & answers below), and the fact that a lot of us have done this type of game before, that helps nail down a lot of the X factors involved with the project.

 

[Brayko]

So Obsidian doesn't have their shit together, big news alright.

It's another Alpha Popamole.

Better than Shitrim or Dishonored at least.