Strategy First acquires Malfador Machinations

[Tim Brooks]

NOTE: I am posting as a concerned fan of the game here, there is no inside info here and these are personal opinions, NOT official Shrapnel Games opinions.

Wow! Interesting, to say the least,huh?

I mean, how reliable is Wargamer as a source? They say MM announced it. But how and when? I see nothing on SFirst or MMs website.

It is also here:
Game Tab

And SF is very bad about announcing their own releases. Usually takes them a cople of days to get the 'news' up.

This could actually be a move for the better. At any rate, I hope Aaron has gotten a good deal out of this.

I hope you are right. Every game produced by SF has been a big disappointment, including the JA series. That one was really bad and I liked that series!

Good deal? Hmm, sounds to me like one of three possible scenarios:

1. He made lost of $$$$ and that is why he did this.
2. He was tired of the struggle as an independent developer.
3. He needed the increased support (dollars again) to finish the game.

However, at least a company with a proven track record of listening to the users is the one to aquire it.

Wow, where did that come from? That is not how I would characterize SF. Maybe I've missed something...

Here are my concerns:

1) SF promised SEIV at retail. This hasn't happened to myknowledge. Rumors are that they are having a hard time getting back into retail after the bankruptcy due to distributors still being owed money from before the bankruptcy.

2) They are offering alot of titles at a huge discount through these 6 packs. Titles are not selling and they need cash is my guess.

3) I wonder if they will even be around in 2-3 years. They have already played the reorganization card. Another management slip up and they will have to sell themselves off or close the doors. Of course, SEV alone, if handled properly, will go along way to making them solid.

Good luck Aaron. Pulling for 'ya!

[David E. Gervais]

Read a fuller article here...

Press Release

I'm Sure Aaron knows what he is doing, and remember SFI is now fully under the reins od Silverstar Holdings.. Before you bash SFI,.. check out their new boss, Silverstar has an exceptionnal reputation.

Nuf said, cheers!

P.S. Silverstar Holdings last public financial report,.. looks like they sitting on 22mil in assets. So I'd say they are here to stay.

[Atrocities]

Ah boy, so its no joke. Well s**t. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. It just seems sad somehow that it has happened now. I really have mixed emotions about this and all though I wish Aaron the best, I cannot help the sense I am feeling that something great has just died. Like I just lost my best friend or something. I know, its like he just got married and no longer will be around to hang with.

I hope he got a load of $$ for this. So David what does this mean for you? Are you still going to part of SE V's future? Are you going to be a part of SFI to?

Thanks Tim, your comments do address some very real concerns about SFI's future. I do wish them the best but I simply don't know.

I guess I'm just nervous about the loss of our influence on future patches/titles losing our direct line to Aaron. And the potential that the title might be controlled by someone who isn't familiar with the series

Yup, you are 100% correct here CK. I am really more so dissapointed over being nervous about the loss of our influence with Aaron and the development of the Space Empires games. I think this is what is eating me up inside at the moment. The thought that SEV is now firmly in the hands of the bean counters, no offense SFI, just seems wrong to me. Its quite possible, in order to save $$, that they will force Aaron into dropping support for the game long before he would have done so if had remaned on his own.

Loosing our direct line to Aaron is something that time will prove to be a truly great loss to us all. However, I do wish Aaron the best of success in his new job and role at SFI. (Say, are they hiring?)

It was a real joy ride we had with the freedom and independence of being part of space empires over the last five and half years. But like all rides, eventually they end. I just hate to see the passing of this era of independent game development.

This seems to be a very sad day for many of us. Its SFI's ball now, so I wish them all the luck in the world.

[Tim Brooks]

NOTE: I am posting as a concerned fan of the game here, there is no inside info here and these are personal opinions, NOT official Shrapnel Games opinions.

Before you bash SFI,.. check out their new boss, Silverstar has an exceptionnal reputation.

If it all it took was a company with huge assests, then all those publishers (remember the movie studios) of late 1980s and early 1990s would own the industry.

Name something that SF has done right since the takeover. They are bundling flawed software into 6 packs, rather than taking it off the market, they are releasing games that need major pathches immediately, they are promising games at retail and not delivering, and they went to Steam.

[Atrocities]

The only real games that it would seem they have are the Malfador ones. Perhaps it was Aaron who bought SFI and not the other way around.

Tim, I read last week on a gaming site that the independant gaming developer is an ever increasing rare breed. The cost of developing, not to mention learning to code, new pc games has dramatically thinned the hurd in recent years.

Whats your take on the garage game independant scene?

[Tim Brooks]

Whats your take on the garage game independant scene?

You are right. With the hardcore games anyway. You can find tons of arcade style games from independents, but the companies like Malfador are an increasingly rare breed (and Malfador doesn't even exist anymore). We find it very hard to find games we think are worth publishing.

And most of the developers that are out there have expectations that are way beyond the reality of what is possible in the PC Strategy Game Industry. We get requests all the time from companies that want us to fund -- usually to the tune of 6 figures their strategy game (and not the whole game, just the last six months or so of development). A game that has that kind of overhead, won't make money -- the developer or the publisher, not even at retail.

When I was developing wargames for the retail market, this could happen although not very often. Back then a strategy title had about a one in twenty chance of making money at retail with a budget of around $500,000. Now, I bet it is one in 50 and the budget would need to be half that amount. There is a reason why the mainstream publishers are sticking with frnachises or going after movie themed products. They stand a chance, but even then the chance is probably no better than one in twenty.

So the outlook is grim, to say the least, for independent strategy companies. Still it can be done. Illwinter (Dominions Series) is on there way up the ladder -- at a stage that Malfador was at with SEII - really ahead of them, because I think they "get it" and have a plan that is working. Another good example is Digital Eel, they are growing.

But, those developers that think that going into retail with hardcore stratgy is going to make them money -- well that is very rare. Just watch what happens with SEV. If they use retail as their major avenue, it will be in the bargain bins within a month or so, and if not, well then we will have to see. Very few companies can make the retail market work, one that is doing so (but I still think there main income is from web sales) is Stardock. But they have a franchise product in Gal Civ.

I spent too many years at retail and know what that is like. Thus our philosophy at Shrapnel. I only hope that the devs that are out there, making strategy titles, can figure this whole thing out. Or there will be even fewer independents in the next several years.

[dogscoff]

Too late now, but Malfador should have sold shares to us gamers in order to retain a level of independence/ closeness to the community. I'd have bought some.

I think thething to remember is that SE5 has been in beta for months so it ought to be at least playable, if not very close to being finished. That means the new owners, unless they really are mind-bendingly stupid, are unlikely to wreck it with demands for loads of unfavourable new 'features'. I guess they might manage to bury it before release somehow, but in that case I'd be willing to bet a few beta copies made it onto the 'abandonware' circuit shortly after.

[Atrocities]

Thanks Tim.

I just hate to see the independant developer base going exstinct. SFI really did a good thing here by grabbing up Malfador before some other company swooped and snared him.

Besides, Aaron can always form a new company later on if he so choses. The sad thing is, Space Empires, and all things associated with that franchise, are no longer his to control. So the name Phong, now belongs to a new master.

I guess at this point, now that SFI owns the rights to the SE franchise, they can force Shrapnel to end its long, much appreciated, friendship with us by having them discontinue support for this forum.

I would hate to see forum close, all the years of posting here, all of the information, the memories, would be gone. When that day comes, it will be one hard pill to swallow.

[Baron Munchausen]

dogscoff said:
Too late now, but Malfador should have sold shares to us gamers in order to retain a level of independence/ closeness to the community. I'd have bought some.

I think the thing to remember is that SE5 has been in beta for months so it ought to be at least playable, if not very close to being finished. That means the new owners, unless they really are mind-bendingly stupid, are unlikely to wreck it with demands for loads of unfavourable new 'features'. I guess they might manage to bury it before release somehow, but in that case I'd be willing to bet a few beta copies made it onto the 'abandonware' circuit shortly after.

I don't know if you could legally sell shares to only a 'selected' group of people. An IPO might have opened him to takeover by unknown stock manipulators. But if it was possible to control who was allowed to buy then yes it would have been a much better arrangement than selling the whole store to a typical corporation that regards all of its games as 'revenue sources'. SE V is too close to being done to be much affected, but SE VI might become a disaster similar to MOO III.

[Azselendor]

Strategy first's move, because of their injured name and sagging consumer confidence, makes perfect sense.

Best of luck to Aaron however!