Earthworm Jim 3, MDK 3 and Descent 4 planned, but...
Fact checking may be required: http://www.gamersglobal.com/news/348#comment-767
Earthworm Jim 3, MDK 3 and Descent 4 planned, but...
Interplay filed a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission, revealing that they plan to develop sequels to a series of well known games and brands.
[...] including Earthworm Jim, Dark Alliance, Descent and MDK.
--Interplay report
Most of Interplay's current funds come from the sale of the Fallout license to Bethesda -- see our Fallout interview for more information on that. But those funds are quickly running out and the SEC filing discloses that Interplay hopes to license its few remaining properties to raise development funds.
The report goes on to state that Interplay will revive in-house development. Press releases from Interplay confirmed that the company has hired Jason Anderson to serve as the creative director for an unannounced massively multiplayer online game.
To do anything, Interplay has to raise money, and the company is in a bad financial situation. Much of the company's current "income" comes from the company dismissing old debts that it owes that remain uncollected. Also, several years ago, Interplay owed substantial debts to former employees and the government. If those debts haven't been settled, the company will have trouble rebuilding its development operations.
There is a glimmer of hope for those of you who would like to see another game from franchises like Earthworm Jim or Descent. Your best hope is if another company wants to develop one of those games, and purchases the license to do so from Interplay.
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Newsvine
Facebook
Technorati
Vote
Publish
Co-op
Level
User created content, unless stated otherwise, is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Germany License. All other copyrights remain with their respective owners.
That would be sooo great.
I was never a fan of the MDK-Series, but a new Descent or Earthworm Jim would really be promising. I feel I want to play Descent 3 now. ;)
really liked the first MDK ... dark, dirty and fun to play. too bad, part 2 turned into candy-colored mainstream.
I'm sorry to be contrary, but I'm pretty sure the SEC report says nothing of the sort.
Interplay did say in its press releases and filings that it plans to rebuild its ability to develop games (although they don't have the money to do so). However, the company specifically said that it has hired Jason Anderson to serve as the creative director of an unannounced massively multiplayer online game.
I wouldn't expect to see anything related to Earthworm Jim, Dark Alliance, Descent or MDK come out of an almost-dead Interplay. My understanding is that IF Interplay can raise more money, which it has been so far unable to do, it will develop an MMOG using an internal development studio that it has yet to rebuild.
But on page 13 of the report it is said quite clearly that they are planning not only on the MMOG in the Fallout-Universe, but also on sequels to their most successful series, namely the ones Jan talked about in his news. So my understanding is that they would like to do both, MMOG and sequels to their series if they become financially more able to do this in the near future.
So I think that the news is not incorrect; as long as the given source (the Interplay report) tells the truth. But you totally have a point in saying that it is quite unlikely to expect all of this to happen very soon, if ever.
You're absolutely right. I missed that. My apologies.
Although, at the bottom of the page it says that they expect to enter into license agreements to fund development of the game, and those properties are the only ones they have left to license.
Also, keep in mind that (to my understanding) Interplay still owes back taxes and employee salaries. If that remains the case and they haven't settled those obligations, they're going to have a hard time operating in the U.S.
If you look carefully at their financial statements, much of what they report as income comes from them deciding that Interplay's financial obligations (debts, unpaid bills) more than three years simply don't count anymore. If Interplay ever has money, those counterparties will probably come back and want their money.
Kyle, I will definitely not answer you back on this, because I'm no good in judging such financial matters and you as a consultant with knowledge in among other things finances (if I got that right on your webpage) obviously are.
From what you said I would also come to the conclusion that the development of any sequel to the series in Interplay's heyday is highly unlikely. But, as Martin Luther said: "I have a dream".
And that dream of mine involves playing "Descent 4" someday. ;)
Speaking of Descent, I once played one of the Descent games with a VR headset - the direction you looked with the headset controlled the direction you faced. It worked great until I needed to turn upside down.
I hurt my neck.
Descent 3 was one of my first experiences with 3D on a computer. I didn't have one those days, but a friend of mine had. And when I played it the first time (at this time still quite untrained in handling games with a mouse) I was utterly confused and just always kept flying against obstacles.
It's not hard for me to believe that it must have been ten times more confusing with a VR-Headset. Hope your neck has recovered. ;)
Why don't you go ahead and remove the last sentence from my news and replace it with two or three sentences of what you've written here about Interplay's financial situation!? That'd put things in additional context, without disputing the previously given facts.
Sure thing Jan - I posted the first comment instead of editing because, as the comments above attest, when you are dealing with SEC filings, you can always miss something.
Excellent, thanks for the add!
If they really are as broke as this sounds, is an MMO really the best way to go? In terms of development cost, MMOs must be the biggest money sinks in existance, right?
Not only do you need ten times the content of a normal Single Player Game, there are also a whole battery of servers you have to run, you don't only need Developers, you also need network-admins, GMs and the list goes on and on. Which investor in his right mind would give them a sum with at least 8 digits at this point?
Pure guess on my side: It's easier to shop around with a product that has an established following and would, if done right, generate a constant flow of income on monthly fee basis.
i agree, an MMO can´t be it. but i don´t know any better than the main discussers (kyle and knurrun..), so i just say that a new MDK would be awsome^^
Actually, The MMOG angle makes a strange kind of sense. It costs a lot more, but investors are really excited about them (thanks to games like World of Warcraft).
Interplay has been in the markets (without much success) trying to raise money for MMOG development. If you search, you can find the fundraising prospectus.
If anything non-MMOG comes out of interplay, I'd bet big bucks that it's a cheap port of an old game onto a handheld platform like the DS. Still, if you search through their filings, they reference MMOG development a lot (and, as I mentioned) that's what they were trying to raise investor funds for.
Ah of course, you're absolutly right, the MMO-Angle makes sense when you keep in mind that every investor and his mother would love to have a "WoW-Killer" in the market.