Iron Lore Entertainment Closes
Iron Lore Entertainment Closes
Developer Iron Lore Entertainment, the developer behind Titan Quest, Titan Quest: Immortal Throne and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm, has closed. According to the developer’s own site:
“It is with great regret that we must announce that as of close of business Tuesday, February 19, 2008 Iron Lore Entertainment has ceased active game development. Several unrelated events occurred which resulted in Iron Lore being unable to secure funding for its next project.We would like to extend our thanks to everyone who has helped us in the last seven years – our team who moved mountains to create such great games, our publisher THQ who has been a great partner through three product development cycles, and most of all our customers and fans. We owe all of the success we’ve had to you, and our greatest satisfaction has come from creating games that have given enjoyment to the community.
While Iron Lore will not continue, the talent of the team is embodied in the individuals now available for other opportunities. If you are a developer or publisher looking to hire top-notch experienced developers, please send an email to pchieffo “at” ironlore “dot” com and we will be happy to facilitate recruiting with you.
Iron Lore also owns it’s powerful and flexible engine and tool set, and is actively pursuing licensing opportunities. If you are interested in further information about the technology and licensing options, please contact pchieffo “at” ironlore “dot” com.”
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So and rumors what happend exactly? Titan Quest sold pretty good, so why should they have problems to get funds for another project? Who exactly did they piss off so badly?
Titan Quest was well received and sold well, but how much money Iron Lore saw would depend on their agreement with their publisher. If any of us can learn more public information, we'll share it. Probably they needed an upfront payment to fund future development, didn't get it, and had to close. That's a common occurance - a development studio is hard to keep going.
It's also possible that they got into a delta between the last milestone money (when delivering the finished Soulstorm) and the first royalties (which can kick in at the end of the first quarter after a game is released, or even at the end of the first year, depending on the contract). But most probably, they had no next project signed, or lost that agreement with a publisher. I'd be very interested in any additional information. I think the demise of Ironlore is very sad and cannot have originated in their games being average or bad, because they were very good.
i agree with you guys. they made good games, titan quest in particular! such good developers should be able to find another place with another studio. or at least i hope so...
I totally agree. Titan Quest has been great, so the guys at Iron Lore should find new jobs.
Michael Fitch from THQ blames the closure of Iron Lore Entertainment on pirating and a couple of different reasons. Very interesting to read and, unfortunately; i think he's right with most of his points:
http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=42663.
And I really liked Titan Quest too, by the way.
By the way: Who ON EARTH is recently rating so many articles here with minus points? And why?
Knurrunkulus, that's what I would like to know, too. There is a nice little "top news" about Ralph Baer getting an entry into the Guiness Book of World Records. First, that news was pretty exclusive at the time, second, he's a veteran getting a "medal" -- who wants to rate something like that below zero?