If all that costs more money than the game brings in, they’re going to shut it down. Then there’s the cost of running servers, and paying for moderation to weed out hackers and bots. They require maintenance: MOBAs like Paragon require continued support to tweak balance and maps. Keeping a multiplayer game running costs money. That team is either moving onto the next project or, worst-case scenario, they’re out of a job! Seriously though, shutting down servers is less a cash-in and more an escape from a sinking ship. You got us! I’m writing this blog from aboard my own personal private yacht that I bought with all the money I made from shutting down Nether. Reading comments about Paragon immediately reminded me of comments on Nether – because they were almost exactly the same! How is that possible, if one is a AAA title by a huge studio, and the other is anindie published game? Let’s see… Lack of understanding doesn’t stop anyone from commenting though It doesn’t matter how passionately devs feel about a project if they don’t have the funding to make it happen!Īt least with a publisher, you’re not on the hook for the money when the game is done! If the income generated doesn’t offset spending, they’re going to have to pull the plug, too. Instead of funding being cut off by a publisher, the self-published have to perform a basic cost-benefit analysis. All of which you’re on the hook for, no matter how well your game does or does not sell.Īnd the outcome could ultimately be the same. If a publisher doesn’t cover that, then that money is coming from savings or personal loans.
Where does your funding come from? You still need stupid daily requirements like food, and shelter, and electricity. Ok, let’s say you’re running a studio and decide to self-publish.
If you’re really serious you’ll self-publish! CAPITALISM!įor Nether, the publisher owned the game from the start, so ultimately got to decide what happened with the game. So, when a game isn’t profitable, and doesn’t show the potential to be profitable, the publisher will pull the plug and discontinue funding. The publisher is now a business partner and has a say in what happens with your projects. But the help publishers provide come with strings attached. Publishers help with financing the game, funding servers, marketing the game, and the like. Net code, anti-cheat, and tons of servers, all on top of just making a game! A publisher can be a boon for multiplayer devs. In a total shock to no one, multiplayer games are crazy expensive to build. And a big source of the misunderstanding starts with the somewhat secretive relationship between developers and publishers, and the nuances of that back and forth.
Fans were angry! And since Phosphor’s name is on the box, we were blamed for changes that we didn’t make!īut players couldn’t see anything behind the scenes. A big community of players built up around the game, people that are passionate about the survival-based shooter.īut once some momentum built up, the publisher and owner of the Nether IP pushed Phosphor out and brought on new developers, who changed how the game worked – without our input. When we were contracted to begin development on Nether, we had initial positive response based on the game we made. Nether: a survival game before your mom knew what Fortnite was That just isn’t how game development works. Paragon, right? Actually, we had the exact same experience with a different game – Nether.Īnd absolutely none of the commenters got it right – for either game.Ī lot of this anger comes down to misunderstanding how games actually get made.įans think that, if those developers just kept on tweaking Paragon (or Nether), all its problems would be fixed and the game’s popularity would explode! Everyone is happy forever!īut obviously things aren’t that simple. Online game with passionate fanbase shuts down, community screams in outrage, accusing the dev of pocketing money, betraying the community, and kicking puppies.
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