Project Spark Has Been Shut Down

[Steven Bogos]

Project Spark Has Been Shut Down

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Microsoft has quietly shuttered its ambitious game creator: Project Spark.

Project Spark [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/project%20spark] was an interesting little idea from Microsoft, revealed back in 2013 an swept up in the buzz surrounding the Xbox One's announcement. Unfortunately, Microsoft has quietly announced the cancellation of Project Spark, effective immediately.

As of today, the game is no longer on sale, and users cannot create new accounts. "For existing users of Project Spark, online services will be unavailable after 8/12/16," community manager Thomas Gratz wrote on their website. "Without services, players will no longer be able to download user-generated content or upload their own creations. If you want to access user-generated content offline, you will need to download this content prior to 8/12/16. Be sure to download your favorite community creations and your own uploads if they are not saved locally."

Anyone who purchased Project Spark at retail will actually get a credit added to their Microsoft account.

This news comes not too long after the company announced it was Fable Legends [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/167300-Lionhead-Studios-Closure-Confirmed-by-Microsoft].

Source: Microsoft [http://forums.projectspark.com/yaf_postst214854.aspx]

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[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Wasn't this the thing that unleashed that terrible version of Conker onto the world? The one that looked like a Meth Addict?
Heh, guess he got the last laugh after all

 

[thewatergamer]

What was this thing again? Oh yeah, only thing I remember is the glimpse of that abomination parading around and pretending to be conker

 

[OuendanCyrus]

Wasn't this the thing that unleashed that terrible version of Conker onto the world? The one that looked like a Meth Addict?
Heh, guess he got the last laugh after all

Yep, that's the one.

As I read the part about Microsoft shutting down Lionhead Studios, I pictured Gordon Ramsay in my head yelling "Shut it down! Shut it ALL down!"

 

[Arnoxthe1]

And yet more fuel to add to the growing legitimate fear of buying online-only or most of it online-only games.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

Wasn't this the thing that unleashed that terrible version of Conker onto the world? The one that looked like a Meth Addict?
Heh, guess he got the last laugh after all

No, that's a different game. Project Spark is the game where you can make your own games... With a very limited set of tools. Think of it like LittleBigPlanet only more tedious and with less creativity. Conker was in it, but his stuff was all paid-DLC that really didn't add much to the game. You're thinking of Microsoft HoloLens' "Young Conker" mini-game thing.

OT: Yeah, Project Spark wasn't at all interesting; on paper it sounds great, but considering what you could and couldn't do with the tools given to you from Microsofot, it was bound to fail.

 

[mysecondlife]

Microsoft's game division seems to have very little going for them

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Yet another in the long line of reasons not to trust Microsoft's first party development. Their hype tends to turn to nothing quite often. A lot of companies can't deliver on their hype but Microsoft is a whole different league of failure.

 

[List]

Everything they showed on the xbone launch seems to be dying one by one. Or becoming xbone + pc.

 

[Barbas]

Conker is saved, for now.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

I hadn't realized this had even been released.

 

[Something Amyss]

I hadn't realized this had even been released.

Yeeeeeah...I can't remember the last time I even heard the name "Project Spark."

And yet more fuel to add to the growing legitimate fear of buying online-only or most of it online-only games.

Which is in no way relevant to this situation.

 

[RaikuFA]

I hadn't realized this had even been released.

Yeeeeeah...I can't remember the last time I even heard the name "Project Spark."

And yet more fuel to add to the growing legitimate fear of buying online-only or most of it online-only games.

Which is in no way relevant to this situation.

It kinda does. Servers shut down, your game is nothing more than a fancy coaster.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Wasn't this the thing that unleashed that terrible version of Conker onto the world? The one that looked like a Meth Addict?
Heh, guess he got the last laugh after all

No that was a Hololens thing I think.

This was Microsoft's take on Little Big Planet, with the all the usual quality and personality Microsoft apply to their in house projects.

 

[Something Amyss]

It kinda does. Servers shut down, your game is nothing more than a fancy coaster.

That would be true...if this was an online-only game. In fact, it's not. The article makes clear Microsoft is telling people to download projects now, or they won't be available for use after the shutdown. But the game itself will.

Hence my point. Complaints about online-only are not relevant.

 

[NiPah]

It kinda does. Servers shut down, your game is nothing more than a fancy coaster.

That would be true...if this was an online-only game. In fact, it's not. The article makes clear Microsoft is telling people to download projects now, or they won't be available for use after the shutdown. But the game itself will.

Hence my point. Complaints about online-only are not relevant.

Without the online uploading and downloading facet the game is a husk of its former self, hence why Microsoft is recrediting customers.

It highlights the risks of games with online components, I.E. the exact point you say is irrelevant.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

It kinda does. Servers shut down, your game is nothing more than a fancy coaster.

That would be true...if this was an online-only game. In fact, it's not. The article makes clear Microsoft is telling people to download projects now, or they won't be available for use after the shutdown. But the game itself will.

Hence my point. Complaints about online-only are not relevant.

Without the online uploading and downloading facet the game is a husk of its former self, hence why Microsoft is recrediting customers.

It highlights the risks of games with online components, I.E. the exact point you say is irrelevant.

Pretty much this. Sure, you can still play it, but what the hell is the point if you can't share anything really?

 

[Davroth]

Wasn't this the thing that unleashed that terrible version of Conker onto the world? The one that looked like a Meth Addict?
Heh, guess he got the last laugh after all

I'm sure nobody is seriously surprised this didn't pan out. I remember the announcement very well. No way they could cash the check their mouths were signing in that press conference.

"GUESS WE WILL HAVE TO MAKE OUR OWN!"

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Ah, well, I guess that's a shame? Not exactly a surprise, though. It was a very promising tool (arf), but the presentation belied its complexity - it looked like a simple to use and simple to understand product that would make making a few games fun.

But as with real game design; making shite games is easy... Making anything worth a damn? That's much, much harder, requiring far more time, effort, practise, etc. There was a decent community to help, but that's not quite enough to overcome the inherent identity crisis or failure of marketing to being with. Also, the core engine just wasn't up to much.

...oh, and making a good homage to Mirror's Edge was tougher than it sounds. No, wait, it's exactly as hard as it sounds. I had to - repeatedly - pull apart someone else's FPS just to suss out how to fix the cam in the right position whilst retaining the character model. Effectively implementing consistent 3D movement without the camera having a fit was a veritable puzzle, and I can't remember if I ever really solved it.

You'd spend hours tinkering, and at the end of the session you still didn't have what anyone would call a real game to actually play and enjoy.

I'd still like to see another Project Spark, one with a more robust engine and a better PR campaign which does more than just say 'hey! look how fun and easy it is to create games!', because the truth was - whilst it certainly could be fun and rewarding - it could be a brain frying nightmare as well.

 

[Igor-Rowan]

How big of a deal was this game again? A game that you can make games of your own and have Conker as DLC seems to be a winning formula, but I first heard of it in JonTron's video, then here announcing its shutdown after hearing that any DLC planned for it was cancelled.

First was Rockman Online, then Project Spark, Super Mario Maker was the only AAA with shared user-generated content to have hit it big, mainly because it allowed for exploration in how everything worked with itself.