Kerbal Space Program Acquired by Take-Two Interactive

[ffronw]

Kerbal Space Program Acquired by Take-Two Interactive

//cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/1409/1409428.jpgTake-Two Interactive announced today that it has acquired Kerbal Space Program, and that Squad continues to work on the space simulator.

There was a rumor going around last week that the team behind Kerbal Space Program had been hired by Valve [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/170416-Valve-HIres-Some-Former-Kerbal-Space-Program-Devs-but-Core-Team-Still-Working-on-Game]. That turned out to be somewhat inaccurate, as Valve had instead hired a number of developers that had worked on the game. Now, Kerbal Space Program is back in the news - this time because the game has been acquired by Take-Two.

The announcement came in a press release from Take-Two, which mentions that the, "team at Squad will continue to provide support and ongoing development for the title through game updates and expansions, including the previously announced Kerbal Space Program: Making History Expansion, which is expected to launch later this calendar year." Take-Two did confirm to The Escapist that although Squad is still working on KSP, the developer was not acquired and remains independent.

Take-Two SVP and Head of Corporate Development and Independent Publishing Michael Worosz said of the acquisition, "We have been impressed with Kerbal Space Program since its launch, and we are committed to grow this unique experience while continuing to support its passionate community. We view Kerbal Space Program as a new, long-term franchise that adds a well-respected and beloved IP to Take-Two's portfolio as we continue to explore opportunities across the independent development landscape."

What does this mean for the future of Kerbal Space Program? It's too early to say. For now, it sounds like Squad will continue development on the expansion as before. But what plans Take-Two may have for the game are anybody's guess.

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[Bindal]

Guess we gonna see more Kerbal games in the future, then. Not just Space Programm, maybe Kerbal Farming (Agriculture and genetics) or other science themed Kerbal games.

 

[littlebunnyfuufuu]

Hey guys, thanks for your money!





.........




We need more money!

 

[Saelune]

So wait, they own the IP...but not the developer?

I hope the developers dont have any artistic ownership ideas in their head then.

 

[mad825]

Well squad, I reckon you start working on new IP before T2 decides to have the work done elsewhere.

 

[fix-the-spade]

So wait, they own the IP...but not the developer?

I hope the developers dont have any artistic ownership ideas in their head then.

Indeed, my mind boggles why you would sell your only IP out from under your own feet.

Unless of course they were given a cartoonish sum of money for it, but experience tells me these stories always end in the dev getting bugger all.

 

[Aerosteam]

Aw fuck, I hope they got a royalty deal, instead of being paid upfront.

The writer of The Witcher novels gets 0% of the money earned from the games because he was a massive idiot and wanted to be paid a single sum years ago. I'll assume the devs didn't make the same mistake.

 

[McKitten]

So wait, they own the IP...but not the developer?

I hope the developers dont have any artistic ownership ideas in their head then.

Indeed, my mind boggles why you would sell your only IP out from under your own feet.

Unless of course they were given a cartoonish sum of money for it, but experience tells me these stories always end in the dev getting bugger all.

Squad is a marketing company, Kerbal was only a side project started by one guy almost as a hobby. With almost the entire KSP team having left Squad anyway, it makes perfect sense to sell off the game and it's very unlikely they'll make other games.

 

[Xeorm]

Squad selling KSP makes a lot of sense. The employees who could really work with the game have already left, and the remaining ones no longer have anyone to leech off of. Best to sell it now and then move on.

Someone buying it though intrigues me. Wondering where they'll take it, as I wouldn't expect there to be too much left in the IP to draw from that would be worth buying. Plenty of similar ideas could certainly work, but I can't see the IP being necessary to that. But more power to them if they make something worth buying, as I've dearly loved KSP.

 

[pookie101]

Guess we gonna see more Kerbal games in the future, then. Not just Space Programm, maybe Kerbal Farming (Agriculture and genetics) or other science themed Kerbal games.

\

thats actually a really interesting idea

 

[Poetic Nova]

This does not bode well, to be honest.

 

[RobertEHouse]

Basically what might have happened besides the sale of the IP is that Squad, a marketing company could have made an advertisement deal with Take-Two. Which could mean Squad not only made a ton of money from the sale of KSP Ip to Take-Two, but might have gotten a new advertisement account.

As for what Take-Two does with this IP , it's up in the air. They could also just sit on top of it while doing nothing with it until they want to sell it or prevent others from developing a similar game. After all it might not have been the game itself but a programming part of it that they wanted.

 

[Ympulse]

Indeed, my mind boggles why you would sell your only IP out from under your own feet.

Well, the wastes of life that actually *own* squad are worthless enough to sell an IP for no reason other than their coke dealer is coming around next week, and expect them to pay their tab.

 

[Naldan]

Squad selling KSP makes a lot of sense. The employees who could really work with the game have already left, and the remaining ones no longer have anyone to leech off of. Best to sell it now and then move on.

Someone buying it though intrigues me. Wondering where they'll take it, as I wouldn't expect there to be too much left in the IP to draw from that would be worth buying. Plenty of similar ideas could certainly work, but I can't see the IP being necessary to that. But more power to them if they make something worth buying, as I've dearly loved KSP.

Simply a successor. Last time I played it, the performance wasn't nearly as good as a game this fun needed it to be.

I mean a true sequel upholding what the title indicates, as in KSP, but bigger. And better performing.

Although, maybe the performance has improved by now. Has been over a year iirc since I last played it.

 

[Dalisclock]

Squad selling KSP makes a lot of sense. The employees who could really work with the game have already left, and the remaining ones no longer have anyone to leech off of. Best to sell it now and then move on.

Someone buying it though intrigues me. Wondering where they'll take it, as I wouldn't expect there to be too much left in the IP to draw from that would be worth buying. Plenty of similar ideas could certainly work, but I can't see the IP being necessary to that. But more power to them if they make something worth buying, as I've dearly loved KSP.

Simply a successor. Last time I played it, the performance wasn't nearly as good as a game this fun needed it to be.

I mean a true sequel upholding what the title indicates, as in KSP, but bigger. And better performing.

Although, maybe the performance has improved by now. Has been over a year iirc since I last played it.

One of the recent patches cleaned up a fair bit of performance issues. Including the LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG-ass loading times when starting the game.

The only thing I dislike about the new patches is that all the mods seem to break whenever a new one is downloaded, which really sucks when I get used to using MechJeb for a lot of the routine stuff and now it doesn't work.

 

[pookie101]

Indeed, my mind boggles why you would sell your only IP out from under your own feet.

Well, the wastes of life that actually *own* squad are worthless enough to sell an IP for no reason other than their coke dealer is coming around next week, and expect them to pay their tab.

i suspect you dont like squad some how and that im missing a story or two

 

[Fulbert]

Indeed, my mind boggles why you would sell your only IP out from under your own feet.

Well, the wastes of life that actually *own* squad are worthless enough to sell an IP for no reason other than their coke dealer is coming around next week, and expect them to pay their tab.

i suspect you dont like squad some how and that im missing a story or two

Well game development is not Squad's main gig - they are mainly a marketing company. Kerbal Space Program was a side project of Felipe Falanghe who convinced the management to give him resources to develop and publish it. After the success of the game the management decided to invest the income into other employees' personal projects, like indie films or musical albums. Regarding the KSP, Squad struck deals to release the game on consoles, but they outsourced the porting job to some underqualified contractor which resulted in the Ps4 and Xbone versions being almost unplayable and the Wii U version postponed indefinitely. There were also rumours that Squad seriously underpaid the KSP developers, their annual salaries being as low as 1200 USD.

Most original developers have departed by now, with the largest exodus happening right after the 1.2 patch release, and the newly established dev team has devoted a lot of time to things like localisation rather than expanding and enhancing the core game. Unlike the previous team, they have been less than eager to communicate with the community initially (though they have gotten better in that respect), and then there is this new DLC being developed which is a bit polarising, with some seeing it as a good sign of progress and others believing it to be a dark omen of impending doom. The usual stuff. Oh, and the console versions are being overhauled by a new contractor which will hopefully make them playable and enjoyable.

So there you have it. Kind of the gist of what's going on with the KSP and Squad and what might be the source of some fans' frustration.

 

[pookie101]

Indeed, my mind boggles why you would sell your only IP out from under your own feet.

Well, the wastes of life that actually *own* squad are worthless enough to sell an IP for no reason other than their coke dealer is coming around next week, and expect them to pay their tab.

i suspect you dont like squad some how and that im missing a story or two

Well game development is not Squad's main gig - they are mainly a marketing company. Kerbal Space Program was a side project of Felipe Falanghe who convinced the management to give him resources to develop and publish it. After the success of the game the management decided to invest the income into other employees' personal projects, like indie films or musical albums. Regarding the KSP, Squad struck deals to release the game on consoles, but they outsourced the porting job to some underqualified contractor which resulted in the Ps4 and Xbone versions being almost unplayable and the Wii U version postponed indefinitely. There were also rumours that Squad seriously underpaid the KSP developers, their annual salaries being as low as 1200 USD.

Most original developers have departed by now, with the largest exodus happening right after the 1.2 patch release, and the newly established dev team has devoted a lot of time to things like localisation rather than expanding and enhancing the core game. Unlike the previous team, they have been less than eager to communicate with the community initially (though they have gotten better in that respect), and then there is this new DLC being developed which is a bit polarising, with some seeing it as a good sign of progress and others believing it to be a dark omen of impending doom. The usual stuff. Oh, and the console versions are being overhauled by a new contractor which will hopefully make them playable and enjoyable.

So there you have it. Kind of the gist of what's going on with the KSP and Squad and what might be the source of some fans' frustration.

ah thanks for the info.. wow that is shitty

 

[Dalisclock]

So there you have it. Kind of the gist of what's going on with the KSP and Squad and what might be the source of some fans' frustration.

I really had no idea. I never even bothered to look up anything on Squad(I just figured they were yet another small indie developer and this was their first game) but the fact they weren't/aren't even a game developer is kind of amazing considering how much I adore KSP(well, except when my shuttles keep crashing for reasons).

At least the game as it stands now is good enough, even without mods. Hopefully the planned DLC will be worth it but if not, as long as the new developers don't make it worse I'll be happy.

 

[SmugFrog]

Indeed, my mind boggles why you would sell your only IP out from under your own feet.

Unless of course they were given a cartoonish sum of money for it, but experience tells me these stories always end in the dev getting bugger all.

Sort of similar yet different situation, it worked out for Notch and Mojang with the mountain of money they were given - but in that case it was the entire developer that changed hands, though it was specifically for one game.

HOWEVER, in this case it's just... it doesn't make much sense does it? They bought the rights to the IP and own it but in addition to that the original developer is going to keep working on the game? I don't think I've seen anything like that before except in the promises that a small-team dev would finish a game and that usually doesn't work out.

So there you have it. Kind of the gist of what's going on with the KSP and Squad and what might be the source of some fans' frustration.

Wow that's some interesting backstory. I haven't played KSP too much - I had it gifted to me by a friend and enjoyed it for what it was. It always felt more like a little tech demo (granted with deep mechanics) but the early version I played was unstable and with each addition of content it's become something I feel has become complete. Any additional stuff is just icing on the cake.