278: The Rise and Fall of Realtime Worlds

[Greg Tito]

The Rise and Fall of Realtime Worlds

The rise and fall of APB developer Realtime Worlds reads like a Greek tragedy, filled with shining heroes, heavenly fortune, and hubris.

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[psivamp]

Sad, really. APB is probably the first MMO that I wanted to play.

 

[z3rostr1fe]

Hopefully everyone learned their lesson here. And for those who wanted to start a new game development company, they should read on this article beforehand.

 

[Angerwing]

You get an A+ for mentioning Aristophanes. Greatest playwright of all time.

And it's a pity how ruthless business can be on people.

 

[Irridium]

So what you're saying is they fell because they adopted a more corporate style and the best way to go is to stay indie regardless of how big or rich you get. Makes sense to me, and it explains how Bungie keeps pumping out good stuff (IMHO).

And Naughty Dog. They're getting big, but still maintaining the "small company" feel. Because its better for everyone overall.

 

[WanderingFool]

I did always enjoy a good Greek play, and tragedies are some of the best.

 

[Irridium]

So what you're saying is they fell because they adopted a more corporate style and the best way to go is to stay indie regardless of how big or rich you get. Makes sense to me, and it explains how Bungie keeps pumping out good stuff (IMHO).

And Naughty Dog. They're getting big, but still maintaining the "small company" feel. Because its better for everyone overall.

I dunno aboot them. Only one of their games I've played is Uncharted 2, and I found it to be shallow and pedantic.

Perhaps, but their Crash Bandicoot games on the PS1, and Jak and Daxter games on the PS2 are absolute joys to play. And I enjoy the Uncharted games as well.

Ah well, different people have different tastes.

 

[Angerwing]

So what you're saying is they fell because they adopted a more corporate style and the best way to go is to stay indie regardless of how big or rich you get. Makes sense to me, and it explains how Bungie keeps pumping out good stuff (IMHO).

No, he said they failed because they got caught up in unwarranted bureaucracy. Gotta love reading comprehension, right?

 

[obex]

As an English literature studant who studied tradgedys this artical pleased me, also as a long time beta tester for APB this help explain why a game that seem like it had so much potential came crashing down

 

[frago roc]

I fail to see how an irrelevant company who made an irrelevant game still has enough relevance to warrant a 4 page swan song.

 

[LadyRhian]

This, to me, sounds like two big problems. #1 a designer whose vision was focused so far on the horizon, he couldn't see what was happening right under his feet, and #2 a staff who thought they had to make a company in a certain way to be a successful company. In a way, it reminds me of those child stars who realized great fame as kids, and then got sucked into booze and drugs on their way to transitioning to adults when they were no longer those cute kids.

Some child stars can do it, many others can't. Like the Olsen twins, who seem to have forsaken stardom for making a 'tween corporate empire and who now look like heavy substance abusers.

 

[hansari]

So what you're saying is they fell because they adopted a more corporate style and the best way to go is to stay indie regardless of how big or rich you get. Makes sense to me, and it explains how Bungie keeps pumping out good stuff (IMHO).

No, he said they failed because they got caught up in unwarranted bureaucracy. Gotta love reading comprehension, right?

Er, is there much of a difference? Excuse my lack of brainpower, it's almost 6 AM here. >.<

Because Bungie only JUST became independent. Microsoft owned them but didn't hinder them with their own deadlines or pointless meetings. I'm sure there was some corporate interference, but it wasn't enough to divert Bungies attention from making the best game they could.

Being an independent game studio no longer means what it once did. Especially since the industry at large is finally "getting it" and major publishers are allowing studios it acquires to maintain independence, even keep some Ip's they create for themselves.

For example, Super Meat Boy or Minecraft. Each game was made by just one or two people. Each game is proving successful because more time was spent making the best game possible and virtually none was spent making powerpoints about who their target demographics were and how to expand it.

PS: Naughty Dog isn't Indie either...

 

[Albino Boo]

The idea that you can run a company with 170 employees and $50 million of other peoples money the same way that you can run a start up with 12 people and drunk dog (it was in Dundee) is farcical. To make an MMO with requires more staff and with more staff comes more legal responsibilities. A company with more than 15 employees is required, in the UK, to offer a pension scheme (this is going to drop to 5 people next year), you also have to have public liability insurance, ensure disabled access to your work place, have a policy regarding maternity and paternity leave. I could go for half a page of all things that you are legally required to have when you are business. All these things require management, hence an accounts department, HR and so on. With human nature being what it is your going to get empire building and clashes over priorities. Now good CEO will have balance off the requirements of each bit of the company to get it running smoothly. You can see from results that didn't happen. The fault with Realtime doesn't lie with a building a corporate structure but there being a vacuum at the top. You cant be the project manager of one part of your business and not manage the rest. Dave Jones should have either stepped back and and kept the company as whole on a even keel or hired someone who could.

 

[Unrulyhandbag]

Nice article, always good to see how the industry works, or not as the case may be.


Annoying niggle here though,

Setting up offices in the small Scottish town of Dundee

Dundee is a city and one of the largest centre's of population in the UK, it's fortieth on the official list and will probably be in the top 25 next time the list is done as it's population is now well over 200,000.

The idea that you can run a company with 170 employees and $50 million of other peoples money the same way that you can run a start up with 12 people and drunk dog (it was in Dundee) is farcical. To make an MMO with requires more staff and with more staff comes more legal responsibilities.

Yes there are a lot of responsibilities when you run a company and this company failed to have appropriate management structures for those. But why were they taking on a project that required such a scale up in the first place? Most successful companies bite off what they can chew, grow appropriately and look towards reasonable expansion including bulking up management and adding necessary bureaucracy. By the time they take on enormous projects the management systems are either in place or need small adjustments.

These guys went from a small successful company and attempted to go to major league developer status with no middle growth.

 

[John Funk]

I fail to see how an irrelevant company who made an irrelevant game still has enough relevance to warrant a 4 page swan song.

Because APB was one of the most expensive games ever produced, and examining just how catastrophic a failure it really was - and the causes behind that - are far from irrelevant?

 

[kouriichi]

Id call it poetic if i wasnt one of the few people who accually enjoyed the game.

 

[Pinguin]

Excellent article.

I generally find Venture Capital a strange concept. If you don't have to scrape and earn your money, how can you use it responsibly?