Gearbox Snags Homeworld Rights

[rcs619]

I really don't know what to think about this.

I suppose it depends which Gearbox we get. Are we going to get the good Gearbox that made Borderlands and a couple other good games?

Or are we going to get don't give a fuck Gearbox, who are just going to phone it in and/or outsource a known product with a cult following to help fund the development of one of their good games?

I guess, on the bright side, at least Homeworld and Homeworld 2 might finally see release on steam. That in and of itself is a net positive for gamers everywhere. I just hope they don't completely kill this franchise. All it takes is one or two bad games these days to kill entire studios, and place IP's squarely on the back-log, never to be seen again.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Hey didn't Gearbox say the same things about the Aliens franchise?

As we're discovering, "Love the franchise" and "Can't be arsed to actually try with said franchise" are not mutually exclusive.

 

[Mangod]

Well, that killed my hopes for Homeworld 3.

RTS really is a dying genre isn't it?

Well, I think the issue is that Blizzard set the mark so high, and has dominated the scene so intensely with Starcraft that most companies are afraid to even try, the last real attempt was from the "Command And Conquer" franchise and it didn't go all that well.

No love for Stardock?

On topic: At least it's going somewhere, and, more importantly, to a studio with the money to bankroll a potential continuance of the series. And if this trailer [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDhSzuWdKgU] for what is generally believed to be the spiritual successor to the series is indication, the junkyard aesthetic that Gearbox is known for might work out better than we expected...

I dunno, "Fallout meets Dune" isn't exactly what I expected from a "spiritual sequel" to Homeworld...

 

[Bertylicious]

I've got a lot of respect for Gearbox. Aliens Colonial Marines and Duke Nukem Forever were other studios' leavings that they picked up on contract.

I reckon they'll do a good a job.

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

Hold it, I just had a thought...

What if the guys at Gearbox are just terrible at making shooters? Maybe they're the Martin Scorsese of games. They clearly have a genre they like to do, but the one time they step outside that comfort zone that they just can't seem to master, they hit it out of the park [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/5041-Hugo].

Sure, it's wishful thinking on a scale that borders delusional, but, like the possibility of a great Homeworld sequel, a Gentleman can dream...

 

[flarty]

snip.

Yes m'lord.

As i said i wont waste my breath, as everyone refuse's to believe they had little to do with development.

 

[VoidWanderer]

Soo... anyone else here waiting for the race of Clap-Trap Robots to be leaked, causing the entire Homeworld fanbase to go crazy?

 

[CorvusFerreum]

Seriously, what is a studio with absolutely no RTS history doing with such a fairly unique RTS IP? They would just lack the experience for that to work. But perhaps I'm wrong on this.
I just have the feeling they try to turn this into a shooter. And if they do something like that I seriously will go over there and beat some sense into them with a rusty pipe.

Spoiler: sorta topical

 

[Madman Muntz]

Oh man. Hearing that these guys have got their grubby paws on such a cherished IP is a bit like finding out that Russel Brand is dating your teenage daughter.

 

[Klaflefalumpf]

I'm suprised nobody has mentioned this little gem: "with the intent of making them accessible on today's leading digital platforms."

So even if it is a strategy, we're looking at some pretty impressive dumbing down.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well I know Gearbox isn't the favorite at the moment but I would still pick them over thousands of much bigger names also the Kickstarter indie devs who wanted to acquire the IP.

Now I don't have any hope that a studio that made nothing but shooters has a clue how to make another Homeworld, but I do have hope they get better at outsourcing such projects to people who do... ya it's a long shot.

 

[CorvusFerreum]

I'm suprised nobody has mentioned this little gem: "with the intent of making them accessible on today's leading digital platforms."

So even if it is a strategy, we're looking at some pretty impressive dumbing down.

This sounds more like they are planning on releasing Homeworld and Homeworld 2 on Steam, GOG and the like. This is a good thing, as far as I'm concerned.

I only think it would be a shame if Gearbox pulled a Syndicate on Homeworld 3. Or released a game of DNF or A:CM quallity. The lack of RTS experience would most likely lead to massive outsourcing and we know how well Gearbox handles this.
But perhaps we should give them the benefit of the doubt.

Captcha: foul smelling


sorta off topic: Equating accecebility to dumbing down is a sentiment I can understand, given the nature of this industry, but one I find somewhat problematic. Increased accessebility via the creation of better interfaces, better tutorials and perhaps some optional automations might benefit the franchise without hurting the depths of its gameplay. Given that the automations are designed in a way that skillful players improve their performance by doing it manually. This would keep a high skill ceilling intact, while giving less skilled players more chance to get into the game and enjoy it. This would just be extremly hard to pull off.

 

[MPerce]

Oh....well, this is unexpected.

Gearbox makes shooters. Mostly good ones, yes, but definitely not RTS games. So, I don't really see what they...

Okay, I'll just assume they have a logical plan. Going with this assumption: Please please please please PLEASE learn from XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Gearbox. The RTS market exists, despite the repeated assertions of AAA publishers, and you can make a pretty penny if you play your cards right and give the market what it wants. Homeworld fans will be looking for three major things: story, atmosphere, and multiplayer. Hit those points and keep a reasonable budget, and Homeworld 3 could be extremely successful.

Or...you could do a genre-changing reboot. It would make no fucking sense, but given the business attitudes of the industry right now, it wouldn't surprise me at all.

 

[GundamSentinel]

Good lord, Gearbox? Really? Ah well, whatever it was going to be, it wasn't going to beat the first Homeworld anyway.

I'm just going to... *flips table*

 

[fix-the-spade]

Wait a second, people had problems with the PC version of Borderlands? I hated the game, but it ran smooth as a whistle on my underpowered laptop... it was nowhere close to a memorably bad port (thinking Halo 2 or Saint's Row 2 here).

For about six months after release the PC port of Borderlands was beyond awful. Aside from the many, many, many bugs and stability issues it had, they didn't even bother to change the UI or control options for the PC.

That meant that graphics were stuck at presets, tough luck if they didn't match your hardware. Also, the controls were preset and they were preset to an Xbox controller, even using a KB/M you couldn't alter button mapping and the game would frequently tell you to press X, A, LT or whatever to keep playing. Navigating the menus was, a trial.

'Worst X ever' gets bandied round a lot, but it really was a strong contender for the worst and laziest port of a game I've ever played, it was like getting fired back to the nineties.

Halo 2's port was fine, it was just Microsoft being retarded with the whole Windows Live/Vista thing, strip those out and it's great.

 

[Whatwhat]

(maybe Europa Universalis IV shall quench my thirst for world domination for a while when it finally comes out)

Based on what's been shown in the forums, it looks pretty terrible. Way too deterministic. NIs have been *cough* 'streamlined' *uncough*. The interface looks too polished and shiny. ROTW has got absolutely no love so far and the game is supposed to launch in Q3 or so.

I seriously hope that my favourite developer won't let me down on this one because I was getting pretty excited about the naval combat and trade mechanics (I would bring Brittany or Venice to rule a major portion of the world (again ) Oh well, better uphold Yahtzee's commandments about hyping games. EUIV is going to be complete rubbish..EUIV is going to be complete rubbish...

Oh and btw. if any CKII fan is reading this playing CKII with all the expansions and on very hard and with the mod CKII+ is "fun" (as in of your twelve quick and beautiful children only your dumb lesbian daughter will survive to carry on the line fun )

 

[repeating integers]

Wow. 4 pages on a Homeworld thread on the Escapist?

Imma just leave this here.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Homeworld-fans-group

 

[Tsaba]

well, I remember people up in arms over XCOM when they showed footage for the shooter, but, when the strategy came out, I could of sworn everyone was pleasantly surprised. Who knows, maybe we will get lucky.... maybe.... OH WOE IS UPON US!!!!

 

[Korzack]

A HD remaster of the first Homeworld I'd be all over it, loved those games even if they had a habit of kicking my ass something fierce, and maybe now Gearbox will be able to work on something that isn't tattered remnants of somebody else's game, might be time for them to claim some reputation back by not buggering this up.

 

[TWEWYFan]

I'm not sure they should even bother making a trailer for this. No one's going to believe it.