Splash Damage CEO promises upcoming games will explore new platforms, "take full advantage" of industry changes like free-to-play and mobile markets.
Brink developer Splash Damage is looking to make an impact in 2012. In a message to fans today, Splash Damage CEO Paul Wedgwood said this would be "the most significant year" in the studio's decade-long history and teased some changes to the way the company makes and sells its wares.
"We'll be revealing new titles, both on platforms we've previously visited (including the PC and the world's leading consoles), as well as exploring spaces completely new to us," Wedgewood said. "Finally, we've got some special things planned to take full advantage of the changes our industry is experiencing."
Earlier in his letter, Wedgwood had discussed the changes the industry has undergone in the past decade, saying, "We can now play multiplayer games online no matter what the platform is. Thanks to the wonders of digital distribution, we can buy games directly from their developers and play them immediately. Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are more widespread than ever before, and these let us play wherever we are. More recently, the rise of good free-to-play games has allowed players to get their feet wet without demanding a big investment upfront."
Wedgwood said the company has a number of significant announcements planned over "the coming weeks and months."
Splash Damage got its start as a mod team creating maps for Quake 3. Although it has since become a proper studio, Splash Damage has retained an emphasis on multiplayer-focused first-person shooters, developing Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, and Brink.
Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.
@X-RS First of all I said nothing about Brink or said it is a bad game... I played it and I have played it after the Patches like 1 or 2 months after it was released...the online problem I found was the lag in multiplayer but that's all.... And then again I come with my statement.., This is an industry where you have to stick to a deadline...and more time means more spent money... If you think Skyrim is so buggy then do what you did with Brink... Wait for the first or second major patch... Anyway you got it too personal on Brink considering I said nothing about it and I enjoyed playing it...
@Darnasian Yeh...I have a feeling they did lots of outsourcing the closer it got to the date, but they obviously wouldn't have to with the strength in the brand. Had the publisher beleived in Brink like their own product (or simply played it..) time would have been alotted. As for sales, Brink did quite well, though Splash Damage's face value has taken quite the hit, not Bethesda's. To me it was quite obvious that a polished objective based online multiplaye game with parkour would have significant demand. I would have thouht any publisher would see postponing it as the better choice. Instead Bethesda had it pumped out and shipped for hot sales. If you still think it was an issue of "time=money" you obviously didn't play re/post patch. About a month after MANY issues were ironed out. Which is amazing, compared to gameplay of the first couple weeks, and obliterates your time=money theory. So yes I KNOW it would have performed much better with simply another 2 months in house for better reviews at launch (again for the sake of face). The 3 main problems remaining before it went dark I recall were: -Becoming stuck zoomed in (3-5 sec)after emptying a sniper magazine -1st Resistanec map had a papre wall needing a bomb planted -Engineers were still too powerful Then again, maybe Bethesda just doesn't know how to select (or publish) thrid party tittles... I am now having to wait for Devil's Third.
Not even interested since Brink was such a massive disappointment. I shall never fall for the hype and promises that developers give in interviews again.
i thought taking away stats for kills in games would be a good idea too until Brink but i mean really the game was alot of fun after the lag stopped !!!
Holy S¤%t u did enemy territory..One off my alltime fav onlineshooter. How about a remake?? Havent playd brink, seems dated. Looked great at first until i saw the enemy spawn out off thin air :/ pls do ET, dont go mobile.
So, basically means a Brink 2 game in on the way then? C'mon, Bethesda have some really awesome games like Elder Scrolls, Wet and Rage. Splash Damage is just an Indie company compared to it.
@X-RS Dude...Skyrim had to stick to a deadline... 11.11.11....coolest release date on Earth... DO you think it would've been so buggy if they gave it more time....no....but with every 1 more day spent over the deadline the costs of development increase... No one is able to loose money anymore... Of course we aren't talking about Blizzard whom release a game after decades of work... That company has way too much money then they need XD
Why do I have a bad feeling about this? Sarcasm....obviously I know why I have this feeling...really?....mobile gaming...please don't ruin future games making them stupid mobile...
TL;DR "Our last 2 games sucked so bad that our publisher is ready to shutdown our studio, so we have to cash in with something safer and less risky, like mobile crap and casual BS".
free 2 play = games made for naive morons. 90% of them anyway. Renting individual guns a week at a time? That's worse than paying a subscription in the long run. It's a real shame, they failed to support ETQW properly and then they did even worse with Brink. Final release lacking key competitive features, then after a few months it drops price during some steam sales to be $5 slapping everyone that preordered or just bought it on release... then all that DLC content they promised ended up being a map pack they originally claimed would be free, and character stuff that was all preorder content. Very disappointed. Less than a full year after release the game's servers are completely empty on PC. I loved Brink but no matter how good a new game concept they come up with, I can't see myself supporting Splash in the slightest ever again. I expect them to fail with their game support yet again.
Brink had a lot of potential, but unfortunately it really felt like an unfinished game (almost like a beta). Do a better job of finishing your games Splash Damage, then worry about the rest.
@makryu lol - was thinking the same thing. When a dev starts talking about the good points of free to play it's often because their last game failed to live up to expectations
In other words, "our game failed, so we will try to make cheap games to attract unwary customers who never heard of Brink". A shame, really, I trulyw anted Brink to give me that Mirror's Edge feeling again...
finally, a developer who took failure and did not close or run off, but would rather forge ahead and give it another shot. resiliency: something which does not exist in the gaming world... but should
My god you guys are pathetic. You whine about Brink being a let down because Bethesda wouldn't allow any more time in dev and wanted to cash in quick. You think your beloved Skyrim had to stick to a deadline?!!!? And while I think it's entirely sad the developement cycle has become entirely half@$$d around the globe, us buying DLC content is easily to blame. What's worse now is instead creating the proper bugggles version of Brink with the sales it received they are going *free* online junk...-_-
So... Bad news? It's never good when developers say they're going to And what's with all the hate for Brink? It wasn't terrible, just a little disappointing, but only because of how illogically hyped everyone got.
After the whole "BRINK" debacle, I don't believe a single word that comes out of his mouth. Brink was a day 4 purchase for me and I told all my buddies to buy it thinking it would be the new Team Fortress 2. Now I'm £40 out of pocket (GAME trade value ? £4) and I've lost a few online mates, Thanks Paul !!!
Change on focus? More like you should go out of business for making sub par games. They made one decent game (Quake Wars) and one crappy game (Brink) the last 6 years, and both sold poorly. Who is going to wanna to keep funding them?
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory was a fantastic, free multiplayer game. If Splash Damage adopted a free-to-play model with something like that, I'd suspect they'd have a chance at some great success.
First three titles in platformer series bundled in $40 package due next month for PS3; 720p HD visuals, stereoscopic 3D support, and over 100 trophies included.
Pan's Labyrinth director praises Ken Levine and Irrational Games for latest BioShock, says he would consider large-scale Pacific Rim game "God willing." Full Story
PlayStation boss Jack Tretton says ability to freely resell games creates value in the initial purchase; PS4 won't require online check-in because many...
