Author Topic: Free Radical is Closing Shop  (Read 13710 times)

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Offline MaleficentOgre

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Re: Free Radical is Closing Shop
« Reply #25 on: December 19, 2008, 10:42:18 PM »
If their game was of higher quality and they ran on a tighter schedule maybe they'd be around.

Offline Nephilim

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Re: Free Radical is Closing Shop
« Reply #26 on: December 19, 2008, 10:47:20 PM »
Thank you very much once again Sony.

Well remember that other launch window game (timesplitters 1) was also a flop on playstation2.

Offline NWR_Lindy

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Re: Free Radical is Closing Shop
« Reply #27 on: December 20, 2008, 12:39:53 AM »
If Haze received 9.5's across the board from every media outlet out there, then I'd buy the argument that being on the PS3 killed it (and Free Radical).  But you can't pin the failure of a studio that creates a game that received an aggregate Metacritic score of 55 (seriously, it's pretty hard to score that badly on Metacritic) solely on the console that that game appeared on, especially when the console in question is ripe for a good FPS.  There's the issue that, you know, the game blows.  It would have been roundly ignored on Wii or 360, with the only difference being the amount of money that Free Radical lost in the venture.

The biggest factor in their closing is the fact that LucasArts dropped them from a multi-game deal (and cancelled Star Wars: Battlefront III after two years of development, meaning that all the money spent on it went right down the tubes), and nobody would pick up publishing duties for TimeSplitters 4 because Haze sucked so bad.  The PS3's smaller userbase is only a minor piece of a much bigger Free Radical sh!t pie.  It's hard to stay in business when the entirety of your future funding dries up in a three-month period.
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Offline Crimm

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Re: Free Radical is Closing Shop
« Reply #28 on: December 20, 2008, 04:19:26 AM »
Jon, I'd say the PS3 exclusivity may well have been a major factor, depending on how lucrative the exclusivity terms were.  The 360s much larger installed base (I believe it was 3 to 1 at that point) could have greatly helped absorb some of the costs.

The fact the game wasn't good also factored into the situation.  As for the LucasArts deal, LucasArts is still on the hook for "work completed."
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Offline Deguello

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Re: Free Radical is Closing Shop
« Reply #29 on: December 20, 2008, 09:52:10 AM »
It's not like the decision to put the game on the PS3 was met with derision when it was announced in 2006.  They thought, like everybody, that the PS3 would rise up and steamroll the 360 and the Wii is a non-factor only Nintendo fans and nobody else would buy (Ha!).  Haze for the PS3 seemed like a sure bet, a talented developer making an absolutely gorgeous looking game, for a major player in the industry.

Flash forward to now, 2 years later, the Wii's on the rise faster than the PS2, the 360 is outdoing the original 360 by marginally, at the expense of the collapse of the PC market, and the PS3 treading water and flopping left and right.  It's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback here, but in 2006, anybody telling them to not make a PS3 game and instead make a few Wii games was called a Nintendo fanboy who knew nothing.  To NOW say what they should and should not have done is pointless because this wasn't what they heard when they announced the game.  I know I said that making Haze on the PS3 was a bad idea, and that they should make Wii games.  To which that idea was scoffed and shoved into a corner where it could be seen and not heard.

And you're right, the game sucked.  So did Lair.  So did Heavenly Sword.  Do those developers deserve to DIE because of one bad game?  It wasn't so harsh on the PS2, and it really isn't on the Wii.  However, the PS3 and to a lesser extent the 360, making a game that doesn't SELL (regardless of score) seems to kill you dead.

There also seems to be a weird double standard brewing here, where when a third party game fails on the PS3 (and to a lesser extent the 360) it's the game's fault, yet when a Wii third party game fails, it's the Wii's fault or the fault of their customer base being Nintendo fans (2006) or a bunch of unwashed casuals (2008), despite it's great size.

Anybody really wanting to blame Free Radical or Factor 5 or EA's myriad studios that they just closed might want to read a short story called The Lottery to see what happens when you support a general strategy, and then deride it once it gets personal.
« Last Edit: December 20, 2008, 12:11:28 PM by Deguello »
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Offline MaleficentOgre

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Re: Free Radical is Closing Shop
« Reply #30 on: December 20, 2008, 01:15:58 PM »
If Haze came out on 360 free radical still wouldn't be around if they ran their business the same. If the game was as punishingly mediocre and the marketing was a vague and non noticeable and all factors were the same we'd have the same outcome. It's not the PS3, it's the developer.

Offline Deguello

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Re: Free Radical is Closing Shop
« Reply #31 on: December 20, 2008, 01:58:28 PM »
Part of that business model being the refusal to support market-leading market leaders.  The Ps3 itself didn't just storm their offices and throw pudding into their computers, but the low userbase coming off the PS2 is the PS3's fault and Haze was selected to be put on PS3 because they assumed that the PS3 would just stomp everything instead of flopping about in last place.

It is not as simple as the PS3 killing Free Radical (and Factor 5), but that is how it is going to be PERCEIVED on the soundbyte internet.
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Offline KDR_11k

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Re: Free Radical is Closing Shop
« Reply #32 on: December 21, 2008, 03:57:15 AM »
Well, they threw all their money at a game that wasn't so hot. Maybe they should've thrown less money at it?

Offline Urkel

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Re: Free Radical is Closing Shop
« Reply #33 on: December 21, 2008, 04:25:16 AM »
The problem is HD games are expected to have big budgets. If Haze was a good game but relatively low budget, it probably wouldn't have sold well then due to being overshadowed by bigger blockbuster games.
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Offline blackfootsteps

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Re: Free Radical is Closing Shop
« Reply #34 on: December 21, 2008, 10:09:05 PM »
This is sad news indeed. TS2 was one of my favourite games of last gen. I thought it was strange that Haze's multiplayer was turned off so quickly, it must have been 3 months ago now.

Hopefully the dev team that rises from FR's ashes focuses on making FPS's for Wii. A TS game with Metroid Prime 3 controls would be pretty special.
“I waited all day. you waited all day.. but you left before sunset.. and I just wanted to tell you the moment was beautiful. Just wanted to dance to bad music drive bad cars.. watch bad TV.. should have stayed for the sunset...if not for me.â€

Offline Kairon

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Re: Free Radical is Closing Shop
« Reply #35 on: December 22, 2008, 04:23:26 AM »
Anybody really wanting to blame Free Radical or Factor 5 or EA's myriad studios that they just closed might want to read a short story called The Lottery to see what happens when you support a general strategy, and then deride it once it gets personal.

Woah. That's applied knowledge. Now that one/two weeks in eighth grade has some meaning for me Deguello! Thanks!
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Offline ThePerm

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Re: Free Radical is Closing Shop
« Reply #36 on: December 25, 2008, 11:54:12 PM »
as good as the company is they don't make games that sell. They need to adjust the theme to something people normally buy. WWII Vietnam, or Iraq

i'm betting so many terrible games sell well just because they have a look thats like call of duty
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