"Warner Bros. will pay as much as $160 million, including sums to be paid to Turbine shareholders in future years if the company meets certain financial targets."
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
The way I read that is: we're buying you, but you need to keep running your business. Which, if done correctly could mean very good news for players as now those bonuses will be based on performance. This is a good opportunity for players to excise pressure on the devs to get shit done. Now players have the upper hand.
Or it could be an excuse to release half-finished games, cut back on development staff, real money shops galore, and hyping games so high for box sales that they fail dismally to meet expectations.
Corporations are fundamentally lazy. Which will they do? Try to earn customer satisfaction while producing high quality games, or cut as many corners as possible in an effort to get the big bucks? One takes more effort, one takes a lot less effort.
My first reaction to this news is not apprpriate for younger readers...
I love LotRO... I've finally tried and now really enjoy, for very different reasons, DDO. The only thing that makes me hesitate to try the grandaddy game, AC, is the graphics, but now...?
This may be a great financial development for the folks at Turbine, but for the players, my first reaction still feels the most appropriate.
I dont know about anyone else, and yes it shows that I am old, but when I saw WB and Turbine, my first thought was Looney Tunes Online. I have always wanted to help Wile E. Coyote kill the damn road runner.
If they do it right, a Looney Tunes MMORPG might not be all that bad.
I dont know about anyone else, and yes it shows that I am old, but when I saw WB and Turbine, my first thought was Looney Tunes Online. I have always wanted to help Wile E. Coyote kill the damn road runner.
Hahahaha, as soon as I saw this headline that was the FIRST thing through my mind. I would love a Looney Tunes MMO. Daffy is mah guy!
Being a B5 fanboy, I'll be all over that and it can't be no worst then then STO. How about a Jeremiah MMRPG, which is by the same creater which was also made by Time Warner?
"Warner Bros. will pay as much as $160 million, including sums to be paid to Turbine shareholders in future years if the company meets certain financial targets."
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
The way I read that is: we're buying you, but you need to keep running your business. Which, if done correctly could mean very good news for players as now those bonuses will be based on performance. This is a good opportunity for players to excise pressure on the devs to get shit done. Now players have the upper hand.
Or it means they have to cut back on expenses. This sentence does not really says anything and you can not really learn a lot from it. Also no "power to the people" if the game does not meet demand WB will just pull the plug.
Doesn't Warner Brothers own the Harry Potter ip ? Hmmm....
Yes, but I don't want to even think about what you're thinking about. I hate the Harry Potter, the books and the movie, and would hate to see it made into a game
Doesn't Warner Brothers own the Harry Potter ip ? Hmmm....
Yes, but I don't want to even think about what you're thinking about. I hate the Harry Potter, the books and the movie, and would hate to see it made into a game
I hope Lord of the Rings doesn't take a turn for the worse. I consider LoTRO the type of MMO that is a rare gem of a game. It reminds me of watching "No County for Old Men." The teenagers in front of me thought it was the worst movie they ever saw. I said to myself, "did we just watch the same movie?"
I feel the same way about LoTRO compared to the mainstream. I hope WB does not assume creative control over LoTRO's growth. Turbine has done a great job thus far and they should retain the right to continue doing so.
I always though that no country for old men was actually widely popular among teenagers.
Anyway, the company was in similiar situation with Microsoft years ago - that lead to the disastrous AC2. Turbine was never really a good dev studio in my eyes, so this isn't such a catastrophy. It surely won't make Lotro-players happy about the game's future, but well..., it probably can't get any worse either.
I hope Lord of the Rings doesn't take a turn for the worse. I consider LoTRO the type of MMO that is a rare gem of a game. It reminds me of watching "No County for Old Men." The teenagers in front of me thought it was the worst movie they ever saw. I said to myself, "did we just watch the same movie?"
I feel the same way about LoTRO compared to the mainstream. I hope WB does not assume creative control over LoTRO's growth. Turbine has done a great job thus far and they should retain the right to continue doing so.
I was shocked by the news and have the same fears as you.
On the other hand, Turbine might have taken this strategic step to develop Rohan. My guess is that that'll take a lot of resources, and the release of Siege of Mirkwood showed that Turbine is short on money already (else they'd make it a boxed and bigger expansion).
As with the fear of others. I hope WB will let Turbine do what they're good at and not interfear in the general development of their games. If WB does that (and they surely will, since they do that in all their subsediaries) we might loose our gem
Warner Bros is buying North America’s largest independent online gaming studio in an effort to spread its social networking and micro-payments technology across its video games and home video business.
The acquisition of Turbine, the group behind Dungeons & Dragons Online and the hit multiplayer online game based on Warner’s Lord of the Rings film franchise, brings technology capable of charging small sums for swords and spells as players progress through a game, chatting with friends or posting scores to social networking sites.
The Time Warner-owned film studio said it increasingly sees personal computers and games consoles, such as Sony’s PlayStation 3, as alternative routes into customers’ living rooms alongside the televisions and DVD players on which it has traditionally depended.
“Where the trends are dragging us towards is looking at 3D opportunities and going direct to the consumer. The connected consoles are really a path to the home in a way that could become a meaningful distribution platform for us,” said Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner’s home entertainment group.
Although Turbine’s games are online, and some are free to download, its technology would allow Warner to add “connectivity, micro-transactions and community” features to all its console games. “These online games are almost an excuse to keep in touch. People will make appointments to get on a game at a certain time,” he said.
Mr Tsujihara said Warner saw opportunities to use such technologies to boost home entertainment revenues for its core film business. “Ultimately it has the potential to be the engine for B2C [business to consumer] relations for all of Warner Bros,” he said.
Warner could charge players to update film-themed games with more content once a new film is released, helping to tackle the threat of the second-hand market by persuading consumers to hold on to each game for longer.
Such franchise games also create a deeper relationship with consumers, helping Warner’s sales of DVDs and other merchandise, Mr Tsujihara said.
Mr Tsujihara refused to disclose the value of the Turbine acquisition, but said it was of a similar size to other recent deals by Warner, which has invested in Rocksteady Studios, TT Games, Snowblind Studios and others. “This is a much more strategic investment than all the others,” he said: “This cuts across all the games we have.”
This article explains what they're after if you can read between the lines.
Yay, one of the last great indie developers dies today. Perhaps a moment of silence is in order.
You got that right, it is a sad day in the world of mmo's
Well I know Time Warner, invested like 40 mill for the, super secret project that Turbine is working on, so who knows, Harry Potter ?
And DDO, has made a huge come back, I just hope warner is smart enough to let Turbine do what they do best, but it never seems to happen, I am just glad SOE did not buy them..:)
I hope turbine learn from there previous mistakes with microsoft and get a better relationship with WB with making games.
But seeing this article its more about making more money selling more movie DVD'S and hoping for more micro transactions then actually making better games:(
With WB breathing in there neck now im not sure if turbine stays that independed anymore making games.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009..... In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
They don't have microtransactions in LOTRO at the moment do they? I give it 3 months..
Somehow I'm glad I play LotR on CodeMasters. They didn't implement DDO micro transactions yet, and I hope they won't for LotR as well then
Considering DDO in Europe hasn't adopted the same model as the US you may well be in luck. From what I've read about how the deal between WB and Turbine is structured, well I think it's safe to say they will be pushing for every $$.
This is obviously very bad news for Turbine fans and players.
1. The bottom line is now top priority. Raise revenues, lower costs, come hell or high water. While that's true for all businesses, in the case of MMOs this will undoubtedly lead to short-sighted decision-making.
2. Part of the MMO profits will go to subsidize not only development of other games, but completely different business units withing WB. The MMOs will have to start "doing more with less".
3. Decisions about the games are ultimately going to be made by executives at a multi-media conglomerate. Turbine execs will obviously offer recommendations, but Turbine now needs to take strategic marching orders from WB executives. Someone other than game developers will determine the game's future direction.
By all accounts, this is the beginning of the end for Turbine. At least they had a good run and put out some quality games.
EDIT: I wonder if / hope that this move will ultimately end up benefiting 38 Studios, which isn't too far geographically from Turbine. They'll probably be in a good position to pick up Turbine talent who find themselves out of work after cost-cutting by the WB, as well as maybe snag a few folks who don't want to be a part of WB Microtransaction Studios.
I'm assuming mmorpg.com mean Time Warner in this article as they have many subsidiary companys such as Warner Bros. Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Home Video, New Line Cinema, TheWB.com, and DC Comics.
If so I remember a lot of the arguments being made in these forums being made around the same time they took over DC Comics and their influence ended up being possative and did'nt really effect the qualitly of their output either way . So i would'nt say its automatically a bad thing that Turbine has been sold to them . They arnt Sony Entertainment after all .
Comments
Or it could be an excuse to release half-finished games, cut back on development staff, real money shops galore, and hyping games so high for box sales that they fail dismally to meet expectations.
Just look at the last game to be produced under the influence of giant cash bonuses for meeting targeted financial goals: http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/352
Corporations are fundamentally lazy. Which will they do? Try to earn customer satisfaction while producing high quality games, or cut as many corners as possible in an effort to get the big bucks? One takes more effort, one takes a lot less effort.
My first reaction to this news is not apprpriate for younger readers...
I love LotRO... I've finally tried and now really enjoy, for very different reasons, DDO. The only thing that makes me hesitate to try the grandaddy game, AC, is the graphics, but now...?
This may be a great financial development for the folks at Turbine, but for the players, my first reaction still feels the most appropriate.
Anyone for B5 Online????
Now there's an idea.
Ah well, Turbine held out for so long. It was inevitable i guess considering the current financial world.
If they do it right, a Looney Tunes MMORPG might not be all that bad.
Being a B5 fanboy, I'll be all over that and it can't be no worst then then STO. How about a Jeremiah MMRPG, which is by the same creater which was also made by Time Warner?
Or it means they have to cut back on expenses. This sentence does not really says anything and you can not really learn a lot from it. Also no "power to the people" if the game does not meet demand WB will just pull the plug.
Doesn't Warner Brothers own the Harry Potter ip ? Hmmm....
Yes, but I don't want to even think about what you're thinking about. I hate the Harry Potter, the books and the movie, and would hate to see it made into a game
Yeah I'm not crazy about Harry either.
I always though that no country for old men was actually widely popular among teenagers.
Anyway, the company was in similiar situation with Microsoft years ago - that lead to the disastrous AC2. Turbine was never really a good dev studio in my eyes, so this isn't such a catastrophy. It surely won't make Lotro-players happy about the game's future, but well..., it probably can't get any worse either.
REALITY CHECK
I was shocked by the news and have the same fears as you.
On the other hand, Turbine might have taken this strategic step to develop Rohan. My guess is that that'll take a lot of resources, and the release of Siege of Mirkwood showed that Turbine is short on money already (else they'd make it a boxed and bigger expansion).
As with the fear of others. I hope WB will let Turbine do what they're good at and not interfear in the general development of their games. If WB does that (and they surely will, since they do that in all their subsediaries) we might loose our gem
Warner buys Turbine for micro-payment push
(article on financial times for registered users)
By Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson in New York
Published: April 20 2010 23:55
Warner Bros is buying North America’s largest independent online gaming studio in an effort to spread its social networking and micro-payments technology across its video games and home video business.
The acquisition of Turbine, the group behind Dungeons & Dragons Online and the hit multiplayer online game based on Warner’s Lord of the Rings film franchise, brings technology capable of charging small sums for swords and spells as players progress through a game, chatting with friends or posting scores to social networking sites.
The Time Warner-owned film studio said it increasingly sees personal computers and games consoles, such as Sony’s PlayStation 3, as alternative routes into customers’ living rooms alongside the televisions and DVD players on which it has traditionally depended.
“Where the trends are dragging us towards is looking at 3D opportunities and going direct to the consumer. The connected consoles are really a path to the home in a way that could become a meaningful distribution platform for us,” said Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner’s home entertainment group.
Although Turbine’s games are online, and some are free to download, its technology would allow Warner to add “connectivity, micro-transactions and community” features to all its console games. “These online games are almost an excuse to keep in touch. People will make appointments to get on a game at a certain time,” he said.
Mr Tsujihara said Warner saw opportunities to use such technologies to boost home entertainment revenues for its core film business. “Ultimately it has the potential to be the engine for B2C [business to consumer] relations for all of Warner Bros,” he said.
Warner could charge players to update film-themed games with more content once a new film is released, helping to tackle the threat of the second-hand market by persuading consumers to hold on to each game for longer.
Such franchise games also create a deeper relationship with consumers, helping Warner’s sales of DVDs and other merchandise, Mr Tsujihara said.
Mr Tsujihara refused to disclose the value of the Turbine acquisition, but said it was of a similar size to other recent deals by Warner, which has invested in Rocksteady Studios, TT Games, Snowblind Studios and others. “This is a much more strategic investment than all the others,” he said: “This cuts across all the games we have.”
This article explains what they're after if you can read between the lines.
http://www.turbine.com/news/99-warner-bros-home-entertainment-group-acquires-turbine-inc.html
REALITY CHECK
Hmm intriguing, intriguing...
I wonder what's on WB's mind. What's up DOC? Don't you DARE Kiww the wabbit!
You got that right, it is a sad day in the world of mmo's
Well I know Time Warner, invested like 40 mill for the, super secret project that Turbine is working on, so who knows, Harry Potter ?
And DDO, has made a huge come back, I just hope warner is smart enough to let Turbine do what they do best, but it never seems to happen, I am just glad SOE did not buy them..:)
Will have to see what the future holds..
BestSigEver :P
I hope turbine learn from there previous mistakes with microsoft and get a better relationship with WB with making games.
But seeing this article its more about making more money selling more movie DVD'S and hoping for more micro transactions then actually making better games:(
With WB breathing in there neck now im not sure if turbine stays that independed anymore making games.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009.....
In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
R.I.P Turbine
The last independant MMO game developer.
Turbine was the best MMO developer company in last years. And probably my last hope for MMO genre.
This is bad news indeed. And it most likely spells the end of last bastion of traditional MMO.
Sad...
They don't have microtransactions in LOTRO at the moment do they? I give it 3 months..
Somehow I'm glad I play LotR on CodeMasters. They didn't implement DDO micro transactions yet, and I hope they won't for LotR as well then
Considering DDO in Europe hasn't adopted the same model as the US you may well be in luck. From what I've read about how the deal between WB and Turbine is structured, well I think it's safe to say they will be pushing for every $$.
This is obviously very bad news for Turbine fans and players.
1. The bottom line is now top priority. Raise revenues, lower costs, come hell or high water. While that's true for all businesses, in the case of MMOs this will undoubtedly lead to short-sighted decision-making.
2. Part of the MMO profits will go to subsidize not only development of other games, but completely different business units withing WB. The MMOs will have to start "doing more with less".
3. Decisions about the games are ultimately going to be made by executives at a multi-media conglomerate. Turbine execs will obviously offer recommendations, but Turbine now needs to take strategic marching orders from WB executives. Someone other than game developers will determine the game's future direction.
By all accounts, this is the beginning of the end for Turbine. At least they had a good run and put out some quality games.
EDIT: I wonder if / hope that this move will ultimately end up benefiting 38 Studios, which isn't too far geographically from Turbine. They'll probably be in a good position to pick up Turbine talent who find themselves out of work after cost-cutting by the WB, as well as maybe snag a few folks who don't want to be a part of WB Microtransaction Studios.
I'm assuming mmorpg.com mean Time Warner in this article as they have many subsidiary companys such as Warner Bros. Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Home Video, New Line Cinema, TheWB.com, and DC Comics.
If so I remember a lot of the arguments being made in these forums being made around the same time they took over DC Comics and their influence ended up being possative and did'nt really effect the qualitly of their output either way . So i would'nt say its automatically a bad thing that Turbine has been sold to them . They arnt Sony Entertainment after all .
It may even be a good thing .
All I can say is I been warning folks this game was headed for the trash heap. Even since mom rolled out we been seing a stead decline in numbers.
If turbine was making money the would not have needed to sell out, so this proves they reached the insolvent state.
I just hope that Warner can fix LOTRO, as turbnie made amess of it.