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Rime: Microsoft rejected Tequila Works game before it became PS4 exclusive
- Thread starter DarkLordMalik
- Start date
BlazingDarkness
Member
What an insightful post this is.
dragonelite
Member
Its does have an special art style tbh.
But not something i would run to store to get an ps4 for.
Fushichou187
Member
Well people seem to be talking this game up like crazy. When you read the article it says they need 3 million plus an additional 40k to put on MS devices and the game wouldn't be completed for another two years.
I'm sure when it came down to it MS doesn't seem like it would be a good investment and I really don't think a game like this would sell all that well.
I would have rejected this proposal too.
From the trailer I thought Rime was going to be a relatively focused and beautiful singleplayer adventure game with puzzles and unique traversal elements. Open-world ICO, perhaps.
The game they're actually proposing sounds like a snooze -- scavenge, craft, and build stuff during the day, then night falls and it plays like a tower defense/combat game.
If that is still the game they want to make, I have no idea why they cut the trailer to make it look like something completely different. I have no idea how the tower defense stuff is going to fit in with a world that looks so primitive and simple. Is the player character going to start building turrets, catapults, and other automated devices?
From the trailer I thought Rime was going to be a relatively focused and beautiful singleplayer adventure game with puzzles and unique traversal elements. Open-world ICO, perhaps.
The game they're actually proposing sounds like a snooze -- scavenge, craft, and build stuff during the day, then night falls and it plays like a tower defense/combat game.
If that is still the game they want to make, I have no idea why they cut the trailer to make it look like something completely different. I have no idea how the tower defense stuff is going to fit in with a world that looks so primitive and simple. Is the player character going to start building turrets, catapults, and other automated devices?
Triggerhappytel
Member
This was their initial pitch when the game was in design phase. 24 months from scratch does not seem like an unrealistic amount of time.
SEGAvangelist
Member
Killer Instinct is awesome and Crytek is an established developer. I also find Ryse to be a much better game than Deadlight. Rime does look cool to me, though. It also looks like a Sony game, so I think it's a good fit.
Crytek weren't though, if you consider their initial studio who was tasked with Ryse, they'd just come off Crysis Warhead, certainly amongst the best PC shooters ever.
SEGAvangelist
Member
Double Helix didn't pitch a new IP. MS was already looking to develop KI and looked at multiple studios. Double Helix presented the best demo I believe.
Fine, ignore Crytek to really drive the point home.
It still stands. Bringing up the quality of Deadlight is moot -- we know why the project was rejected.
Wait, what's the argument here? That it's a new IP, or that it was rejected because of their previous game?
Black Mantis
Member
Yet they bought Press Play, who developed Max: Curse of The Brotherhood, which doesn't feature guns...
SEGAvangelist
Member
Also doesn't include micro-transactions!
What a short-sighted post. The video shown of Rime clearly indicates working elements for the game, and a very strong art style in a genre that is huge right now (survival/exploration).
Microsoft is so out of touch with the consumer, it's crazy.
TetraGenesis
Member
Which is confirmed only timed exclusive right?
I'm not arguing either, I just didn't think it was really fair to suggest Warhead is bad and MS took a risk on the studio regardless.
MS probably get hundreds of pitches, even if they liked it, they only have a certain release and marketing bandwidth, and if a game is notably outside of their current focus, even if it's cool, they'd be less inclined to pick it up. I don't think this is a controversial decision or anything.
Regardless, either the game has completely changed, or the trailer we all gushed over wasn't at all representative of the nature of the game anyway, so presumably Sony didn't actually pick up this pitch either.
SEGAvangelist
Member
Also, isn't Sony heavily involved with providing support with this game's development? That could certainly change the direction of the game. Who knows what the art looked like initially? Like I wrote earlier, this just looks like a good fit for Sony.
Fushichou187
Member
It's definitely fair to point out the amount requested in light of how much longer they were asking for development time. Even though MS is Uncle Moneybags over there in Redmond, it might have seemed like too big of a risk.
As to your assertion that you don't think a game like this will sell well. I wholeheartedly disagree. Thanks in part to great console exclusive indies on all platforms last gen, as well as ports of critically lauded titles that made their debut on PC, the console market has never been more accommodating to indie games. Maybe when this pitch was made MS didn't think indies would play that big of a role in the coming generation, but anyone that looks at these new consoles and thinks this gen is going to be won by bombastic AAA titles alone is fooling themselves. Unless Rime is DOA, this game will sell well. Hell, at this point given the dearth of available software, even if it sucks it will still probably sell well.
Yup.
They also have Twisted Pixel, and they continue working very closely with Remedy. Then they're getting behind games like D4 and Below.
There's probably more to the story than what's been presented. Whatever the case, this game seems a better fit for the Playstation audience than the Xbox audience.
LookAtMeGo
Member
I think this is the problem.
This kind of stupid attitude is part of the reason why Xbox is falling behind. There's no passion for new experiences because they think people just want to play Shootbang IV: Modern Shootbang and nothing else. They don't take a chance on anything. Meanwhile PS owners get stuff like Journey, Unfinished Swan, Rain, etc.
Well taking chances on everything that comes across isn't good business. They pick what will be successful and they have been pretty good at picking where to spend their money. Not sure what the problem is. Business reasons they chose not to buy it.
maquiladora
Member
Who can reject this beauty?
Not enough #social connectedness. Sry.
RedNumberFive
Banned
They both cater to the tastes of their audience.
SEGAvangelist
Member
It's too bad Crimson Dragon and Max didn't come out. It's also too bad I can't look forward to Super Time Force, Below, and D4. Oh wait...
Both consoles have risky games that have been released or are in development. Give it up with your one-sided narrative. Sony has shown more willingness to support smaller developers and indies lately, but that doesn't mean MS refuses to take risks.
How's that working out for them now? They need exclusives like this. They can't rely on third party games anymore. Taking almost no risks and sticking with what's popular doesn't exactly help the industry grow as a whole and it certainly doesn't expand their audience.
dragonelite
Member
Its does sounds like your average rpg or openworld adventure game.
But dat artstyle its something new.
Pretty much this. No wonder Sony said they need more of these games since Nintendo is having issues.
Can we stop with this nonsense already? HS did well for what it was at the time.
I suppose it might have been a big mistake on MS's part, but that involves a lot of assumptions. It assumes the game they offered MS was substantially the same game that's going to come out on the PS4. It assumes that 3 million+ would have been the end of the costs, which we won't know until it actually comes out and someone lets us know how much it cost. It assumes the game will be good -- which is a fairly big assumption given the history of the dev (Deadlight) and what we've seen so far. Rime LOOKS gorgeous, but there's minimal indication of gameplay in the media I've seen.
And finally, the big one, it assumes that Rime is going to be a financial success, which is anyone's guess at this point.
And finally, the big one, it assumes that Rime is going to be a financial success, which is anyone's guess at this point.
Hmm that's a good point.
Didn't Phil Harrison say they're spending a billion dollars on games for the XB1? I am sure you'll see MS pump out more exclusives and securing more games this generation, especially if they are behind Sony in the U.S.
SEGAvangelist
Member
Interesting tweet. Guess Phil Spencer regrets the decision?
https://twitter.com/XboxP3/status/436186344558034944
https://twitter.com/XboxP3/status/436186344558034944
KZObsessed
Member
I hope it still has crafting/Rpg elements. Love that shit.
More shocking is the passing on guitar hero. Insane. Didn't know that. Would of been good money for them as an exclusive. But I'm sure they still made a killing.
I miss guitar hero
Steverulez
Member
Not really a surprise when they look at how the game has been received and looks so far, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it would have been the same game if it was published but MS.
Yeah XBLA is filled with Shootbang IV: Modern Shootbangs...do you have any idea what the XBLA library looks like and what deals MS has made? I'm pretty sure that you don't have a clue.
If you're talking solely about Xbone it's too early to tell what 3rd party exclusive deals they've made on the indie side of things since they haven't announced any deals yet except the already known D4 & Below. Do these games look like they are for the dudebro audience in your opinion?
Karak
Member
If most others had tweeted that I wouldn't believe them but Spencer is failry honest and his desire to see the game regardless of his own regret is pretty cool. No ignoring, just ya bad on us, lets play it on whatever it comes out on.
I seriously could see the dude working at any of the companies and doing well.
Miles Quaritch
Member
It clearly was. I still remember how much hype there was after the debut trailer for Deadlight. (which still looks great)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9H4YH0v5Mk
And then we got debut gameplay, which looked even better...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAFIGXyC2uc
And then we finally got to play the game...
digoutyoursoul
Member
More shocking is the passing on guitar hero. Insane. Didn't know that. Would of been good money for them as an exclusive. But I'm sure they still made a killing.
I miss guitar hero
They were originally offered GTA 3 for the original Xbox and turned it down, then backtracked when they saw the PS2 sales.
LowerLevel
Member
Neither does State of Decay. Hmm...
Well, only sort of. It depends on what kind of return MS looks for as a baseline for their releases, but even if the budget extended to $4M, maybe another two million for marketing, localization and international ratings submissions, if it sold for $30, you'd only need to sell 250k to comfortably make a profit, which doesn't seem like much a challenge.
I think the bigger issue was it just didn't fit into their purview at the time.