Ben-DutkaThe studio that brought you PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is no longer under Sony's umbrella.
Sony and Superbot Entertainment have parted ways , even though the split was amicable and the developer is looking forward to the future.
Sony has confirmed that Superbot is now independent and can go its own way:
"Sony Computer Entertainment can confirm that the working agreement with developer Superbot Entertainment has amicably ended. We have had a positive working relationship with this talented studio, and wish them the best of success in their next endeavor. PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale and the title's forthcoming DLC releases will continue to be fully supported by Santa Monica Studio."
Superbot director of operations David Yang said they won't be reducing its staff but things could change, as it's "unlikely" they'll be able to keep their current work force for a significant period of time. And here's the official statement from the PlayStation All-Stars creators:
"Superbot Entertainment can confirm that the relationship with SCEA has ended on good terms. We are extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to work on with Sony on Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale, and are extremely proud of the work we have done. Superbot Entertainment will continue working on projects that reflect our passion for games and our commitment to creating award winning titles. We are very excited about beginning the next chapter of our future and invite all of our fans and supporters to follow our journey."
Best of luck to all the guys at Superbot!
I wonder how the sales were.
+1 here
They sound like politicians who are being quietly removed from cabinet positions, they all wanted to spend more time with their children…
Seriously, both parties are at such pains to tell us how amicably things ended, it seems more likely that is what they would *like* us to believe. Which makes me wonder what really happened.
Maybe someone should ask Sony Liverpool..
or Eat Sleep Play….
or Nihilistic….
or Sanzaru….
or The Workshop….
or Lightbox and Idol Minds.
There is a pattern there.
hehe good point. Perhaps only Ninja THeory ever revealed what really happened with their fallout.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 2/5/2013 12:52:41 AM
Exactly, High and Bona. This only raises more questions than it answers.
It's on moments like these one really miss someone doing actual journalism in the gaming press.
I'm not talking about psxe here, but a real media organization with the capacity and expertise to do journalism. Someone who could look past the press releases and marketing executives, knock on some doors and ask some questions.
This case is just laying there, waiting to be picked up!
Last edited by Beamboom on 2/5/2013 1:11:59 AM
Tell you what though guys, if the net result is that Sony retrenches it's 2nd party devs in Japan, and enhances the 1st party devs in Japan, I won't worry too much about these developments in the west.
That said, SCEA/SCEE in particular seems to have lost the plot when it comes to 1st and 2nd party development. So perhaps it's not so much SCEJ/SCEI actively retrenching, perhaps it's simply SCEA/SCEE taking their eye off the ball?
Sanzaru games was never owned by Sony, nihilistic killed themselves with the crap games they made. It is business, if they don't make the money they aren't going to keep supporting them. Most of those companies games have sadly not sold anywhere close to 1 million. How hard is that to believe? David Jaffe has always loved, and still does, the relationship he built with Sony. They have helped him and have not pressured him into making a game he didn't want to.
@Temjin
Ninja theory was pissed at Sony and its fans for not making the dough on the game. Heavenly sword was originally going to be on the Xbox before Sony saved their asses for mismanaging their money. Their development costs were high. Reason being was that they would lose their IP and they did, but Sony put their money in believing that this ip would sell well and it didn't.
Didn't play the game, because that's not my forte. I have tried so hard to like these arcade fighting games, but its the one genre i stray away from. This should have sold like hot cakes, being the only exclusive game for the holidays. But it seems that didn't happen, otherwise Sony and Superbot would have re-married instead of filing for divorce. Oh well, they tried, and now i no longer have to worry about Sony spending there resources on games like these. Hip, Hip, Hooray!!!!!!!!!!
According to VG Chartz, it hasn't even cracked 500K. Sony ranges from having good to amazing exclusives, but there really isn't much advertising for their games, nor do the fans get into the exclusives as much for whatever reason.
Uncharted, Killzone and Little Big Planet are the only franchises this gen to have multiple sequels sell over 2 million units that are sony exclusives (to my knowledge).
Heavy Rain, MGS4, GOW III, GT5 and the first inFamous cracked that point and MGS4 and GT5 each sold over 5 million. But so many exclusives like Starhawk, this game, SOCOM4 and so many others have just fallen flat unfortunately.
PS All Stars is a really good game, and deserved far better sales. I feel bad for Superbot.
GT5 Prolog/GT5.
Considering the install base all of these games sell peanuts. Compared to something like Halo or gears of war on the 360. It is funny that so many ps3 fanboys list all the ps3 exclusives like they are big deals but guess what, they really aren't. Why? Look at their sales? Compare them to something like COD, which you can purchase on the 360, and you can see how disappointing this crap is. No wonder so many studios close because of "fans" who refuse to buy good games.
… But are they really that good, Sawao, if fans refuse to buy them?
Last edited by Beamboom on 2/5/2013 6:15:37 AM
I guess you'll never know unless you tried them huh?
sawao, halo and gears don't sell well because their stellar, but because the 360 has no other exclusives. I've played each one and just like CoD, its the same crap over and over. Just because a game sells 500k doesn't mean its a crappy game. Not everyone has infinite money to go out and buy every game thats released. If someone has to choose between Uncharted and PS all stars what do you think their going to choose. Fanboying the 360 here is ridiculous.
So, I didn't know uncharted released with playstation all stars, news to me. Just because you don't consider them good doesn't mean they are. Halo Reach is the best in the series and so is Gears of War 3. Also, because it sells 500k or less it can be considered a failure and that is why these developers are losing business. Then when these developers close down people cheer that they won't make games or unhappy that they won't. It is lose lose and I am a big supporter of Superbot, I've met them and they are very cool guys and I believe their game is superior to Smash.
Sawao, sorry but that is a BS reply. So what you try to make me believe is that you buy *all* games released, cause after all you can't really know unless you tried them, huh?
We all buy games based on a combination of factors that all basically boils down to personal preferences.
And if most choose not to buy any given title, it is safe to say that title is lacking something.
Last edited by Beamboom on 2/5/2013 1:41:57 PM
so, the studio which $ony created, scowered the world for the most experienced minds and hands in the fighting genre, are axing them after ONE game?
eh, who could of thought this would of happened……….?
maybe, just maybe, $ony have FINALLY realized this silly obsession with becoming nintendo is NEVER going to happen!
nah, who am i fooling.