There's a rumor in Gamespot's rumor control that:

 

RUMOR #7: Troika Games, the independent developer behind Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines and The Temple of Elemental Evil, has shut down.

 

Source: The Quarter to Three Forums , home of enlightened gaming discourse.

 

The official story: See below.

 

What we heard: While many independent developers are enjoying success (i.e. BioWare, Obsidian Entertainment), others are not faring as well. This week, word surfaced that indie shop Troika Games, which was founded by several former Fallout developers and Interplay castaways, had fallen on hard times--so hard that, by some reports, it was closing its doors. So GameSpot went to the man himself, co-CEO and co-founder Leonard Boyarsky, to find out what's what. Boyarsky then gave us this cryptic answer: "We are basically perusing some options...after the beginning of February, we'll be making a statement." So, for now, they're still in business. But with February less than a week away, that could change soon.

 

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus for now.

What have sales of Bloodline been like? I hope this is not the case as talented houses like Troika only serve to increase the quality of games and challenge the envelope.

Would it really be a suprise if they did shut down? After three insanely buggy, often poorly designed games, I'd say it's about time they went under.

 

You can only live off of the past and fanboy hype (TROIKA INVENTED TEH FALLOUT!!1!) for so long.

So GameSpot went to the man himself, co-CEO and co-founder Leonard Boyarsky, to find out what's what. Boyarsky then gave us this cryptic answer: "We are basically perusing some options...after the beginning of February, we'll be making a statement."

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that statement, if you read something in to it, doesnt sound like good news for troika.

Troika did several things wrong. It tried to do an independent game first. As much as I dislike it, but Obsidian's approach was much more sound. Secondly it got into contracts that it couldn't complete a game in. ToEE was evident of that. Secondly it tried to work on a fourth game without a secured publsiher for it.

word coming in is that it is true and mass layoffs have already occured

Damn.

 

Then I guess I won't work there after all.

I wonder how the Cain fanboys at RPG Codex are taking it? I do feel bad for Tim though. Hey, I wonder if he and his crew knows that Bethesda is hiring peeps for Fallout 3. :D

 

Now, wouldn't that be ironic.

Why don't you go to the Codex and check for yourself? You weren't banned there, were you?

I wasn't banned but I know I am unwanted there. I know I can be a crass jackarse jerk but some of those peeps over there go a tad bit overboard for my tastes.

The Codex, of course, is laying most of the blame on the three different publisher.

 

As for the actual posisble bad news, it's kinda too bad. I did enjoy 2 out of 3 of Troika's games inspite of any problems with them. Alas, Troika only has themselves and possibly their delusional fanboys to blame.

 

R00fles!

Some businesses make and some don't. Like I said before in an earlier dicussion we had, Volourn, in order to keep a business like this going you want to make sure you have the licenses to make sure fire hits like Obsidian did. Then work on your pet projects.

Some businesses make and some don't.  Like I said before in an earlier dicussion we had, Volourn, in order to keep a business like this going you want to make sure you have the licenses to make sure fire hits like Obsidian did.  Then work on your pet projects.

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isnt vampires considered a sure fire hit? i would have thought vampires is just as much a "household name" as kotor or nwn.

Some businesses make and some don't.  Like I said before in an earlier dicussion we had, Volourn, in order to keep a business like this going you want to make sure you have the licenses to make sure fire hits like Obsidian did.  Then work on your pet projects.

 

isnt vampires considered a sure fire hit? i would have thought vampires is just as much a "household name" as kotor or nwn.

Ask 50 random people on the street. How many of these names do you recognise ? 1) Star Wars 2) Dungeons & Dragons 3) Vampire the Masquerade.

 

My bet is, most recognise Star Wars. Many will have heard of Dungeons & Dragons. An insignificant few will have heard of Vampire the Masquerade (probably saw the TV series)

Even with all its flaws AoSAMO is my favorite role-playing game. It would be a shame for Troika to die without making a sequel or something similiar to it. I had as much fun with D&D:TToEE - ACGA as I had with IWD2 and VtM:B is overall about as good as KotOR. Troika has proved that they can make intriguing storylines (Arcanum and maybe Bloodlines), good combat (TToEE), interesting NPCs (Arcanum and Bloodlines), atmospheric areas (Arcanum, Bloodlines) and role-playing options (Arcanum, some parts of Bloodlines and TToEE because of its non-linearity and multiple endings).

I hope they'll at least sell the TOEE engine before folding. That's a great engine to make future isometric DnD games.

Well, I should point out that there isn't anything solid (then again I'm not hitting the PMs like the old days, so there might be something out there), but afaik everyone is beating around the bush and/or giving negitive hints when asked about it.

 

Not sounding good.

Not good news/rumour. I hope everything works out OK for them.

Would hate to lose another RPG developer. I mostly enjoyed the games they made.

 

Todays financial evironment makes it really hard to be an independant developer though. A company needs some kind of cash-cow slash trademark that is popular and recognized, to ensure a decent ROI.

 

Why do we see so many sequels, remakes and licensed movie IP nowadays?

Exactly because making something new or original is a hit or miss scenario economically. Especially with rising costs of development and increasing manhours.

Making games for a living has always been a challenge. Nowadays its downright risky.

That is why Troika should have tried to score licensed games first instead of making Arcanum. If they did that we might still have them around.

Looks like I won't be buying their latest Vampire game afterall... "

That is why Troika should have tried to score licensed games first instead of making Arcanum.  If they did that we might still have them around.

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i think troikas problem (or a small part of it) was the reputation they earned for making buggy games. perhaps they should have spent more time making a stable game and less time trying to do out-of-this-world things with their games.

That is why Troika should have tried to score licensed games first instead of making Arcanum.  If they did that we might still have them around.

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i think troikas problem (or a small part of it) was the reputation they earned for making buggy games. perhaps they should have spent more time making a stable game and less time trying to do out-of-this-world things with their games.

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Mmm, nah - it's the licencing. Obsidian's first game was arguably as buggy if not more than any of Troika's games. But the reason TSL was a success whilst Troika's games tanked was all because of the licencing.

Mmm, nah - it's the licencing.  Obsidian's first game was arguably as buggy if not more than any of Troika's games.  But the reason TSL was a success whilst Troika's games tanked was all because of the licencing.

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to be honest, i dont think thats the case. in most reviews, they dont really talk about any major bugs with kotor2. they mention the slowdowns and framerate issues, but i havent read any that comment on the major game stoppers. in contrast, i think every thing ive read of vampires talks about the game stopping bugs and the horrible framerates.

 

add to the fact troika already had a reputation for buggy games and little to no support and that might have been the straw that broke the camels back.

to be honest, i dont think thats the case.  in most reviews, they dont really talk about any major bugs with kotor2.  they mention the slowdowns and framerate issues, but i havent read any that comment on the major game stoppers.  in contrast, i think every thing ive read of vampires talks about the game stopping bugs and the horrible framerates.

 

add to the fact troika already had a reputation for buggy games and little to no support and that might have been the straw that broke the camels back.

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Just because the reviews don't mention them, doesn't mean they're not there.

 

Here's a thread outlining bugs/glithces which is probably longer than most TSL reviews - and this is just ONE thread of out dozens :

 

http://forums.obsidianent.com/index.php?showtopic=26928

Vampire: Blooadlines at Gamerankings.com 80%

KOTOR 2 at GAmerankings.com 85%

 

so not much difference in the overall critical success of either game. I believe Troika's problem is that they pissed alot of money into technology research for the PA game while counting on receiving royalties from bloodlines. When HL2 delayed bloodlines it also pushed back when they would start seeing money from it. in short, they screwed themselves.