Introversion: "2008 was disastrous year"
"The first major problem was Microsoft."
Introversion's creative backbone Chris Delay has declared that "2008 was a disastrous year" for the developer.
"By all accounts, 2008 was a disastrous year for Introversion, characterised by an incredibly positive start and a noticeable increase in ambition, but not a single genuine success throughout the whole year," writes Delay on the Introversion blog.
"There was only one bit of good news - that we survived the whole year without laying anybody off or closing the company."
Delay began the year with a full development slate. Multiwinia for PC/Mac and Darwinia+ for Xbox 360 (a mixture of Darwinia and Multiwinia) were scheduled for a simultaneous launch. Pinnacle Software (which recently went bust) had agreed to publish a DS version of Defcon, and Channel 4 had commissioned a project that would be "by far our most outrageous game design yet", he says. Plus there was Subversion: the "project that really excited" Delay.
"The first major problem was Microsoft," explains the lead designer and developer of all Introversion games. "I want to be clear that in hindsight, we believe Microsoft were absolutely correct in the calls they made, and we were wrong. But at the time, oh my God they were pissing us off."
Microsoft ordered massive redesigns to Darwinia+, covering menus, squad command and even game modes. "It was the first time a massive company had effectively told Introversion what to do," Delay reveals, "And we didn't like that at all."
The solution: putting the Xbox 360 version on the "back-burner" and soldering on with Multiwinia on PC. (Darwinia+ now carries a release date of 29th September 2009, according to the official site.)
Delay then got to work on Subversion and was very happy. But Channel 4 project Chronometer soon kicked in and he had to divert his attention.
"Ultimately there was only one choice for me - I had to summon my professional alter-ego and give up on Subversion altogether," rues Delay. "It was actually very professionally done in the end, something to be proud of. But internally I felt the project was considerably less interesting than Subversion."
Multiwinia was finished in time for a July/August launch, but previews of the final code went awry, with journalists eventually confessing that the controls were rubbish.
Redesigns followed and pushed everything back by a month, but the game came out, scored 8/10 on Eurogamer, and Introversion sat back ready to reap the rewards.
But the smiles were short-lived, as the eerie silence of a self-built sales ticker forebode during the launch party.
We'll have to wait until later to find out more, however, as Delay hopes to publish the final part of the three-post recollection this afternoon. Perhaps the whereabouts of Chronometer and the Multiwinia sales will be explained in it.
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Comments (30) Latest comment 3 years ago
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Still, shame that a talented original developer had so many problems.
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Uplink - amazing.
Darwinia - even better (high point)
Defcon - Okay
Multiwinia - a little disappointing (low point)
I keep an eye on the site now and again, the new project (subversion) looks promising... I hope they can return to form with it.
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Kinda takes the "independent" out of "indie" though.
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Yes it all sounds like they are less 'Indie' now unfortunately. It would be nice if they get good sales from this allowing for funding for imaginitve, innovative and entertaining future projects... and if MS are too pushy, afterwards re-consider the PC - or even the other big 3 - PS3, Wiiware or iPhone. Surely the Apple and their app store are fairly liberal on what they allow through?
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Its a must buy for me when it finally ships.
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Kinda takes the "independent" out of "indie" though.
Indie doesn't necessarily mean 'good'.
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I bought all titles but Multiwina because to me it was a re-hash of Darwinia.
My copy of Uplink is a burned cd they sent me when they were still small and only had a forum as means to communicate to the world.
I also didn't buy Defcon full price because it lacked "game" to me. It's more of a statement (In Nuclear War there will be no winners!) but got it when it was a Weekend Deal on Steam.
I hope that they start again focusing on original ideas that made them big and not simply a Uplink 2: Revenge of THE MAN.
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If Microsoft were right, than they weren't the problem I think.
No, but it's a tag-line intended to draw the slavering fanboy hordes like flies to shit.
Seems more their inability or unwillingness to listen to their vastly more experienced publisher was the problem. The "they can't tell us what to do" knee-jerk reaction is often a problem with small or new companies.
@UncleLou
Kinda takes the "independent" out of "indie" though.
Yes, by definition signing up to a major publisher means you're no longer indie.
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The moment you go big and go for consoles, that is pretty much a given, isn't it?
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Indie doesn't necessarily mean 'good'.
Of course it doesn't.
Yes, by definition signing up to a major publisher means you're no longer indie.
Does that mean anything on XBLA is published by MS, and they have the final say on the content? Serious question, I don't know it, but find that idea pretty horrible. I thought it was more of a, well, independent platform with MS checking the technical functionality, but not game modes(!)
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As far as I', aware MS does not even review the code, at least judging by the disclaimer wich is shown every time you download a game from the XNA Markerplace.
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btw, and not that anyone cares, but still... Just bought Virtual On and Maw's last DLC, 1st time I used the "browser to buy stuff" feature. Woot?
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The lack of a Multiwinia demo hurt, I think. Besides that, the lack of advertising? It reviewed well IIRC.
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Really want to see them pick up, dust off and think about making a game with more substance. Keep the style, just put a game in there.
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How is it disingenuous when it's a direct quote from the blog post in question?
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I purchased defcon and uplink. Uplink is my favourite, but still not anywhere near neuromancer..now that was a hacking game!If someone could put the production values on to a proper hacking game with some of the depth of Neuromancer, then I would be first in line to buy!
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Not at all, it just means they should listen to some constructive criticism and leave their indie egos at home.
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They are very interesting developers however , its just a shame that not much of note has been done by them lately and if there is then I am unaware of it.
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No doubt their sales ticker didn't count the number of copies floating around the Pirate Bay...
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