As noted and translated by Kotaku, French video game union Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo pinned blame on Nacon and its executives for the mismanagement of the studio, writing in a statement from March, “Their disdain for video game production and their incompetence actively sabotaged studios which were viable until their acquisition, and jeopardized projects with a high potential. The deterioration of working conditions in the last years, and the creation of new studios with the barely hidden goal of sabotaging existing ones, were already convoluted ways of reducing headcount and they only made matters worse.”
Just horrible. Spiders was a studio with a lot of heart and it always felt like it was just a matter of time until they’d hit a home run and make a game that isn’t just charming jank but genuinely good.
Developers need to stop selling out. It ALWAYS ends in their closures.
Like Bungie is maybe the one exception I can think of where they bought themselves back…before stupidly selling out yet again.
Independent developers are even more likely to close down. How many long-lasting independent studios can you name?
The fact of the matter is, the entire games business is an extremely risky and volatile one. A single flop can sink a well-established studio and great reception very much does not guarantee economic success.
On one hand, it’s sad to see another studio go, but on the other hand, Spiders have been producing almost entirely middling games for so long that blaming their misfortune on Nacon entirely seems a bit far-fetched. That said, everything I’ve heard about Nacon is the very opposite of what a publisher should be doing.
Admittedly, the last game from them I’ve personally played and not just read reviews of was Mars: War Logs, which was such a severe disappointment to me as a die-hard fan of Eurojank that I haven’t picked up anything else from them since. Nothing about it was good: It didn’t make up for the lack of budget (which I never hold against a game) with solid writing, engaging world-building, interesting gameplay, functional controls or a pleasant art style.
The first Greedfall is very passable eurojank imo. I had a good time with it. Definitely stretching the budget and talents of the team a bit thin, but it has a lot of heart and charm and I felt like the world building was solid. They get bonus points from me for consulting with actual linguists to create their fake language and make sure native island NPCs have consistent accents (which is better than whatever CDPR did with the Blood & Wine expansion for Witcher 3, but I digress).
That’s a shame, I really enjoyed Greedfall
My last game from them was Mars: War Logs, which I disliked so much (despite my love for Eurojank RPGs) that I have avoided them since. Should I take a look at this title? Review scores are obviously significantly better, but how are writing, world building and combat in your opinion?
I enjoyed Greedfall quite a bit too, admittedly it was a couple years ago so I’ve forgotten many details. But from what I can remember, the writing and world building were solid, but not the best ever. I really enjoyed the gameplay and combat though, it felt pretty fresh, and that’s what attracted me to the game in the first place.
