Huh. Martin Slater left. Howzabout that.

[Brian Damage]

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/28/2k...xcom-2k-respo/

This might have been featured elsewhere on the 2K forums, but since I never leave this one, I wouldn't know. Also, it hasn't been mentioned here as far as I'm aware, so I thought I might as well post it.

I wonder what this means for the new game? They say it hasn't changed the way they're working on it, but it doesn't say there haven't been changes to the game itself, and there are rumours flying around that it's been/being massivley re-tooled after the net-wide negative reaction.

[EDIT]: Okay, there was that one thread about "Who should be the new head developer", but I recall thinking that was just a prod at the development team at the time. I guess I should keep an eye on the news. Still, does anyone know if this was due to creative differences? Perhaps stress at being in charge of what could be one of the most disliked game projects of all time? Getting annoyed at Pelling for apparently liking the taste of feet?

[Shrike]

I just saw this recently, too, and I didn't know about it before. I've tried to keep up on things, but this one somehow eluded me, so you're not the only one. :P

Unfortunately, the 2K official response seems to be all that's there, and all we're ever going to get. It's also quite expected, not like a company is going to come forward and admit a lead dev left because he didn't like the direction of the game. XCOM has enough bad publicity. The scary part is, if what they say is true and 2K is continuing as planned, then rumors of changes may be greatly exaggerated. Hopefully they're not that determined to push this out in the state its in.

[Nosmirc]

I knew of this. Might have even commented on that topic, don't remember though. Too lazy to check lol.

I do find it curious that there are questions being raised if there are changes coming. Hopefully 2k has made note of this...(vain I know...)

[AlphaCent]

There's a real chance that turbulence in the dev team might cause the game to end up seriously handicapped. As much as i don't like XCOM, i feel bad for the people that lost their job because of it. Why did 2k go for such a...khm...conflict ridden path in spite of all the potential directions is beyond me.

Really guys, milking the franchise can be done in a less user unfriendly way. I haven't played Fallout 3 nor New Vegas, but i from what i heard New Vegas is pretty good. You just need to head in the right direction, which 50' era with blobs is not.

[Brian Damage]

One thing I am aware of is that the Aussie games industry is in a real slump at the moment due, ironically, to how well the Aussie dollar has been doing compared to the US dollar. It costs more US dollars for American publishers to hire Australian studios than it used to, so they're less likely to do so. That's how it was explained to me, anyway. I think more than a couple of studios have even been moving towards independent self-publishing.

So while I hate what they're doing to the name of X-Com, I kind of hope 2K Aus doesn't get downsized or shut down completely if the game tanks, because with money running dry over here, it's going to be hard for anyone out of a job to get hired again, and the guys on the bottom who are just doing the job that's put in front of them are always the first to be "let go".

[Shrike]

Yeah, that's true. While I admittedly really don't want this XCOM to be released from what I've seen, I wouldn't wish people to lose their jobs over it either. It's a tough spot. I'd be completely supportive of what they're proposing if all they did was add a link to the other X-COM games and say "Hey, this is a prequel!" I think that'd be awesome. It wouldn't require an entire rewrite I don't think. It may be a little tricky to pull off when X-COM was officially formed in 1999 or whatever, but still, having some sort of predecessor I don't think is totally out of line. They wouldn't even need a full cast of familiar races, toss one or two fan favorites in to make the link a little stronger... I'd get behind that even with the 50's setting.

Basically, my biggest fear and the most potential for disappointment would be never seeing a continuation of the original series in any form. A reimagining of X-COM is great, so long as the fundamental story remains the same. I've said it before, if 2K wants to do story driven X-COM games, one set in the First Alien War would be AMAZING. An FPS as an X-COM recruit during the early days? Doesn't even have to end at Cydonia, make a series. Early missions might be investigating sightings of UFOs, then an actual crash mission, followed sometime later by a terror mission and culminating with an alien base assault. So on and so forth. If you tossed research and base building in, even better. But if you're not toting it as X-COM 5 or whatever but instead as a spinoff, I wouldn't even be bothered by the lack of that. For the chance to walk around those creepy, dark alien bases in first person and end up face to face with a Reaper, I'd pay for that.

So much potential. Please, 2K, just use it. If you want a 50's X-COM, cool. I don't necessarily mind that. But build on the existing lore, there's plenty of room to fill in the holes, don't throw it all away. It'd just be a horrible and saddening waste.

[AlphaCent]

The only bright thing that will come out of XCOM if it succeeds, is that the bottom guys will stay employed. Despite being emotionally attached to X-com, i realize that a good job or any job for that matter is a rare commodity today if not luxury and by having employment trouble myself i admit X-com in the grand scheme of things, is just a game.

However that doesn't mean financial success and good gameplay are mutually exclusive. From the very beginning i stated that my major beef is with the fat cats up there making poor decisions.

[podtech115]

Yeah, that's true. While I admittedly really don't want this XCOM to be released from what I've seen, I wouldn't wish people to lose their jobs over it either. It's a tough spot. I'd be completely supportive of what they're proposing if all they did was add a link to the other X-COM games and say "Hey, this is a prequel!" I think that'd be awesome. It wouldn't require an entire rewrite I don't think. It may be a little tricky to pull off when X-COM was officially formed in 1999 or whatever, but still, having some sort of predecessor I don't think is totally out of line. They wouldn't even need a full cast of familiar races, toss one or two fan favorites in to make the link a little stronger... I'd get behind that even with the 50's setting.

Or, you know, they could, um, throw that dumb idea out the window, and make it into an anthology.

That way, you can still get your stupid '1999 X-COM' in 2k's XCOM 2 or 3.

[Shrike]

I don't think I'd classify using as much of the license they paid for as possible as a "dumb idea," but rather as a good business practice.

Think about it. Whether people have heard of X-COM before or not obviously doesn't matter. If they're aiming to pull a new audience in with a reboot, that could still be accomplished with the original setting, too. It's all in the presentation. Make an awesome FPS about dark conspiracies and alien invaders performing sinister experiments through abductions or outright assault on populated areas, people are going to snatch it up like candy. And it can still be an FPS. And then you won't tick off the original fans either. Everyone wins.

[Nosmirc]

Or, you know, they could, um, throw that dumb idea out the window, and make it into an anthology.

That way, you can still get your stupid '1999 X-COM' in 2k's XCOM 2 or 3.

Gotta agree with Shrike. How is using content associated with the license a 'dumb' idea?

[Aegeri]

I am not at all surprised about this in many ways.

Personally I suspect that the game is going to get retooled a bit and then thrown to the wolves. If we're lucky though, maybe they have taken some - maybe a good deal - of the withering criticism leveled at them and have been putting the X-Com back into the game (and beaten the X-Files out of it).

I doubt it though and it certainly isn't looking positive.

[Nosmirc]

I can only hope that he was the ring leader of the epic fanbase trolling theory, and with him gone, they'll show the real thing now

[ShanDaMan]

It will be interesting to see what XCOM looks like when it is next shown to the world. Hopefully, in whatever form it takes, 2k will showcase the similarities to X-COM instead of focusing on what is so very different.

Can anyone believe that we are almost to the 1-year anniversary of the XCOM announcement?

[EaglePryde]

I can't say i'm sorry for anyone loosing his job because hurting the company or customers. That is IF he made the decisions.