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Sigil, Vanguard Assets Acquired by SOE (Updated)
by Chris Remo, May 15, 2007 10:01am PDTUpdate 2: Sony Online Entertainment has now officially confirmed the acquisition statement made by SOE president John Smedley. "With an unparalleled team and exceptional product, Sigil has been a creative force in the online games space," said Smedley in the announcement. "We look forward to continuing the vision for Vanguard and to continue to deliver some groundbreaking game play."
Update: Posting by his online handle "Smed," Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley has stated that the assets of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes and its developer Sigil Games Online have been acquired by SOE. Sigil's offices will apparently remain in Carlsbad, California, and will be managed by Sigil's Dave Gilbertson. Sigil co-founder Brad McQuaid will be employed as a consultant by SOE as Vanguard's creative advisor. In addition, some 50 employees of the formerly independent Sigil will be given jobs with SOE on Vanguard.
Smedley explained that SOE plans to continue maintaining and evolving Vanguard, though he was sure to note that players should not expect any fundamental changes along the lines of those made to Star Wars Galaxies. "We've learned a thing or two with our experiences with [Star Wars Galaxies' New Game Enhancement] and don't plan on repeating mistakes from the past and not listening to the players," he promised.
As an example of a more successful process of improvement, Smedley pointed to the company's EverQuest II. "This team is approx. the same size as the EQ2 team and I feel like that team has done an amazing job improving EQ2 since it's [sic] launch," he wrote. "We intend to do the same thing for Vanguard and it is our hope that the players feel like we're doing right by them."
In addition to improvements to the game itself, SOE plans on opening up official Vanguard forums to greater facilitate interaction between fans and developers.
No concrete gameplay-related plans were detailed in today's announcement.
Original story: Following confirmed reports that Sony Online Entertainment and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes developer Sigil Games Online have been in talks over the future of Vanguard and the California-based studio, online sources including gaming blog F13.net are now claiming that more drastic action has recently been taken.
According to this week's claims, an unspecified number of Sigil employees were fired at the company's offices, and many were offered new positions within SOE San Diego, which currently maintains EverQuest and EverQuest II. Sigil is an independent developer, suggesting that SOE was not the direct cause of the alleged firings. It is possible, however, that SOE absorbed Vanguard into internal development, leaving Sigil unable to continue at full staff.
When contacted by Shacknews regarding the matter, a Sony Online Entertainment represented declined to comment directly on the situation but stated, "There will be an announcement later today."
Comments
This comes from someone operating another affiliate site. I unfortunately cannot reveal the name at this time:
[13:54] XXXX: Well I talked to a developer, he didnt want me to say his name, though.
[13:54] XXXX: But he basically said this was all true
[13:54] XXXX: Brad hasnt shown up to work in like 8 months
[13:55] XXXX: Jeff Butler apologized to them yesterday in the parking lot for the game not being as good as they hoped. he said he'd help them with references and what not for their resumes
[13:55] XXXX: Basically they fired over 60 people yesterday, about 30 will stay on and develop Vanguard at Sigil.
[13:56] XXXX: Since Brad has been gone this guy has been running the show: Our Team
[13:56] XXXX: And apparently the guy is a dumbass
[13:56] DCpunk: So, basically, as soon as SOE became co-publisher, he stopped going in to work
[13:57] XXXX: SOE become copublisher a year ago
[13:57] XXXX: But shortly after I guess, yeah
[13:58] XXXX: Nino and a few others are moving on to SOE to develop this new MMO that hasnt been announced yet
[13:58] XXXX: So is Butler, I'm pretty sure
So, basically, Brad is a quitter. He has, at this point, lost all clout in the gaming community. McQuaid, you should be ashamed of yourself. You don't know how to pull yourself up by the bootstraps when times get tough.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 14 replies.
"Ex-Sigil: We gave demos to high-level Microsoft people frequently. These demos were often just dog and pony shows where content was created specifically for the demo. There was no intention that this content ever be used in game. When you spend 30+ million on a project, you want to see results. They became more and more suspect as time went on...
...
f13.net: Then when did Microsoft grow suspicious that they weren't going to get an actual product out of Sigil?
Ex-Sigil: When they started testing it themselves
...
Ex-Sigil: The dev staff knew the game wasn't ready. Brad set the beta start I think and was completely clueless as to the actual state of the game... not listening to anyone telling him it wasn't ready
f13.net: How hands off was he by this time?
Ex-Sigil: He was playing a lot right through about Beta 2 but then he vanished.
f13.net: As in, just outright disappeared?
Ex-Sigil: Yep.
...
f13.net: How was QA treated through the course of development?
Ex-Sigil: QA was one person up until about November... ONE.
f13.net: What.
Ex-Sigil: 100% serious.
f13.net: What? How? This is an MMOG.
Ex-Sigil: Vanguard had one internal tester for probably 95% of the design cycle."
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