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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

The Japanese publisher announced in September that it was cancelling the multiplayer shooter “and some unannounced titles under development” in Europe, following at least six years of development on the project.

Developer Creative Assembly has suggested the game was cancelled due to “ambitious” plans and high competition in the multiplayer shooter space.

However, during a financial results briefing presentation held this month, Sega Sammy Holdings president and group CEO Haruki Satomi stated that the developer was working on a genre it didn’t know well enough, resulting in the game’s cancellation and a number of redundancies.

“Each studio has its own strengths and weaknesses, but the favorable winds of the early COVID-19 period, coupled with the strong performance of each title, led us to adopt a strategy of accelerating more, even in areas where those studios have not tried yet for further growth,” Satomi said.

“However, some studios did well and some did not, so we have decided to focus again on the strengths of each studio.

“To put it simply, Creative Assembly was good at offline games in the RTS genre, but they took on the challenge of developing Hyenas, an online game in the FPS genre.

“However, although the game itself was good, we decided to cancel the development of Hyenas because we did not think it would reach a quality that would satisfy our users when we considered whether we could really operate this as a competitive online game for a long period of time.”

During the Q&A session following the presentation, Satomi was asked about the future structure of Sega’s European studios.

“As part of the process of structural reform centered on Creative Assembly,” he replied, “we intend to optimise the workflow and concentrate their resources on the development of their specialty genres.”

Reports following the game’s cancellation suggested that staff at Creative Assembly were unhappy with its development, with some sources claiming that a lack of direction, disruptive engine change, and overly-cautious design contributed to its downfall.

Sega says Creative Assembly will return to genres it knows best after Hyenas’ cancellation | VGC

It’s implied the studio’s focus will return to offline RTS…

www.videogameschronicle.com

 

[Wildebeest]

They are not really so good at making RTS any more, either. I wonder how many people who made Rome what it was are still there.

 

[GHG]

TW Napoleon remake/remaster please.

 

[64bitmodels]

An actually good decision from a company for once.

If you want to make GaaS, get or build up a GaaS studio. Don't hijack another whose expertise is in something totally different

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

Sega is excellent at making products we don't want and deaf in listening to fans.

We should make a website and write an open letter from fans to the company's board of directors and host it on that website.

It would be a place to criticize this type of attitude and at the same time demand a new console or even a Saturn Dreamcast Mini

 

[Hudo]

Give me Empire II. Thanks.

 

[SirKicksalot]

TW Napoleon remake/remaster please.

Could have used a patch to ride the movie's hype...

Give me Empire II. Thanks.

Not going to happen in this age of leftism. Too much colonialism.
Medieval 2 Remastered is my bet for next year, like they did Rome after the mobile ports.

 

[DryvBy]

They are not really so good at making RTS any more, either. I wonder how many people who made Rome what it was are still there.

All they need to do is make an RTS and it'll dominate the RTS field since everyone just chases crappy MOBA games now.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Big mistake.

Retreating to their death.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

Give me Empire II. Thanks.

Not going to happen. I say this because everything we write here remains limited here, they don't know that you want this game. Do you understand the depth of this?
an alternative means of pressure needs to be created so that, despite their wishes, we can obtain the best products. Sega wants us to buy Sonic and Total War while we subsidize exclusive Sega games for the Japanese. that is the true.

 

[GHG]

Big mistake.

Retreating to their death.

It was actually their pursuit of GAAS that almost killed them.

Do you not already have enough mindless online shooter casinos to interact with?

 

[TastyPastry]

i just want a warhammer 40k total war and medieval 3
i know they have to change the gameplay for a 40k total war but don't tell me it's not possible

 

[Wildebeest]

All they need to do is make an RTS and it'll dominate the RTS field since everyone just chases crappy MOBA games now.

They gave up on that more than ten years ago now. Total War might as well be GaaS since they went full on down the path of microtransactions, adding whatever crazy things attract people with bad spending habits.

 

[Hudo]

Could have used a patch to ride the movie's hype...



Not going to happen in this age of leftism. Too much colonialism.
Medieval 2 Remastered is my bet for next year, like they did Rome after the mobile ports.

Not going to happen. I say this because everything we write here remains limited here, they don't know that you want this game. Do you understand the depth of this?
an alternative means of pressure needs to be created so that, despite their wishes, we can obtain the best products. Sega wants us to buy Sonic and Total War while we subsidize exclusive Sega games for the Japanese. that is the true.

Well then I guess I won't be buying any new Total War games anytime soon. Because Total War: Pharaoh is garbage, TW3 was and still is handled very badly, where they thought that the best course of action is to threaten the community, and the whole Total War Saga series was mid as fuck. Total War: Three Kingdoms was alright, I guess. But nothing compared to earlier TW games.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

It was actually their pursuit of GAAS that almost killed them.

They pivoted in that direction because Alien Isolation flopped.

Do you not already have enough mindless online shooter casinos to interact with?

Live Service multiplayer is an exponentially bigger canvas than you realize.

 

[64bitmodels]

They pivoted in that direction because Alien Isolation flopped.


Live Service multiplayer is an exponentially bigger canvas than you realize.

It's also a space that's super easy to fail in. Look at all the GaaS that have flopped.

 

[SirKicksalot]

Pharaoh is the closest to the old games since Shogun 2. Between the Rome 2 salvage operation, Troy's fantastic support and Pharaoh, CA Sofia has proven itself as the only competent team.

Warhammer was only handled well when Hyenas changed engines and they put the Hyenas people on temporary Warhammer 2 duty

 

[Shubh_C63]

Yup. Never try something new is the lesson they learned by trying to go for something old. Like Hero Shooter.

Ok I guess.

 

[Woopah]

Give me Medieval 3 please.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

It's also a space that's super easy to fail in. Look at all the GaaS that have flopped.

Because offline RTS has such a great hit rate.

They learned a ton about Live Service over the last 5 years and they aren't leveraging that newfound expertise by retreating to a dead, safe genre.

This is an example of cowardly leadership feeding a storied studio into the wood chipper.

 

[U n i o n 0015]

The game should've been cancelled the moment this key art came out of the art department.

Like goddamn, it's 110% cringe.

 

[64bitmodels]

Because offline RTS has such a great hit rate.

Offline RTS is easy to make and doesn't have such large expenses on the company such as servers, constant updating new content, etc

They learned a ton about Live Service over the last 5 years and they aren't leveraging that newfound expertise by retreating to a dead, safe genre.

if the genre is "dead", it's not safe. choose one

 

[AzekZero]

I feel like Creative Assembly let the success of Alien: Isolation get to their heads.

Thought one out-of-genre success in the horror category meant they could take on ActiBlizz in the hero shooter space.

 

[HL3.exe]

Kinda fucked in a way. I would love to see them take another stab at a Immersive Sim-like, like Alien Isolation. It was their first attempt. (And seemingly last, as this article implies)

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Offline RTS is easy to make and doesn't have such large expenses on the company such as servers, constant updating new content, etc

Aim low. Hit low. They're just trying to buy up a few more years before studio closure.

if the genre is "dead", it's not safe. choose one

Safe because they know how to make them. Dead because there's no commercial viability.

 

[diffusionx]

When a team/business unit/etc. has a failure the size of Hyenas, they're never going to get away with just a "lmao tough luck, try again" from the leaders. In any company, anywhere. It is really tough to get on board with letting CA do another experiment after this one was such an expensive disaster.

They're lucky they weren't shut down, but that's because their "offline RTS" business is a good business - except it's kind of hit a downturn in recent years as CA was busy wasting time and money on Hyenas.

 

[Holammer]

The game should've been cancelled the moment this key art came out of the art department.

Like goddamn, it's 110% cringe.

If someone gave me a presentation with early Hyena designs I would be swearing like R. Lee Ermey and Creative Assembly would need a king size safe space with colouring books and emotional support animals to cope.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

I see my comrades asking about other games . Not going to happen.
let me clear, they don't know you what do want.


there are no connection channels between the base and the company's creative department. They think it's the 90s.
I say this because everything we write here remains limited here, so they don't know that you want this game. Do you understand the depth of this?

an alternative means of pressure needs to be created by the fans so that, despite their wishes, we can obtain the best products. otherwise Sega wants us to buy Sonic and Total War while we subsidize exclusive Sega games for the Japanese. that is the true my friends.

 

[T4keD0wN]

Doubt there is any redemption for them to be found after how theyve butchered total war and alienated their fanbase, they have turned into the worst studio in gaming industry over the course of the last 2 years when it comes to their products and community treatment.

 

[Labadal]

Plan online shooter. Assign offline rts studio.

Yep.

 

[cireza]

Well done SEGA. Money well invested in that GaaS shit, while it could have funded a single player Alien game for example.

 

[Codes 208]

I just want halo wars 3 dammit

 

[Party McHardy]

While smart on Sega's part, I imagine as a dev working on a game for multiple years only to have it canceled would be pretty deflating.

 

[DaciaJC]

Good. Put time into bringing Warhammer III up to scratch (the recent 4.1 patch is a decent start) and then give the people what they actually want: Medieval III or Empire II.

 

[hlm666]

Total Warhammer 40k, it's not this hard to work out what you should put them on Sega. Hell, do some tie in with the amazon series if you have to but total war 40k if you don't fuck it with mtx will be a home run.

 

[King Dazzar]

TW Napoleon remake/remaster please.

The hundreds & hundreds of hours I put into both Empire and Napoleon. Fantastic games. I've still got loads of mods for them both locked away, incase I should ever return to PC gaming. Last time I tried, even on a 85" panel, specific ui elements looked so tiny at 4k, even with some ui mods.

 

[Crew511A]

Maybe they could try their hand at making Shining Force 4. Keep the original art styles and develop the friendship system, and they'd have a winner.

 

[Kadve]

Plan online shooter. Assign offline rts studio.

Yep.

Well...

So its not like they cant work outside of their standard genre.

 

[intbal]

 

[StereoVsn]

Give me Medieval 3 please.

This and especially Empires 2 would be amazing.

 

[Red5]

They are not really so good at making RTS any more, either. I wonder how many people who made Rome what it was are still there.

?

Total War Warhammer is the pinnacle of the Total War series, even before Warhammer, Rome was surpassed by Shogun 2 and Three Kingdoms easily.

 

[Wildebeest]

?

Total War Warhammer is the pinnacle of the Total War series, even before Warhammer, Rome was surpassed by Shogun 2 and Three Kingdoms easily.

Rome was their biggest game, but Shogun 2 was better in many ways, especially sieges. Three Kingdoms and Warhammer, on the other hand, are both shit real time tactics games.

 

[Hugare]

Well...

So its not like they cant work outside of their standard genre.

Alien Isolation is one of my favorite games from last gen, but designing an online multiplayer GAAS shooter is so much more complex (should be, at least). That's why so many teams fail.

The ones that worked were made by people with tons of expertise on online FPS games (COD team, Bungie, old COD devs in the case of Apex team and etc.)

And even experienced devs like the ex-DICE ones who made The Finals can fail

If you want to make a GAAS game, pick experienced devs and make a new team. Dont destroy the whole company like they did with Creative Assembly.

Not to mention that Alien Isolation was a passion project for them. I doubt that they felt the same about Hyenas.

 

[Vlodril]

Rome 3 or Shogun 3 please.

 

[hyperbertha]

Because offline RTS has such a great hit rate.

They learned a ton about Live Service over the last 5 years and they aren't leveraging that newfound expertise by retreating to a dead, safe genre.

This is an example of cowardly leadership feeding a storied studio into the wood chipper.

Yes they learned a ton, and concluded that live service isn't worth it.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

The ones that worked were made by people with tons of expertise on online FPS games (COD team, Bungie, old COD devs in the case of Apex team and etc.)

And even experienced devs like the ex-DICE ones who made The Finals can fail

If you want to make a GAAS game, pick experienced devs and make a new team. Dont destroy the whole company like they did with Creative Assembly.

This is said a lot, but I find it to be wholey inaccurate. There are too many successful Live Service games released in the last 5 years from small unknown developers with limited experience.

The real differentiators between failure and success are...is your game social, is there modern progression, and does it suit a variety of playstyles.

 

[Hugare]

This is said a lot, but I find it to be wholey inaccurate. There are too many successful Live Service games released in the last 5 years from small unknown developers with limited experience.

The real differentiators between failure and success are...is your game social, is there modern progression, and does it suit a variety of playstyles.

Such as?

The only two that I can think of that broke the mold and became big hits were Fall Guys and Rocket League by offering unique experiences

All the others that tried to make a shooter with no relevant past experiences have failed

And Psyonix had already developed a very similar game in 2008 with Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars, so they had the expertise

I wouldnt say that "variety of playstiles" is a requirement for success. Warzone is one of the most successful GAAS titles

If there was such a easy recipe for success, trust me, companies wouldnt be wasting billions right now in new GAAS titles

 

[Generic]

It's pretty sad they cancelled a game after 6 years of development. Imagine how everyone who worked at the game felt about it.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Such as?

The only two that I can think of that broke the mold and became big hits were Fall Guys and Rocket League by offering unique experiences

All the others that tried to make a shooter with no relevant past experiences have failed

And Psyonix had already developed a very similar game in 2008 with Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars, so they had the expertise

I wouldnt say that "variety of playstiles" is a requirement for success. Warzone is one of the most successful GAAS titles

If there was such a easy recipe for success, trust me, companies wouldnt be wasting billions right now in new GAAS titles

You're seeing a lot of failures from games greenlit before 2018, when Battle Royale changed the game. Games greenlit after that will be far more social, have superior progression, and offer playstyles that suit individual player preferences much better.

The recipe is clear. You just have to cook it.

 

[Hugare]

You're seeing a lot of failures from games greenlit before 2018, when Battle Royale changed the game. Games greenlit after that will be far more social, have superior progression, and offer playstyles that suit individual player preferences much better.

The recipe is clear. You just have to cook it.

Never seen someone so committed to a singular point of view like you are with GAAS/Fortnite.

We already saw GAAS games post 2018 failing over and over again. And you cant be sure that every GAAS game greenlit post 2018 will be well designed and fun.

Its like saying that making a 3rd person cinematic game like Sony 1st party titles is easy, its only about following some checklist. And no, its much more complex than that.