Larian Studios founder Swen Vincke says no to studio buyouts

Hopeofmypeople

Veteran
Joined
Aug 18, 2014
Messages
13,336
Reputation
6
Daps
65,837
Remember when CDPR was the industry darling standing up against the “big guy” and just relying on their creativity and close knit small studio to outdo the big guys…………… :wow:

That narrative changed almost over night.

Gamers get too caught up in these feel good stories.

BG3 looks like a great game and deserving of the current hype, but all this extra shyt is probably going too far. Just like with any other dev with a huge hit game like this, they are gonna spend the next decade or so cashing checks.:manny:
So companies shouldn’t be lauded as they deserve of the off chance that hey somewhere in the future they might make a dud and cut corners all in the name of making a quick buck?

I am sure no one has forgotten CDPR and the cyberpunk debacle (I still have PTSP when it comes to preordering games because of that title). Larian has seemingly dropped a gem and the whole industry is buzzing from excitement. You said it yourself it is deserving of the current hype so thinking of what if’s is irrelevant.
 

MeachTheMonster

YourFriendlyHoodMonster
Joined
May 24, 2012
Messages
69,055
Reputation
3,719
Daps
108,877
Reppin
Tha Land
So companies shouldn’t be lauded as they deserve of the off chance that hey somewhere in the future they might make a dud and cut corners all in the name of making a quick buck?
Nope, did not say that.
I am sure no one has forgotten CDPR and the cyberpunk debacle (I still have PTSP when it comes to preordering games because of that title). Larian has seemingly dropped a gem and the whole industry is buzzing from excitement. You said it yourself it is deserving of the current hype so thinking of what if’s is irrelevant.
I agree :ehh:
 
Joined
Feb 24, 2017
Messages
4,249
Reputation
2,340
Daps
30,301
Destiny’s whole monetization model changed when they were bought out by activision.

Yea they might still have creative control, but we might be looking at a slew of microtransactions so they can maximize profit

...And it got literally 100x MORE predatory after they split from them:



Reminder that Larian had massive backing from both Tencent AND Google (back when they thought this would be a "flagship" Stadia title for them :mjlol: )in making BG3. No real need for an explicit buyout when you have cashflow from 2 of the biggest conglomerates on earth helping you expand your operations tenfold at will. :unimpressed:
 

Gizmo_Duck

blathering blatherskite!
Joined
Aug 15, 2018
Messages
74,039
Reputation
5,472
Daps
157,356
Reppin
Duckburg, NY
Reminder that Larian had massive backing from both Tencent AND Google (back when they thought this would be a "flagship" Stadia title for them :mjlol: )in making BG3. No real need for an explicit buyout when you have cashflow from 2 of the biggest conglomerates on earth helping you expand your operations tenfold at will. :unimpressed:

I don’t understand what this proves, every studio is allowed to have investors. They aren’t against people investing in their company they are about maintaining creative freedom and they still ahve the freedom to sell or dissolve their company if they want.

No one is stopping any indie game developer from taking on investors. Trying to call them out on doing good business while maintaining ownership of their company makes no sense in the context of this thread. Weak ass gotch’a
 

MeachTheMonster

YourFriendlyHoodMonster
Joined
May 24, 2012
Messages
69,055
Reputation
3,719
Daps
108,877
Reppin
Tha Land
I don’t understand what this proves, every studio is allowed to have investors. They aren’t against people investing in their company they are about maintaining creative freedom and they still ahve the freedom to sell or dissolve their company if they want.

No one is stopping any indie game developer from taking on investors. Trying to call them out on doing good business while maintaining ownership of their company makes no sense in the context of this thread. Weak ass gotch’a
The point is, it’s easy for someone who’s already had big money backing them to talk about how they don’t need big money backing them. If tencent and google wanted to dictate some things creatively they could.

Most small studios that end up being bought out, do so cause they need the money.
 

Gizmo_Duck

blathering blatherskite!
Joined
Aug 15, 2018
Messages
74,039
Reputation
5,472
Daps
157,356
Reppin
Duckburg, NY
tencent and google wanted to dictate some things creatively they could.

No they couldn’t.

And they didn’t say they didn’t need backing, their last two games were backed on Kickstarter. They said they don’t need to sell off their company and sacrifice their creative output in order to do so
 

MeachTheMonster

YourFriendlyHoodMonster
Joined
May 24, 2012
Messages
69,055
Reputation
3,719
Daps
108,877
Reppin
Tha Land
You don’t know what their money was used for, and you know know what the deal regarding their investment was.
If investors don’t like the direction of things they let you know and you make them happy or they pull their money,

Like i said gamers like to get caught up in these feel good stories, but there’s just as much corporate money and influence on this game as any other game. They have a big multimedia license they needed to respect and answer to as well as big money investors to please.
 

Gizmo_Duck

blathering blatherskite!
Joined
Aug 15, 2018
Messages
74,039
Reputation
5,472
Daps
157,356
Reppin
Duckburg, NY
If investors don’t like the direction of things they let you know and you make them happy or they pull their money,

Like i said gamers like to get caught up in these feel good stories, but there’s just as much corporate money and influence on this game as any other game. They have a big multimedia license they needed to respect and answer to as well as big money investors to please.

And yet every other CRPG designer in their field have said they have much more time and freedom than they do :jbhmm:
 

Gizmo_Duck

blathering blatherskite!
Joined
Aug 15, 2018
Messages
74,039
Reputation
5,472
Daps
157,356
Reppin
Duckburg, NY
Time is money. They had much more money than anyone else.

They got more money than Obsidian?



They got the biggest backing in the world. Theres no reason why they can’t make something on the scale of BG3. The only reason they can’t is because they are owned by a major corporation, will Microsoft allow them to release a CRPG and keep it in early access for 3 years?
 

Piff Perkins

Veteran
Joined
May 29, 2012
Messages
51,741
Reputation
18,812
Daps
281,824
Endless growth and profit can't be the sole focus of everything. At some point, whether you're an artist or a company or whatever else there has to be an acknowledgement that you aren't gonna be Facebook or Call Of Duty or Walmart...and the goal should just making something good, maintaining something good, and benefiting from it financially.

I love BG1-2, Icewind Dale etc and will def be buying BG3 soon.
 
Top