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SpaceTroll

SpaceTroll

8 years ago Jul 07,2016, 10:56:00 AM

Amplitude joins the SEGA family!

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Dear Endless Players,

 

Starting today, at 9 am, Amplitude will be writing a new chapter of its history. Since the beginning and our first success with Endless Space (which became a million-seller!), the market has become increasingly crowded. Even some of the biggest publishers want to make their own 4X games, and in an intense market like this, a small studio like Amplitude can get steamrolled.

 

What we want to do is to focus on making games; that is why we created Amplitude. But with the pressure on sales and marketing we found that more and more time was dedicated to everything else – everything that we didn’t have the size and scale to deal with. So we decided to look for the best partner we could to protect us from these distractions so that game development did not become a chore, but remained a passion. 

 

Therefore, we have decided to join forces with SEGA – yes, that SEGA! We want the only question that keeps us up at night to be, “How do I make better games?” Partnering with SEGA will bring us to a whole new level.

 

Of course you could wonder, “Why Sega?” If you were to ask just Mathieu and I, we could easily answer with the words “Creative Assembly and Relic!” because we are HUGE fans of their games. The opportunity to join them is incredible for us, a real dream come true.

 

But the bigger reason why we wanted to join SEGA was how they treat their internal studios. Often, studios are controlled by a central department that dictates what games they should do, and how and when. But SEGA is a company that offers its support to the creators, positioning itself as a service provider, helping studios to reach their goals with only one objective in mind: Quality!

 

We announced the news a few days ago to the Amplitude staff, and we were amazed to see how well they received it. You know why? Because it was SEGA, and we all have a good reason to love them.

 

Today we will answer all your questions on our brand new Games2Gether forums. To ask us anything, about Amplitude, our games, and our decision to join SEGA, just press "Comment this blog" below that post!

 

Thank you so much for all your continued support. Let’s make sure, together, that the next chapter is the best one of the book!

 

Spacetroll and AmpliMath

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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 10:17:35 AM
trashmyego wrote:

This is too bad. I've always bought Amplitude's releases the day of or during early access. Every DLC. Everything. Without a question in mind. But that's probably going to end now, since for years I've been trying to avoid giving SEGA any sort of meaningful profit for one of my purchases. It feels like a house just collapsed on all my excitement for Endless Space 2. Of all companies, why this one? :(

We really love the way they leave a lot of autonomy to their studios, if the game is bad it will be on us, not them. Thanks to them we can now focus on making games, not selling them. Please judge us on our results, on our games, we'll work hard not to disapoint you!

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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 10:45:48 AM

First of all - congratulations. At least you are happy with going under SEGA wings. ;)



Like some people already said it here - I do hope our worries will be for nothing and you will have as much freedom in development as you had as an indie studio, which is the most important.


And about questions, well...


Will be there any changes to what already was created by you, games and dlcs, because of your joining the family? Anything at all, or SEGA will stay out of your way? CAN they intefere with what you are currently creating on a basis that you can't argue with their decision (if you can tell as such a detail, of course)?


As a bonus, because I'm not up to speed: You ARE planning something for Endless Legend, aren't you? The ??? on EL forum badges tells me so. :P


Still - let's hope for the best. :)

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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 11:06:09 AM

Welp, at least it's not EA.

I really hope this doesn't influence future games in a negative way. =(

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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 11:10:05 AM

Looking forward to what this can lead to. Having been fortunate enough to be part of a VIP tester group for various games, some of them under SEGA, I have gotten to know a few developers both purely game related, but also become real life friends and the few I know that work at various studios at SEGA say they get a lot of leeway and stay autonomous compared to other big publishers. Best of luck to Amplitude in this. As for the worry about DLC, I have to admit I am something of a "whale" - the more dlc, the more stuff I get to play, the better it is for me so this part does not worry me any.


I am also hoping this will lead to a new plethora of news and insight into Endless Space 2. Is the game still on for both early access and release in 2016 and do we get to see some new features of teases from it?


Best of luck amplidudes&dudettes

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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 11:12:40 AM

I, for one, welcome our new SEGA overlords. 


As long as they don't go all Cultists on Amplitude, we'll be just fine. ^^

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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 11:14:43 AM

Congratulations, hopefully this will help you all to grow into bigger games.

Big question though, does this mean that Sonic and Tails can now be heroes in Endless Space 2? 

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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 11:20:46 AM

But the bigger reason why we wanted to join SEGA was how they treat their internal studios. Often, studios are controlled by a central department that dictates what games they should do, and how and when. But SEGA is a company that offers its support to the creators, positioning itself as a service provider, helping studios to reach their goals with only one objective in mind: Quality!


Sorry so sound mean, but this isn't SEGA I know. I know greedy company, that forces Devs to release unfair DLC, with absolutely necessary content, which should be in vanilla game (see Total War or Company of Heroes for examples). I am very upset with this decision and full of scepticism. I really hope time will prove me wrong, but for now I'm just sad. 


For questions, I want to know what part of decision making would SEGA have in company? As I said earlier, I want to be sure that I wouldn't get unfair DLCs and other bad things that SEGA's games have in common, just because "SEGA said so".

Updated 8 years ago.
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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 11:30:34 AM

I really like this new blog. 


Aside from that, I'll miss your status of indie developper, but since I'm not working in the game industry, you might have done the right choice. 

We'll see how this works for you! And for us


Edit: Take care of yourselves and of your company, Sega doesn't have a good reputation among players... and various communities

Updated 8 years ago.
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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 11:31:23 AM

A bit frightening news. So far, I do not really trust SEGA, but it can change if "Dawn of War 3" will be a great game.

I hope it will not change you.

On the other hand, a lot new people will be able to know about your games thanks to their help, and it's very good.


Hey, SEGA says Endless Space2 will be published in 2017.

Bad news, i was hoping it will come to EA soon.

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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 11:52:57 AM

I have a single question : Can we expect to pay $59 (or €59 due to the wonder of monetary conversion) for ES2 ?

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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 12:00:10 PM

Deeply unsettling news. In recent years SEGA's been brutal both for devs and customers. Don't get me wrong, I wish you best of luck and for you to remain free from their restricting influences.

regards, DMT

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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 12:06:09 PM
Divine_Moments_of_Truth wrote:

Deeply unsettling news. In recent years SEGA's been brutal both for devs and customers. Don't get me wrong, I wish you best of luck and for you to remain free from their restricting influences.

regards, DMT

Thank you. You put to words what I was thinking and feeling without any frustration, anger and profanity. Sega is not a friend, nor a caring big brother. Amplitude has always been about the games and their community.


I know I am being pessimistic, but Endless Space got me back into 4X after I quit my favorite genre. Hearing this genuinely upsets me. 


Is my life over? No.

Is anything changing in my day to day? No.

Do I feel like an "old" friend just lost weight, did some plastic surgery and is going to hang out with the popular kids? Yea, I kinda do.

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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 1:04:04 PM

Mmm... Mkay, not sure to be happy or not :

If Sega were to handle the marketing, does this mean g2g is, well, no more the same anymore ?

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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 1:14:47 PM

Amplitude, several people have expressed concern about the direction of DLC, citing Creative Assembly's Total War: Warhammer as an example. Can you please answer our questions on that? I am an enormous fan; I love the lore, the music, the setting, the gameplay, and everything. I understand your decision to partner with SEGA and I know you will be doing your best to continue your development to the best of your abilities, but your lack of response on this matter is unsettling at the very least. Do you still have autonomy on your works when it comes to added content? I don't want day one DLC Hissho faction for pre-orderers. Please.

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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 1:57:21 PM
Bethezer wrote:

First of all - congratulations. At least you are happy with going under SEGA wings. ;)



Like some people already said it here - I do hope our worries will be for nothing and you will have as much freedom in development as you had as an indie studio, which is the most important.


And about questions, well...


Will be there any changes to what already was created by you, games and dlcs, because of your joining the family? Anything at all, or SEGA will stay out of your way? CAN they intefere with what you are currently creating on a basis that you can't argue with their decision (if you can tell as such a detail, of course)?


As a bonus, because I'm not up to speed: You ARE planning something for Endless Legend, aren't you? The ??? on EL forum badges tells me so. :P


Still - let's hope for the best. :)

Hey Bethezer :)

1) We are very happy indeed to join them :)

2) Change to what was created previously? Not something we discussed, but that would be odd, wouldn't it? I would love to better udnerstand what you have in mind specifically.

3) We are always planning cool stuff for Endless Legend ;)


cheers

ST

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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 2:54:44 PM

Does this mean that the Endless games will no longer be sold in Japan? As someone living in Japan, SEGA is one of the worst publishers out there.

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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 3:04:37 PM
SpaceTroll wrote:

Hey Bethezer :)

1) We are very happy indeed to join them :)

2) Change to what was created previously? Not something we discussed, but that would be odd, wouldn't it? I would love to better udnerstand what you have in mind specifically.

3) We are always planning cool stuff for Endless Legend ;)


cheers

ST

Well... I do think there were some cases in history (not exactly with SEGA, I'm talking general here) that changing the publisher/main comapny had an impact with stuff that was previously released. I think... pricing, for example, was the most 'common' (if you can say that about something that is rare by itself). Or availability of some products. And yes, it seems odd, but it's all about what there is in the contract. If they can get the 'right' rights... what would stop them? 

But this is, still, quite the drastic thing so I doubt that it would even happen, but wanted to ask non the less. The biggest fear right now is that you will loose your independence in creating stuff - but you did answer that on a previous page, so...


And about Endless Legend... oh you~! ;P Still - glad to hear it. We need more Endless Legend, after all. :D

Updated 8 years ago.
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8 years ago
Jul 5, 2016, 3:24:30 PM
Sublustris wrote:

In my understanding it wont change the way they create their games. It'll just ease publishing, marketing, distribution etc.

If this is indeed the case then I won't worry any further and definitely look forward to what can be produced in the future. I just think the general concerns with a large, well-known company buying into a company like Amplitude are what sort of control they'll have over them. We only need to look at the Blizzard-Activision.

Don't get me wrong though. I liked Sega for their Master System / Mega Drive and Sonic days and, as I say, I'm definitely looking forward to how this Amplitude and Sega partnership will turn out moving forward. Hopefully it'll be amazing and I really do wish Amplitude, and Sega, the best of luck with this.

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