It really is a great pity that Repop has been dealt this body-blow. The project was coming along nicely, and was without a doubt the most full featured indie MMO in development. It was on track to launch in 2016.
Starting over on a new engine will delay launch by at least another 2 to 3 years. I doubt the project can survive that delay.
One of Repop's significant sources of funding was the ability to offer Early Access play on the alpha servers. That was because the alpha servers, billing and account management were all provided for free by the hero engine developers themselves. All that will now go away.
Ironically, Repop got as far as it did precisely because they were using the Hero engine. Without the free services and infrastructure provided by the Hero Cloud, the financial pressures would not have allowed them to take so long to develop and implement the wide range of features that they did.
Sadly, I have to say: "Stick a fork in it, this one's done"...
It really is a great pity that Repop has been dealt this body-blow. The project was coming along nicely, and was without a doubt the most full featured indie MMO in development. It was on track to launch in 2016.
Starting over on a new engine will delay launch by at least another 2 to 3 years. I doubt the project can survive that delay.
One of Repop's significant sources of funding was the ability to offer Early Access play on the alpha servers. That was because the alpha servers, billing and account management were all provided for free by the hero engine developers themselves. All that will now go away.
Ironically, Repop got as far as it did precisely because they were using the Hero engine. Without the free services and infrastructure provided by the Hero Cloud, the financial pressures would not have allowed them to take so long to develop and implement the wide range of features that they did.
Sadly, I have to say: "Stick a fork in it, this one's done"...
Why do you say the HeroEngine was "free" for The Repopulation?
The HeroEngine takes 30% of revenue once the game is published and people start paying for it. The Repopulation was published on Steam in December 2014 (the licensing fee agreement doesn't care if Steam calls it 'early access' or whatever).
It really is a great pity that Repop has been dealt this body-blow. The project was coming along nicely, and was without a doubt the most full featured indie MMO in development. It was on track to launch in 2016.
Starting over on a new engine will delay launch by at least another 2 to 3 years. I doubt the project can survive that delay.
One of Repop's significant sources of funding was the ability to offer Early Access play on the alpha servers. That was because the alpha servers, billing and account management were all provided for free by the hero engine developers themselves. All that will now go away.
Ironically, Repop got as far as it did precisely because they were using the Hero engine. Without the free services and infrastructure provided by the Hero Cloud, the financial pressures would not have allowed them to take so long to develop and implement the wide range of features that they did.
Sadly, I have to say: "Stick a fork in it, this one's done"...
Why do you say the HeroEngine was "free" for The Repopulation?
The HeroEngine takes 30% of revenue once the game is published and people start paying for it. The Repopulation was published on Steam in December 2014 (the licensing fee agreement doesn't care if Steam calls it 'early access' or whatever).
The Hero Cloud provided hosting of dev and public servers, account and billing management and patch distribution services for everyone using the Hero Engine to develop their games. All these services were basically provided for free or at a reduced rate.
Idea Fabrik (the engine developers) needed to attract customers for their engine, and the cheap services they provided were a significant advantage for indie projects. However, providing those services were a gamble for Idea Fabrik, as they would have had to borrow money to subsidise them while their customers worked on MMO's that might be profitable when eventually launched. A Hero developer licence and hosted dev servers for $99 per year is a joke, that price wouldn't even cover the admin cost of processing the application.
Even if Repop was giving Idea Fabrik 30% of all their Early Access sales (which I don't believe), it would have been pennies compared to the benefits they were getting from using the cheap services provided by the Hero Cloud. The cash shop in Repop had not even been implemented yet, so revenue from Repop was limited to a single EA purchase for each player (starting at $20 iirc).
I cringe when see the Hero engine, is there a successful game that uses the Hero engine on the market that is not plagued with problems ? I think the only way to get your game to do what you want is to create your own engine from the ground up.
I will be surprised if this game makes a come back at all after this, Kickstarter projects are on a fine financial line, making an mmo is a huge project, development is only part of it, you have server infrastructure, support customer service, billing, takes a lot of money and resources, I wish them luck and hope they can return, I was looking forward to seeing this game move beyond alpha.
Idea Fabrik has run at a financial loss since it's creation. The deficit is covered by investor financing, with the investors betting on a return once Idea Fabrik's customers (game developers) start making good profits on their games developed on the Hero Engine.
It appears that one of Idea Fabrik's previous financial backers pulled out of continued funding. Perhaps they decided that the prospect of profits was too unlikely to justify continued investment. Or perhaps they went bankrupt because they'd made too many risky loans like the ones they made to Idea Fabrik.
Whatever the reason, Idea Fabrik have to find a new financial backer, because they have used-up all the money they borrowed previously.
they should of went with the Unreal engine. free to use and only 5% Royalty each quarter. Hero Engine does suck and their deals suck as well. For a crappy engine they charged so much money. Now they are in trouble with money. I suggest Repop start using Unreal Engine. In the time it takes for hero Engine to fix this problem they can start moving over. in fact they may find out they can actually improve the gameplay of Repop with Unreal. Of course it wont be an easy task but its better then relying on that crappy hero engine. I bet if they do another Kickstarter they will get the funds they need to move to another engine. hell I have early access and willing to hold off on that if they switch over.
sarblade said:
Oh noes, my Star Wars Galaxies revival.. :(
I played Repop early on and unless it changed a bunch later on, it was no where near the game SWG was. Too bad there are not some devs that can update that game, the crafting, housing, JTL and the ground game were great and getting better at sundown. Was hoping SWTOR was going to be the one but just another disappointment.
Give me back SWG at sunset and keep adding to it and I would pay twice what it was costing.
It really is a great pity that Repop has been dealt this body-blow. The project was coming along nicely, and was without a doubt the most full featured indie MMO in development. It was on track to launch in 2016.
Starting over on a new engine will delay launch by at least another 2 to 3 years. I doubt the project can survive that delay.
One of Repop's significant sources of funding was the ability to offer Early Access play on the alpha servers. That was because the alpha servers, billing and account management were all provided for free by the hero engine developers themselves. All that will now go away.
Ironically, Repop got as far as it did precisely because they were using the Hero engine. Without the free services and infrastructure provided by the Hero Cloud, the financial pressures would not have allowed them to take so long to develop and implement the wide range of features that they did.
Sadly, I have to say: "Stick a fork in it, this one's done"...
Why do you say the HeroEngine was "free" for The Repopulation?
The HeroEngine takes 30% of revenue once the game is published and people start paying for it. The Repopulation was published on Steam in December 2014 (the licensing fee agreement doesn't care if Steam calls it 'early access' or whatever).
The Hero Cloud provided hosting of dev and public servers, account and billing management and patch distribution services for everyone using the Hero Engine to develop their games. All these services were basically provided for free or at a reduced rate.
Idea Fabrik (the engine developers) needed to attract customers for their engine, and the cheap services they provided were a significant advantage for indie projects. However, providing those services were a gamble for Idea Fabrik, as they would have had to borrow money to subsidise them while their customers worked on MMO's that might be profitable when eventually launched. A Hero developer licence and hosted dev servers for $99 per year is a joke, that price wouldn't even cover the admin cost of processing the application.
Even if Repop was giving Idea Fabrik 30% of all their Early Access sales (which I don't believe), it would have been pennies compared to the benefits they were getting from using the cheap services provided by the Hero Cloud. The cash shop in Repop had not even been implemented yet, so revenue from Repop was limited to a single EA purchase for each player (starting at $20 iirc).
Well, you said it was 'free' which 30% certainly isn't. That makes it about the most expensive engine out there by far. Most engines are no more than 5-10% to use; even the non-cloud dependent HeroEngine option is only 7%.
But, yes, that's why the HeroEngine developers are likely going out of business...only a handful of 'indie' customers. The whole 'early access' option is a financial nightmare for them: Steam takes 20-25% of the $20 access price....so 30% of the actual $15 The Repopulation receives is $4.50 per copy. That $4.50 per copy obviously can't pay for the many months of having to continually support an online game.
So they have 'launch' expenses (since it's far more than just a small, closed-alpha with thousands of people downloading it) with the revenue being unbelievably minuscule for an online game.
No more than a handful of 'indie' customers + early access revenue via 'soft launch' = financial demise of HeroEngine
It's very simple: Don't use the lame ass Hero engine. Only one game has come close to being decent, and that is ESO. SWTOR is such an utter piece of crap, the game is limited in every way. Space combat? Worthless in the Hero engine (evidence: no one plays the space combat nor the Fighter part of SWTOR, worthless consolised shite).
How many MMOs have used the Hero engine and not sucked? You can't even count them on one hand.
It really is a great pity that Repop has been dealt this body-blow. The project was coming along nicely, and was without a doubt the most full featured indie MMO in development. It was on track to launch in 2016.
Starting over on a new engine will delay launch by at least another 2 to 3 years. I doubt the project can survive that delay.
One of Repop's significant sources of funding was the ability to offer Early Access play on the alpha servers. That was because the alpha servers, billing and account management were all provided for free by the hero engine developers themselves. All that will now go away.
Ironically, Repop got as far as it did precisely because they were using the Hero engine. Without the free services and infrastructure provided by the Hero Cloud, the financial pressures would not have allowed them to take so long to develop and implement the wide range of features that they did.
Sadly, I have to say: "Stick a fork in it, this one's done"...
Why do you say the HeroEngine was "free" for The Repopulation?
The HeroEngine takes 30% of revenue once the game is published and people start paying for it. The Repopulation was published on Steam in December 2014 (the licensing fee agreement doesn't care if Steam calls it 'early access' or whatever).
The Hero Cloud provided hosting of dev and public servers, account and billing management and patch distribution services for everyone using the Hero Engine to develop their games. All these services were basically provided for free or at a reduced rate.
Idea Fabrik (the engine developers) needed to attract customers for their engine, and the cheap services they provided were a significant advantage for indie projects. However, providing those services were a gamble for Idea Fabrik, as they would have had to borrow money to subsidise them while their customers worked on MMO's that might be profitable when eventually launched. A Hero developer licence and hosted dev servers for $99 per year is a joke, that price wouldn't even cover the admin cost of processing the application.
Even if Repop was giving Idea Fabrik 30% of all their Early Access sales (which I don't believe), it would have been pennies compared to the benefits they were getting from using the cheap services provided by the Hero Cloud. The cash shop in Repop had not even been implemented yet, so revenue from Repop was limited to a single EA purchase for each player (starting at $20 iirc).
I see. Well back a couple years ago I started to see the trend as with all these engines, not just HE, that for them to keep this running they needed to have successful games and not talking a few thousand subs here.
As for repop they bought the original release and got 10% payback not the 30% and that 10% on a free to play game is so little that there is no way in hell the engine maker will get enough in return which leads to the reasons the investors probably backed out.
I expect come Jan 1 they will probably fold it up and cut the losses just like others have done in the past. It seems to be a cycle of around 5 to 6 years before they realize that it was a bad decision to market it this way. Multiverse failed at the five year mark and in its prime it was a very nice piece of software. There are some 120 engines that have folded up in the past 5 years so it may be a trend.
Comments
Starting over on a new engine will delay launch by at least another 2 to 3 years. I doubt the project can survive that delay.
One of Repop's significant sources of funding was the ability to offer Early Access play on the alpha servers. That was because the alpha servers, billing and account management were all provided for free by the hero engine developers themselves. All that will now go away.
Ironically, Repop got as far as it did precisely because they were using the Hero engine. Without the free services and infrastructure provided by the Hero Cloud, the financial pressures would not have allowed them to take so long to develop and implement the wide range of features that they did.
Sadly, I have to say: "Stick a fork in it, this one's done"...
The HeroEngine takes 30% of revenue once the game is published and people start paying for it. The Repopulation was published on Steam in December 2014 (the licensing fee agreement doesn't care if Steam calls it 'early access' or whatever).
Idea Fabrik (the engine developers) needed to attract customers for their engine, and the cheap services they provided were a significant advantage for indie projects. However, providing those services were a gamble for Idea Fabrik, as they would have had to borrow money to subsidise them while their customers worked on MMO's that might be profitable when eventually launched. A Hero developer licence and hosted dev servers for $99 per year is a joke, that price wouldn't even cover the admin cost of processing the application.
Even if Repop was giving Idea Fabrik 30% of all their Early Access sales (which I don't believe), it would have been pennies compared to the benefits they were getting from using the cheap services provided by the Hero Cloud. The cash shop in Repop had not even been implemented yet, so revenue from Repop was limited to a single EA purchase for each player (starting at $20 iirc).
Is the engine maker is in deep financial trouble?
https://community.heroengine.com/forums/index.php/topic,6050.0.html
If you are interested in making a MMO maybe visit my page to get a free open source engine.
It appears that one of Idea Fabrik's previous financial backers pulled out of continued funding. Perhaps they decided that the prospect of profits was too unlikely to justify continued investment. Or perhaps they went bankrupt because they'd made too many risky loans like the ones they made to Idea Fabrik.
Whatever the reason, Idea Fabrik have to find a new financial backer, because they have used-up all the money they borrowed previously.
Oh noes, my Star Wars Galaxies revival.. :(
I played Repop early on and unless it changed a bunch later on, it was no where near the game SWG was. Too bad there are not some devs that can update that game, the crafting, housing, JTL and the ground game were great and getting better at sundown. Was hoping SWTOR was going to be the one but just another disappointment.
Give me back SWG at sunset and keep adding to it and I would pay twice what it was costing.
But, yes, that's why the HeroEngine developers are likely going out of business...only a handful of 'indie' customers. The whole 'early access' option is a financial nightmare for them: Steam takes 20-25% of the $20 access price....so 30% of the actual $15 The Repopulation receives is $4.50 per copy. That $4.50 per copy obviously can't pay for the many months of having to continually support an online game.
So they have 'launch' expenses (since it's far more than just a small, closed-alpha with thousands of people downloading it) with the revenue being unbelievably minuscule for an online game.
No more than a handful of 'indie' customers + early access revenue via 'soft launch' = financial demise of HeroEngine
How many MMOs have used the Hero engine and not sucked? You can't even count them on one hand.
SOE is the devil. SWG has been ruined.
I see. Well back a couple years ago I started to see the trend as with all these engines, not just HE, that for them to keep this running they needed to have successful games and not talking a few thousand subs here.
As for repop they bought the original release and got 10% payback not the 30% and that 10% on a free to play game is so little that there is no way in hell the engine maker will get enough in return which leads to the reasons the investors probably backed out.
I expect come Jan 1 they will probably fold it up and cut the losses just like others have done in the past. It seems to be a cycle of around 5 to 6 years before they realize that it was a bad decision to market it this way. Multiverse failed at the five year mark and in its prime it was a very nice piece of software. There are some 120 engines that have folded up in the past 5 years so it may be a trend.
If you are interested in making a MMO maybe visit my page to get a free open source engine.