New World Computing - Not Well

Thanks to Blues News for pointing out a recent post on the Celestial Heavens fansite discussing the continuing demise of New World Computing, the creators of the Might And Magic series, saying that the 3DO-owned developers, caught in that company's recent bankruptcy, have had their separate office in Solvang, CA, closed, and are running out of time for a third party to buy up the Might and Magic license from 3DO and re-employ the team. Elsewhere, fan Charles Watkins has published a discussion piece about how the franchise might be reborn, suggesting: "The conservative approach to product planning has a strong appeal. By sticking with a successful formula, you feel you are taking fewer risks so your profits seem more secure. And the less you change, the less effort is required. It is this mentality that brought Heroes down."

Comments

Honestly, studios like this need to fail

[Rakthar]

While Heroes may be a flagging series, and it is all too easy to blame "a risk averse culture" for the complete lack of innovation or progress in the series. I always look at situations like this with quite some skepticism.

There are many factors when it comes to original works that determine whether the outcome will be enjoyable or not. Management, corporate culture, the mix of the team, the finances, all of that comes together and formes a unit that either can produce quality titles, or can't. The games industry seems a bit more analogous to the Music industry, in that failures are quite expensive, and successes not necessarily incredibly profitable, than the Movie industry which is a bit more formulaic and stable. In that regard, much like there are some artists that continue to churn out real stinkers, it seems that some game development studios also walk that same path.

I think if there's one thing these folks have shown repeatedly, it's that they cannot produce quality titles anymore, can no longer innovate, and even their flagship series has now slid into mediocrity. Another company that shared a similar fate was 3DO. Trip Hawkins, founder and millionaire, attempted to keep them alive time after time, by injecting money into the company. They even went from being a hardware company to a software company, where Trip claimed the real money was. Yet, no matter how much things changed, their games were quite sub-par. What does that tell you? Whatever problems existed at 3DO, Trip Hawkins was unable to address them despite his cash infusions. Whether they were personell based, or budgetary (perhaps he was just keeping them going on life support) the end result was that time after time, the product that they shipped was sub par.

This too has become the legacy of New World Computing, and while I am sad to see a studio close, I think this is a necessary thing. If the games industry is to move forward in maturity, a certain bare minimum standard needs to be set for what is acceptable. The heroes games aren't bad, but they are quite dated, and clearly aren't moving as many units as they used to. Not only that, but the strategic game market has become a victim of changing tastes, and while Strategy games are still viable, they are approaching Niche status in some ways.

New World chose not to reach out (and when they did, to reach out poorly - Heroes of Might and Magic, the game that makes the original Tomb Raider look GOOD), and paid the price for it. They remained in a stagnant market and their console efforts were half-hearted at best, almost as if they knew they were going to fail from the start. I think sometimes it's best if dysfunctional teams like this are broken up, and things simply started anew. I have no doubt that there's plenty of talented folks at New World who will do far better at different studios where their talents may actually contribute to good products.