Slashdot Mirror
Elixir Studios Closes Its Doors
Another development studio has closed up shop, with British company Elixir laying off staff and closing down development. Elixir has published two titles, the political sim Republic and the mad scientist strategy title Evil Genius. The cancellation of an upcoming project forced the company to make a hard decision. From the article: "I'm very proud of what all the staff at Elixir have achieved and the games we produced...We gave it everything we had but ultimately it wasn't quite enough. It seems that today's games industry no longer has room for small independent developers wanting to work on innovative and original ideas. Perhaps there is no longer any need for them."
As for
Maybe it's not enough that the ideas be innovative and original; maybe they've got to be good too. That's why big companies go for predictable mediocrity, and small indie companies (whatever the field) work on innovative and original ideas: most innovative and original ideas are not good ideas; and those that are rarely get implemented well.
Anyway, sorry to see them go.
Well, it did. Sorry. The concept was good, but the execution fell flat. Building your lair and hiring goons was cool and all, but that seemed to be the end of it. To get anything done you just placed goons on a map of the world and waited while tehy did their evil things. After a while, it became very boring and pointless.
Am I sorry to see Elixar go? Yes and no. They did not really make good games, but who knows, maybe they would have came out with something.
"It seems that today's games industry no longer has room for small independent developers wanting to work on innovative and original ideas. Perhaps there is no longer any need for them." It is quite sad how little chance small independent developers really have in today's game industry, however I don't think many would agree with saying that there's no need for them. Actually, having seen Evil Genius in Wal-Mart, it makes me wonder what the definition of a small independent developer is these days. Now what I'd consider small independent developers would be those responsible for games like Gish, Alien Hominid, or Darwinia. And, from what I heard Evil Genius was a great idea that suffered from some serious issues later on, such as trying to keep track of what your minions were doing around the world. I guess when you start working out a publishing deal even small independent developers can easily get pushed into completing and selling something that isn't necessarily 'done' in their eyes.
You get what you give. They sure did come up with some very unique concepts, however, they weren't very fun to play. As much as I hate (read: hate, hate, hate, hate, hate) the Sims, it is an incredibly original concept. I remember watching the trailer that came on a couple other Maxis products years before the Sims was released, and I thought, "Jeeze, this is gonna be crappy. Gimme more SimCity" Boy was I wrong. (Again, I don't like it, but I understand it's level of innovation).
Point is, there is plenty of room in the world for unique and original games (*koff*Katamari*koff*), however, you also need to make them fun. This is the element that was sorely lacking from the two games I played from Elixir. The presentation was fantastic, but it seems to take more than a 95% failure rate for companies to realize that is the least important factor if gameplay is neglected.
It is a game, after all. If it doesn't feel like you're playing a game, then you're probably not playing it.
Digital Sailor
Dear Elixir,
Please open source your games so that your fans may continue to enjoy them, or modify and adapt them. The benefits will surely outway the remaining royalities/profits from keeping these games as commercial ventures.
I downloaded the demo version when it first came out. I think it was fun for about 2 minutes until I had to micro-manage everything. While it was a very cool concept and definitely had potential the execution unfortunately just wasn't there.
Ultimately I gave up and uninstalled it.
As for the comment regarding the lack of need for smaller indepedant game developers.. well I call bullshit on that. Just because 1 company fails at producing games that people will buy and enjoy does not mean that all companies will fall into the same boat. Those that can come out with games that are actually FUN TO PLAY (gasp!) should do well.
Until they are eaten up by some bigger player who will then make sequel after sequel spewing out the same regurgitated crap with "All new features!"
It sucked. It was boring, monotonus, and after the 2nd level, not at all entertaining. It felt like work. Strike that. It was harder than work, with less reward.
I didn't even realive the same studio had made E.G. until this article. And yet as I look back, I can see alot of similarities between the games. Too much information, a Not-At-All intuitive interface, and a lackluster AI in games where the interface is something you spend 95% of your time in and the AI basically has to play the game for you.
Elixer failed not because they had publisher problems, or because they had a canceled game. They failed because they were a large group of creative, intelligent people with practically no outside testing. They internalized everything, thought their ideas were good, and sent them out. No one to say "This is too hard" or "this is too slow". I think I'd rather the company dissolve and the talent migrate to other studios than they release another game I get excited about, only to see the execution fail.
Physics is nothing like religion. If it was, we'd have an easier time trying to raise money!