How Mission Creep Killed a Gaming Studio

Nerval's Lobster writes: Over at Kotaku, there's an interesting story about the reported demise of Darkside Game Studios, a game-development firm that thought it finally had a shot at the big time only to collapse once its project requirements spun out of control. Darkside got a chance to show off its own stuff with a proposed remake of Phantom Dust, an action-strategy game that became something of a cult favorite. Microsoft, which offered Darkside the budget to make the game, had a very specific list of requirements for the actual gameplay. The problem, as Kotaku describes, is those requirements shifted after the project was well underway. Darkside needed more developers, artists, and other skilled tech pros to finish the game with its expanded requirements, but (anonymous sources claimed) Microsoft refused to offer up more money to actually hire the necessary people. As a result, the game's development imploded, reportedly followed by the studio. What's the lesson in all this? It's one of the oldest in the book: Escalating and unanticipated requirements, especially without added budget to meet those requirements, can have devastating effects on both a project and the larger software company.

Comments

Contracts

[Anonymous Coward]

So the real story is that bad contracts killed a gaming studio?

What idiots signed a contract allowing Microsoft to unilaterally change requirements mid-project with no increase in budget?

Re:Contracts

[dcollins]

Well, as an ex-game-developer (and my s/o worked for game company funded by MS), I'm going to take a stab at reading between the lines and guess that they had a series of tiered project milestones that MS got to approve/disapprove for pretty much any reason they liked. So the developer is under the gun to make them happy however they can, or else the money tap gets shut off at the next milestone. A lot of companies are sufficiently near the edge (it's a very boom-or-bust industry) that they take a "hail mary" shot, betting everything on the score with the big company. It's basically the dark side of Pascal's Wager.

But the subtext does read to me like some pretty poor management on the part of the developer company. I've seen that a lot at game companies (weak or really inexperienced "management"). The good managers I've seen that made some money immediately parachuted out of the industry to something more predictable.

What's the lesson in all this?

[SeaFox]

Sounds like it truly is one of "the oldest ones in the book": Working with Microsoft is a bad idea.
Haven't we heard of multiple companies being screwed in partnerships with them over the years (long before Nokia)?

Re:What's the lesson in all this?

[Dutch Gun]

I was working for a videogame company that essentially went under because Microsoft canceled our next anticipated contract. This was one of two businesses to drop out from under me during my career. I've had a couple of cancelled projects as well, which are also somewhat disheartening. One was, oddly enough, also at Microsoft while working as a contractor. They put together an entire team before someone crunched the numbers and realized that the licensing for the game we were working on was so expensive, the project would likely not make any money. Seriously, no one did this before they actually hired an entire dev team? I spent about a week doing nothing while waiting for a computer to show up, and then worked for about a week. Then the project was cancelled. The project manager felt pretty bad about that, so kept me on for another few weeks as a makeshift "severance", as well as buying me and the other contract programmer an Xbox and a few games to go with it, which was pretty nice of him.

This sort of thing happens all the time in this industry. I suppose you just sort of have to roll with the punches with that sort of thing. Fortunately, after you've got a few years under your belt, it's not too difficult to find another job, especially if you're willing to relocate. I'm fairly lucky that way, being in an area with plenty of great companies to choose from.

I wish all the displaced devs at that company the best of luck. I've definitely been there, and know it's not a lot of fun to suddenly find yourself searching for a new job. Fortunately, studios are always anxious to grab experienced development talent, so hopefully they'll all land on their feet.

Re:This happens about...

[Locke2005]

Agreed. I've been writing software for 32 years, and "We've completely changed your requirements, but that shouldn't affect your schedule or your budget any!" happens all the time. The point is, you have to push back. Tell them exactly what every change is going to cost (padded heavily). Unless they agree to add time and money to the project, then just deliver the originally agreed to project. Don't let people make unilateral changes in the contract after it is signed, unless you actually like working on money-losing projects!

Re:This happens about...

[Ralph Wiggam]

The point is, you have to push back.

We love to make fun of the useless "suits". But that's a situation where you need good executive management and good lawyers. They need to negotiate good contracts up front, and then make sure the contracts are abided by.

Devastating effects

[manu0601]

Escalating and unanticipated requirements, especially without added budget to meet those requirements, can have devastating effects on both a project and the larger software company.

Not to mention the company's workers, who are likely to be burnt in the process before getting lay off

Re:This happens about...

[sd4f]

I work as a mechanical engineer, in the building industry (HVAC) and while this is also quite normal, the word that gets thrown around is variation, obviously to the contract.

Reading the article, particularly between the lines, it appears that the problem wasn't really with the studio; they were trying to get more money out of MS, but MS just decided to kill the project rather than have a cost blowout. While mission creep did kill the game, the studio didn't plan any contingency or mitigation for a cancellation (or more likely it was just sack everyone).

Yeah. That sounds like MS Gaming.

[Chas]

Basically, if it isn't XBox and a big name, Microsoft has NO idea how to handle it.
So all the schmucks in their gaming divisions play ego games and try to fuck with the studios as much as they can.
What a studio needs is strong enough leadership to tell these little pissant middlemen to fuck the hell off and go right over them whenever they attempt to interfere.

Like any other software project, you stick to the spec you're paid for. Changes require more money. PERIOD. No discussions.

Re:This happens about...

[Hognoxious]

Dilbert cartoons are spot-on about a third of the time.

The rest are understatements.