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Take-Two Acquires Kerbal Space Program

Eloking quotes a report from Polygon: Take-Two Interactive has purchased physics-based space simulation Kerbal Space Program, according to announcements from publisher Take-Two and developer Squad. "We have been impressed with Kerbal Space Program since its launch, and we are committed to grow this unique experience while continuing to support its passionate community," said Michael Worosz, senior vice president, head of corporate development and independent publishing at Take-Two, in a release. "We view Kerbal Space Program as a new, long-term franchise that adds a well-respected and beloved IP to Take-Two's portfolio as we continue to explore opportunities across the independent development landscape." Kerbal Space Program officially launched on PC in 2015. The game had been available through Steam's Early Access program since 2013. It has since gone on to sell more than 2 million copies on console and PC. Developer Squad said in a statement that the acquisition won't alter its plan for continued development of Kerbal Space Program. The developer is currently working on the Making History Expansion for the game.

38 of 85 comments (clear)

  1. And the first question that the board will ask... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "How will we monetize this into a pay-per-experience software-as-service product?"

    It's been fun playing. But I think Kerbal just went extinct.

  2. This will make the game better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Games are always improved when they are bought by another software company with "fresh ideas" /s

    1. Re:This will make the game better by SharpFang · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Imagine how much more accessible to kids the cute Kerbals would become without all that pesky orbital mechanics!

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    2. Re:This will make the game better by SharpFang · · Score: 1

      It uses Minecraft as a platform for development of MS Windows. Using [Redstone.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_10_version_history#Version_1607_.28Anniversary_Update.29_2)

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  3. Re:And the first question that the board will ask. by SharpFang · · Score: 2

    Rocket fuel purchasable through micropayments.

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  4. Re:And the first question that the board will ask. by silentcoder · · Score: 2

    I'm keeping my no-DRM current copy somewhere safe. At least until we have actually seen what take2 does. Now there's been a lot of panics in the KSP community over the years. Everytime a dev leaves people convince themselves it's the end of the game.

    This may be another doomsday cry that turns out okay in the end. Or it could genuinely be the point where the game that always felt 'too good to be true' is finally killed (it seems imminently suitable for an open-source competitor if that happens).
    Unlike most past panics - this one affects the one constant that has, despite the occasional bad behavior, always understood that the success of KSP lives and dies with the community and made sure to at least keep their promises to that community. Building a paid-expansion already stretched the limits of that (free updates forever was a promise), so that means - I'm actually nervous about this.

    In the past, I never joined in the panics - at most I would on occasion feel a bit pissed at squad over something they did and feel they aren't doing right by somebody.
    And of all companies that could have bought them - take2 is just about the worst possible one.

    So no, it's not time to panic - it IS time to be cautious, and keep a backup copy of KSP outside of any auto-upgrade service's reach.

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    Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
  5. Re:And the first question that the board will ask. by LordWabbit2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And of all companies that could have bought them - take2 is just about the worst possible one.

    EA would have been a LOT worse.

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    There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
  6. Re:And the first question that the board will ask. by silentcoder · · Score: 1

    I stand corrected.

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    Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
  7. Re:And the first question that the board will ask. by DrXym · · Score: 5, Interesting

    KSP for Android - "Your space station will be ready in 23:22 hours, accelerate now by using space goo. Would you like to buy more goo? Thimble of space goo $.99, Canister of space goo $5.99, Tanker of space goo $20.99, Comet of space goo (best value) $199.99"

  8. Re:And the first question that the board will ask. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1
  9. Re:Saving KSP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Download the last version from PirateBay

  10. Re:Saving KSP by SharpFang · · Score: 4, Informative

    Will work. KSP doesn't care about its location - all paths are relative, nor does it leave any registry junk. You'll just need to launch it through a shortcut to KSP_x64.exe

    That's also how you can keep many versions of the game in parallel - or even instances of same version with different mod sets. (though you can't get two KSP instances/windows to run simultaneously in a stable manner at the same time.)

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  11. Re:And the first question that the board will ask. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The Kerbal Space Program is now on indefinite hold. After a careful review by the newly elected President Konald Kump, "Wasting money on endless space exploration is a 'bad deal' for Kerbals." The new president is also cutting healthcare, education, science, and environmental agencies while also cutting taxes on the richest kerbals. The money cut from these programs will be funneled into military spending and a infrastructure, namely building a giant statue of Konald Kump and keeping all the Kuslims and Kexicans out.

  12. It's takes 2 to fuck it up and if they want to DLC by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    It's takes 2 to fuck it up and if they want to DLC it then modding may get locked down.

  13. Re:This is the end, my friend. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Time to build the ultimate kerbal rocket. 5 passenger compartments to hold all 78 kerbals. Enough engines and boosters to launch from kerbin and fall directly into kerbol to save the kerbals from TT.

  14. Re:And the first question that the board will ask. by barc0001 · · Score: 1

    > It's been fun playing. But I think Kerbal just went extinct.

    So your copy of the game just suddenly stopped working?

  15. Could have been worse by PPH · · Score: 1

    NASA could have bought it.

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    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Could have been worse by Fire_Wraith · · Score: 3, Informative

      NASA is fine, it's the congresscritters that run NASA's budget that you'd have to worry about, demanding that you get DLC from most or all of the 50 states to get all the components you need to get your rocket in the air.

  16. Re:Saving KSP by Hrdina · · Score: 1

    I bought mine directly from the KSP store back in March 2013, and never migrated it to Steam.

    After this announcement I went and made sure I'd downloaded the latest version from the store, just in case. Sadly I haven't played the game in quite a while (since Science arrived I think). Maybe I should correct that.

  17. Expansion? How can they talk about expansion when by PJ6 · · Score: 1

    half the codebase needs to be refactored?

  18. Re:4 years and its still early access by PJ6 · · Score: 1

    DON'T BUY ANYTHING EARLY ACCESS ON STEAM ITS JUST A NEW WAY OF SCAMMING and i fell like yelling YOU need to make sure you read this dipshit website owners

    Meh just read the reviews.

    KSP and Factorio are among the best games I've ever played, and I bought both Early Access.

  19. Uh oh, they said "we are committed to". by PJ6 · · Score: 1

    In my experience whenever anyone uses that phrase, whatever comes next is always complete and utter BS.

    1. Re:Uh oh, they said "we are committed to". by rogoshen1 · · Score: 1

      Or you know, any marketing department anywhere, saying anything..

  20. For 2.99$ automatically find fuel reserve once per by Tyr07 · · Score: 2

    flight!

    Automatically refuels you to full once per launch with your Kerbal remembering about the emergency fuel!

    Besides jokes I have no idea if this will be bad. Take two owns rockstar and grand theft auto. Now, the hacking and security online is complete shit. Players shouldn't be able to set fire or explosions at all players at once...stupid as hell.

    However beyond that, the game itself is fun. I don't really see microtransactions or anything that would ruin the game for me. In addition, they purchased squad. So it's just another developer under their belt, and they may get access to some serious experience and way better engines (Sorry unity, I have a perm hate on you for performance reasons. Yeah I can run it well, but the resources for what I'm getting? Questionable.)

    Can you imagine a space game with orbiting etc that has an engine more like grand theft auto? Multiplayer? Amazing. Although unlikely it's nice to have fantasies. Keep in mind both studios are separate so it's very unlikely to see anything like that but, a man can dream.

  21. Re:4 years and its still early access by SharpFang · · Score: 3, Informative

    KSP Version 1.0 was released on April 27th , 2015.

    It's 2 years since official release, so cut the crap.

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  22. Re:And the first question that the board will ask. by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

    Being bought out by Take Two actually isn't a problem, in my mind. Take Two is a publisher with a decent track record of doing justice by its IPs (e.g. Grand Theft Auto, Borderlands, Red Dead, Bioshock). They let games percolate in development until they're ready, support them with updates for years, and are, in turn, rewarded by their fans with ongoing sales (e.g. GTA5 came out in 2014, but it's still in the Top 10 global sales charts as of right now).

    To me, the far larger problem for Kerbal was that a good chunk of their team was stolen away and hired on by Valve awhile back to work on undisclosed projects. Losing the core of your team is a far larger problem to overcome than coming under the umbrella of a publisher who is known for being one of the most hands-off publishers in the biz.

  23. I Hope They Turn It Into A MMORPG by NicknameUnavailable · · Score: 1

    The dynamics of KSP launch/orbits + a fractally generated universe + some new engine to travel between star systems + planetary management like Endless Space + space combat like Pulsar: Lost Colony would be great (Also, some nice weapons for those mech mods.)

    1. Re:I Hope They Turn It Into A MMORPG by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      Or shoot hookers on Eve.

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      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    2. Re:I Hope They Turn It Into A MMORPG by NicknameUnavailable · · Score: 1

      Or shoot hookers on Eve.

      Wait, people play Eve? I thought that was just where ambassadors go to die.

  24. Re:And the first question that the board will ask. by AlanBDee · · Score: 1

    I was going to suggest Ubisoft.... but I'm pretty happy with how they've handled Rocksmith since they acquired it. They updated it to a better user interface. Allowed most the songs from the first to be imported into the second. And they've continued to release new DLC every week.

  25. Re:Saving KSP by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    Not really an ethical problem if you have a legal copy of the game, either. You are allowed to make a backup by law. Consider the "pirate" copy to be your backup.

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    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  26. Re:4 years and its still early access by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    Yup I bought my copy for $10 in a Steam sale years ago. Best $10 on a game I ever spent.

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    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  27. Re:And the first question that the board will ask. by Talderas · · Score: 1

    And of all companies that could have bought them - take2 is just about the worst possible one.

    Activision, EA, Ubisoft.

    Any of them are worse.

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    "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
  28. Ahem. by Koen+Lefever · · Score: 1
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  29. Re:For 2.99$ automatically find fuel reserve once by Agripa · · Score: 1

    Take two owns rockstar and grand theft auto.

    So ... Kerbal Hot Chocolate?

  30. Re: There are only 2 genders by Maritz · · Score: 1

    That seems to be what he's saying yeah. It's smarter than I expected, to be honest.

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    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  31. Re:And the first question that the board will ask. by pslytely+psycho · · Score: 1

    Update your mods!

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    Donald Trump, on a crusade to make Nixon look respectable
  32. Re:nope by pslytely+psycho · · Score: 1

    No need to bash a game just because you're not smart enough to play it.......

    I bought it in version 0.17 for $17 US about four years ago, 1300 hours. Best value ever.

    The best AAA never got that much time from me.

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    Donald Trump, on a crusade to make Nixon look respectable