Gamasutra has a Wildman post-mortem and interview of sorts with Chris Taylor, the main topic of which is Taylor's decision in mid-February to cancel the Wildman Kickstarter campaign and allow World of Tanks developer Wargaming to buy up Gas Powered Games.
Which, as might have been expected, has meant that Wildman (and, presumably, much of its promising technology) has been shelved for the time being. However, it sounds like Gas Powered Games itself is doing much better, and it seems they've been put to work on a new project:
Now, Taylor says Gas Powered is in much better shape, and is actually looking to expand, with some people who were laid off coming back on board. Gas Powered has tabled the original Kickstarter Wildman action-RTS concept and is falling in line with Wargaming: Right now, the studio is working on a prototype for a "big free-to-play MMO under the Wargaming name."
Taylor says, "We're just getting going on it, and there's a lot of groundwork to do. But we're barreling ahead."
This is...well, better. It's not ideal, but Gas Powered Games is fresh off of the Age of Empires Online project, and thus has a goodly amount of recent experience developing and delivering free-to-play MMOs in the strategy genre, which plays into Wargaming's frame quite nicely. That, and GPG does action pretty well, which in turn also makes them a good fit for Wargaming.
...Taylor says Wargaming is different from other buyers who've approached him in the past: the companies had some things in common. Wargaming is very online PC-centric, both companies' games deal with military themes, and Wargaming's boss Victor Kisly was a fan of Total Annihilation, a game Taylor designed when he was with Cavedog Entertainment.
But most importantly, Taylor says, Wargaming is a developer, too. "[Independence] has been a flag I've been waving over the last 15 years, because it was the right time to be independent. We had offers. We had publishers talk to us in the past. But in this case, Wargaming's very much a developer."
Taylor recently said publishers did express interest in bringing Wildman to market--on the condition that the Kickstarter was fully funded. Wargaming didn't come along with that stipulation.
That's a curious phrasing, and it gives me hope that Wildman and its interesting attempt to incorporate evolution as a gameplay element might one day see release. Until then, Gas Powered Games will be busy crafting the next Wargaming MMO, and frankly I'm more than a bit curious to see what they come up with.
Comments