An article about possible (rumors) financial troubles over at CME

www.massively.com/2008/09/18/stargate-worlds-studio-faces-cash-flow-issues/

Unfortunately we have seen this sort of thing several times in the past with other titles, it hasn't ended well yet.

Well yeah, but so far what we have is "unnamed employee X" type of deal.

So for all we know, someone shorted their stock yesterday, then called someone up with a 'hot tip' about financial trouble. 

With the size of the Stargate IP, I wouldn't get worked up. 

Quite a few companies have had serious finanicial problems.

One example is Blizzard, they had to do temporary 50% pay cuts until one of their games came out, I forget which one it was, probably Diablo II.  Once the game came out, their money started flowing again, and all was remedied.

Once Stargate Worlds is released they will have a steady and very reliable income.  I wouldn't worry about any articles...  now if the game was in very early development, then you should worry.

Who out there doesn't have financial trouble once in a while.  The true test is, if the rumour is true, is how they bounce back.

No use worrying about a rumour, people say many things, most of which are only half true.

If I had heard this rumor 6 months ago I would have been worried, but SGW is very far in development with a slated release for Febuary . It will be very easy for them to pickup more financial backing if the Beta impresses.

It all comes down to if they have a fun and solid product.

 AIG is having problems as well. If congress doesnt do anything we could go into a major depression. SG is fine. They fired an a*shole. 

It's a sign to take seriously even if CME try to make it seem like it's nothing. Since beta is closed and under NDA, we can only speculate as to the state of the game. But it has happened before that MMOS have been shut down this close to release. Wish is one example I remember well after being in beta at the time it closed.

Originally posted by grndzro

If I had heard this rumor 6 months ago I would have been worried, but SGW is very far in development with a slated release for Febuary . It will be very easy for them to pickup more financial backing if the Beta impresses.

It all comes down to if they have a fun and solid product.

 

Gods and Heroes was a few months from release when I logged in my beta account and found out there was no more game. A game and developer can fold very quickly, even overnight.

Well all the classic signs are there, like good people getting fired, threads that question decisions getting locked, and silence from the comapany when concerns are raised.

I'd say something is up.

Your forgetting three very important factors to consider which should alleviate any concerns!

1 - MGM Interactive are backing CME and Firesky, and have a stake in the success of this game, as it will fuel hype and future success for the new show, Stargate - Universe, airing next year.

2 - There are 15 seasons worth and three movies, to date, of lore, content and fans. That is alot (even more than Star Wars).

3 - SOE Have nothing to do with the game.

Nuff said.

Young Companies like CME, always experience some kind of financial difficulties, whether life threatening or not, it is a common issue.

I find it hard to believe an employee inside CME (someone who probably got handpicked by founders) releasing such information to Massively.com, free of charge.

I wouldn't be surprised if Massively making these false rumors/news just to get attention from MMO community, and force CME to release some information/update, that is "excluse" to their site.

Originally posted by WisebutCruel

Originally posted by grndzro

If I had heard this rumor 6 months ago I would have been worried, but SGW is very far in development with a slated release for Febuary . It will be very easy for them to pickup more financial backing if the Beta impresses.

It all comes down to if they have a fun and solid product.

 

 

Gods and Heroes was a few months from release when I logged in my beta account and found out there was no more game. A game and developer can fold very quickly, even overnight.

I was in that beta as well.  It wasn't cause of financial trouble, that company had some shady dealings going on.  They were slotted to make the Star Trek Online game, but they did some illegal stuff and everything got shut down.

Originally posted by WolfClaws

Originally posted by WisebutCruel

Originally posted by grndzro

If I had heard this rumor 6 months ago I would have been worried, but SGW is very far in development with a slated release for Febuary . It will be very easy for them to pickup more financial backing if the Beta impresses.

It all comes down to if they have a fun and solid product.

 

 

Gods and Heroes was a few months from release when I logged in my beta account and found out there was no more game. A game and developer can fold very quickly, even overnight.

 

I was in that beta as well.  It wasn't cause of financial trouble, that company had some shady dealings going on.  They were slotted to make the Star Trek Online game, but they did some illegal stuff and everything got shut down.

Well, being sued does count as financial troubles. lol

LOL true

i am not too worried.  as some of you may remember SGW was in a heap of trouble before.  actually went tits up.  CME was formed and  rescued the game.  (also changing it from a FPS to an MMO).

They will bounce back.  They just release screenshots, in game videos the day after this alleged rumour hit the net.

if they are in that much trouble, lets just hope Sony doesnt pick it up and curse it with a NGE pre release.

Speculation will not do any of us any good at all.

Just wait for something concrete and then get worried and if things go badly we could ask for help from

---

Originally posted by grndzro
If I had heard this rumor 6 months ago I would have been worried, but SGW is very far in development with a slated release for Febuary . It will be very easy for them to pickup more financial backing if the Beta impresses.
It all comes down to if they have a fun and solid product.
 

---

Can you point me to where they announced they will be releasing in february? Maybe february of 2010. Even that would be pushing it. I'd venture to say 3rd quarter 2010 for release.

   Q3 2010

Damn that is a long time beta-testing  

Originally posted by Copeland

 

---

Originally posted by grndzro
If I had heard this rumor 6 months ago I would have been worried, but SGW is very far in development with a slated release for Febuary . It will be very easy for them to pickup more financial backing if the Beta impresses.
It all comes down to if they have a fun and solid product.
 

---

 

Can you point me to where they announced they will be releasing in february? Maybe february of 2010. Even that would be pushing it. I'd venture to say 3rd quarter 2010 for release.

http://www.stargateworlds.com/about.html says 2009

If you use the Dev Tracker you can find plenty of places they say 'early/mid 2009'. None actually said February though, but it's a definite possibility.

I'm curious as to why BlakeySGV said they were firing all the good people. I'd love for them to expand upon this. I presume this is the same Blakey that trolls the official boards with outlandish comments and as such, should not be given any merit whatsoever.

The feb date came from a gamespot Dev Q&A I believe, and he said it was tentative.

Every new game that is about to enter beta or reach store shelves has a similiar rumor posted throughout the gaming websites. This isn't anything new.

There is NO way they will launch in February.....and they are, indeed, massively in debt. I'm not a disgruntled anything.  FYI...I simply am friends with several people who CURRENTLY work there and are constantly on edge about whether they are getting paid (pay checks have been up to 5 days late for several months at this point) or whether they have enough time to finish this and get it launched before the money runs out.

I'm not a doomsayer but  it'll take a lot of hard work (which is happening on every level) and some serious cash influxes to make it happen. Here's hoping *crosses fingers*

Originally posted by attrativa

There is NO way they will launch in February.....and they are, indeed, massively in debt. I'm not a disgruntled anything.  FYI...I simply am friends with several people who CURRENTLY work there and are constantly on edge about whether they are getting paid (pay checks have been up to 5 days late for several months at this point) or whether they have enough time to finish this and get it launched before the money runs out.

 

I'm not a doomsayer but  it'll take a lot of hard work (which is happening on every level) and some serious cash influxes to make it happen. Here's hoping *crosses fingers*

Ah, yes - A "newbie" joins and his/her first post is claiming to have inside knowledge of the innerworkings a game.  Yeah, right.  And the comment "there is NO way they'll launch in February" doesn't match the rest of the post.  If they were having THAT much trouble, they'd launch in February to get money asap, regardless of the bugs (we've all seen this before, eh?).

Granted, I have no doubt that money is tight.  Of course it is, it is their first game and they have no income right now.  To say that money is tight is too obvious to be worth putting into print.  Any new company would be in this situation.  The main point to consider is how late the game is (as in, they planned their burn rate for a certain amount of time to put this out).  Yes, the game has been pushed back a bit, but nothing like I've seen others do, yet.  The fact that they are in beta says that they are highly unlikely to run out of money before the game comes out.  Limping to the finish line? - probably.  They have a lot of industry veterans that have experience here, so that should help.

It's always a shame when people root for something to fail, after all - there are a lot of jobs, families, lives at stake here.  And, poster, before you say "I'm not rooting for it to fail, just stating the facts" - then consider why you would even write this type of post?  If you really do have friends working there, why would you pass this kind of info along and potentially hurt their careers?  Either you are a bad friend or a total liar by posting that.

Flame away if you feel the need, but I'm right. 

You know...I have no interest in flaming you. You obviously have interest flaming me. As to why I am a newbie? Because no way am I using my actual account to post anything that could lead back to friends and get them tossed.

Several of those friends btw, have ALSO posted in various forums their fears and worries- and information on the finances- and been flamed to heck by people for doing so.

The game could turn out unbelievably (it's unbelievably gorgeous) but I don't know one person working on it (who isn't an elite) who believes it's launching in Feb- although EVERYONE wants it to.

As to massively in debt? Let's just say that ONCE AGAIN- the employees have not been paid yet. Paychecks should have hit their accounts on Fri. This makes almost 3 consecutive months worth of checks to hit up to a week late.

as far as being a bad friend goes...I'm only supporting them and their posts. Yes I know the person who gave the info to Massively.com- and in no way is that person disgruntled or lying and yes- they still work there. It takes guts to tell the truth when you know it most likely will be ignored or disbelieved.
 

So flame away hon...If I'm right you just look like a jerk later.

So far from what i can see. this is gonna bomb. I dont think this game is gonna be good which is too bad cause i love the shows. :(