"STALKER" developer GSC closes its doors

[El Mano]

And fun fact... multi platform doesn't magically generates more sales...
just check the sales of crysis 2 and crysis (+ expansion).. hell you even could check only the sales of the original crysis.. and in the first month the original crysis sold more then copies then crysis 2 on all platforms combined.

Where can I check this? Can you give us a link please?

[Hornet331]

VG Charts is somewhat reliable for console numbers, not so much for pc numbers.. and the number for pc you cen get out of the press statement of EA where they announced that crysis 1 got platinum (1 million sold copys) ~2 month after release.... and crysis 2 barely scratches on the 2 million mark after 10 months...

And yes crytek deserved that for selling out there main fanbase...

[Craftyman.]

hope someone picks up STALKER 2. Hope it's CD Projekt red (although that would never happen)

Hey what ever happened to that recreation of STALKER on the cry engine? I think it's still in development...

Edit: ah here's the link, it's called Sector 23: http://www.moddb.com/mods/cryzone-sector-23

[HelixPC]

Bad new for PC gamers

[Stevethegreat]

Bad new for PC gamers

For *all* gamers since PC was the only platform that was innovating. If the evolution of gaming was left to consoles we would only have platforms and JRPGs, it's the PCs that gave us genres like W-RPG, Strategy, FPS, Simulations, Adventures.... and guess what's happening now that PC is dead, rehashes of the same gameplay again and again (and again), some of the best games lately are platforms from the 90s (Braid, Limbo...) for god's sake, we live in a reactionary era as far as gaming goes...

The Stalker devs tried to innovate, creating an open-ended "unscripted" world offering gameplay seen nowhere else (since and after). "Good riddance" I say, innovation should be punished, stagnation and consumerism should be rewarded. Wooh, go Cod 15! We need more CoD, we need greater numbers; what we don't need is someone actually trying sth new... damn I'm in tears.

[Pontos]

*rant*

First, PC gaming is not dead nor will be. That line was used countless times in the past decade and it's getting boring to hear.

Second, the industry has always been a very conservative one, back when it was small and with a small userbase and now when it's massive and with millions of users.
For every game introducing new concepts and innovating you would also get like 20 games that would follow a proven formula. Just check back in the 90's the amount of Sonic-style clones and the amount of 3D platformers that all followed a certain formula, or in early 00's where we had the invasion of WWII games after MoH:AA set the precedent and the amount of "Three distinct races and/or heroes" RTSs post Starcraft and Warcraft 3, and then in late 00's with the invasion of modern warfare FPSs after CoD4 set the precedent, "Action RPGs" after Mass Effect, and grind-based, PvP and GvG heavy MMOs post WoW's success.

What changed is, as i mentioned, that the industry grew massively. Compared to half a decade ago, making a big game now costs a lot more and it's necessary to sell millions of copies to be profitable, so the risks and consequences of failing at trying new stuff are much higher.

Innovation has practically become an exclusivity for indie or big self-funded studios. Any publisher that needs to please shareholders has very little incentive to risk funding an innovative project or one that would hardly break the 1mil units sold mark.

[Philip_J_Fry]

some giant corp. will probably buy the STALKER IP and make some consoilzied derpy COD casual FPS out of it...

well this is a new era, or has been this way for a while. where gaming company simply can not survive on PC only big budget games (not counting MMO. yes i agree PC is still the preferred platform for MMO). they put money and time into a PC only game that barely makes profit, and watch COD rake in $500 mil in a day with the same old derpy game. its all multi platform games with console focus nowadays.

marketing, buying off game reviewers is as important as making the game decent. as long as u create the hype, simple minded idiots will buy it. much like politics.

[Stevethegreat]

First, PC gaming is not dead nor will be. That line was used countless times in the past decade and it's getting boring to hear.

I was never of those who used the phrase "PC gaming is dying", what I'm using instead is that it's *dead* (now). Because I know no other word to use for a platform which has no games of it's own. Sure we get tons of ports, but that's what they are *ports*, you can enjoy them better to the console that they were intended. Sure the phrase has been overused, but for once it's true (name me more than 3 AA titles developed *for* the PC in the last year or two).

As for the rest you're right, it happens when an industry gets too large, but what also happens is that innovation does *not* cease. Sure holywood took over film-making but you can still find decent movies (that can offer something new and/or interesting) if you know where to look. I just don't think that indie developers are of the same caliber as indie film-makers, not to diss their games, but they're not actually doing anything that ID, Valve, Black Isle haven't done 10 times better back in the 90s (as far as innovation goes)... *that's* what I miss, and nothing -I believe- can account for it apart from the loss of vibrancy that the PC developer community once had...

[JohnZS]

This is such a shame
I was a big fan of all three Stalker Games, I admit that Clearsky was perhaps not the best, but Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat where awesome games. I also liked the community efforts which enhanced the games even more, my favourite being Artist Pavel's Stalker Complete Modification.
I truly hope that a PC friendly developer picks up STALKER 2 as this is another one of those games I was looking forward to.
Please note I am not saying this is the death of PC gaming, however it certainly does not bode good news at all for PC Gaming.
John

[JohnZS]

This is such a shame
I was a big fan of all three Stalker Games, I admit that Clearsky was perhaps not the best, but Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat where awesome games. I also liked the community efforts which enhanced the games even more, my favourite being Artist Pavel's Stalker Complete Modification.
I truly hope that a PC friendly developer picks up STALKER 2 as this is another one of those games I was looking forward to.
Please note I am not saying this is the death of PC gaming, however it certainly does not bode good news at all for PC Gaming.
John

[Pontos]

I was never of those who used the phrase "PC gaming is dying", what I'm using instead is that it's *dead* (now). Because I know no other word to use for a platform which has no games of it's own. Sure we get tons of ports, but that's what they are *ports*, you can enjoy them better to the console that they were intended. Sure the phrase has been overused, but for once it's true (name me more than 3 AA titles developed *for* the PC in the last year or two).

A fast list could be Witcher 2, Starcraft 2, Anno 2070, Civilization V, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat, and Hard Reset. If you try and look you'll find quite a lot more, as big as those and also smaller. Seriously, stop with the PC gaming is dead thing.

Now, have you tried to check what's the deal with consoles regarding exclusives? It's similar.
This is not a problem with PC exclusives, but a problem with exclusivity itself regardless of platform. Be it an innovative game or a proven formula, being limited to a single platform when the genre or gameplay style allows it to be in all is not a good idea nowadays. Valve realized it, CDProjekt realized it, Bioware pre EA-merge realized it, Squarenix realized it, and even GSC realized it since they indeed tried to get a console version of their games out but failed to do so.

[Hornet331]

and guess what's happening now that PC is deaddamn I'm in tears.

Ok you asked for it....

List of 2011/2012 PC-Exlusives

Action

Bloodline Champions
Chivalry: Battle for Agatha
Battlefield Play4Free
Contagion
Depth
Firefall
Garshasp: The Monster Slayer
Ground Branch
Hard Rest
M.D.K.2 HD
Miner Wars 2081
Natural Selection 2
Primal Carnage
Red Orchestra: Heroes of Stalingrad
Tactical Intervention
Warface


Strategy

A Game of Thrones: Genesis
Age of Empires: Online
Anomaly: Warzone Earth
Apox
Chris Taylor's King & Castles
Cities in Motion
DOTA 2
Dungeons
End of Nations
Frozen Synapse
Jagged Alliance 2: Reloaded
Jagged Alliance 3
King Arthur 2
Men of War: Vietnam
Might and Magic: Heroes VI
Magna Mundi
Panzer Corps
Real Warfare 2: Northern Crusades
Shogun 2: Total War
Stronghold III
Sword of the Stars II: The Lords of Winter
Trapped Dead
Tropico 4
UFO 2 Extraterrestrials: Shadows Over Earth
Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War II - Retribution
Xenonauts

RPG

Avadon: The Black Fortress
Chantelise
Darkspore
Dead State
Diablo III
Drakensang: Phileasson's Secret
E.Y.E.
Grim Dawn
Inquisitor
Neverwinter
The Age of Decadence
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
Torchlight II

MMO

Black Prophecy
Blackstar Chronicles
Blade & Soul
Drakensang Online
Earthrise
Everquest II: Destiny of Velious
Guild Wars 2
Jumpgate Evolution
Planetside Next
Phantasy Star Online 2
Rift: Planes of Telara
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Tera
Tribes Universe
Warhammer 40.000: Dark Millenniun Online

Simulator

DCS: A10c - Warthog
IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs Over Dover
Microsoft Flight
Space Shutter Mission Simulator 2
Steel Armor: Blaze of War

Racing

GTR 3
rFactor 2
Trackmania 2

Adventure

Asylum
Black Mirror 3
Gemini Rue
Syberia 3

Misc

Bounty Arms
Cargo!
Cobalt
Minecraft
Subversion

And before some one asks about starcraft2.. it was not released in 2011.

[Pontos]

And before some one asks about starcraft2.. it was not released in 2011.

Neither were DOTA 2 or Diablo 3 for that matter

[Hornet331]

yeah good thing that the titel says 2011/2012...

[Stevethegreat]

Starcraft 2, that's about it... (I asked for AA titles)
Witcher 2 is a bit on the gray area since its devs had in mind consoles too when they were developing it (so that to port it eventually).

...I'm not some kind of PC purists, nor do I wish to troll you guys, it's only that I find the change of pace quite evident. A mere 8 years ago we had titles moving hardware but also gameplay forward. This seems not to be the case anymore... As far as graphics go a 2007 title is still the king and in gameplay things seem to be worse. We never had the big "unscripted" ai that we were promised physics engine are still minimally used and in general things seem to move veeery slowly compared to how they were moving once.

One explanation is that it is very expensive to develop the new generation of gameplay, another (the one that I prefer) is that the incentives were moved elsewhere. Sure costs are greater, but the "crowd" is bigger too. There could certainly be a model to create innovative games that make *profit*. I know this because it has happened in the past too. Look at Notch, he had a half-decent idea and he made millions, there's definitely room for great innovation -still- we're nowhere near the limits of the industry, the barriers put are artificial and debilitating, "we" repeat ourselves for no good reason...

[PaganII]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Forum is still up.

http://gsc-game.com/index.php?t=comm...=16&offset=360

http://gsc-game.com/index.php?t=comm...=16&offset=360

[CaptMorgan]

So sad Yes I also loved all 3 but more so SoC and CoP.

An individual had ventured into the real-life "zone" and taken these photos around the anniversary of the Chernobyl accident-quite amazing how accurate the game graphics were!

[Pontos]

yeah good thing that the titel says 2011/2012...

Ah, totally missed that it said 2011/2012. My bad.

[PaganII]

So sad Yes I also loved all 3 but more so SoC and CoP.

An individual had ventured into the real-life "zone" and taken these photos around the anniversary of the Chernobyl accident-quite amazing how accurate the game graphics were!

They have been giving guided tours of Chernobyl for years. The graffiti was painted on the buildings by "tourists"

[tajoh111]

VG Charts is somewhat reliable for console numbers, not so much for pc numbers.. and the number for pc you cen get out of the press statement of EA where they announced that crysis 1 got platinum (1 million sold copys) ~2 month after release.... and crysis 2 barely scratches on the 2 million mark after 10 months...

And yes crytek deserved that for selling out there main fanbase...

VGchartz doesn't do the greatest job of software numbers, they kind of under report. By the same source, Crysis has only sold 650k to date. So compared to that,crysis 2, 2 million would be a huge improvement.

In from March to July, crysis 2 sold 3 million copies. Crysis 2 more than likely sold better going multiplatform than sticking PC.

[qube]

http://stalker-game-world.com/news/g...2011-12-10-480
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/show...=170058&page=2



Quote:
Обновление 2 (10.12.2011, 12:30)
Поступили новые данные. Оказывается для GSC Game World строился новый офис. Отсюда выплывает... Вся информация до этого была получена от третьих лиц, сами же разработчики никак не комментировали происходящие, чем продолжали привлекать внимание заинтересованных. Закрытие GSC Game World, вероятно, не означает закрытие компании, а лишь офиса на улице Лепсе, 4. В предположении вся эта история - оригинальный пиар-ход компании, которая была раздута лишь третьими лицами на основании пущенных слухов. Ждем понедельника...



Google Translated:[/quote]
Quote:
Update 2 (10.12.2011, 12:30)
Received new data. It turns out to GSC Game World was built a new office. From this comes up ... All information previously received from third parties, themselves, the developers did not comment on ongoing, continued to attract attention than concerned. Closure of GSC Game World, probably does not mean closing the company, and only office in the street Lepse, 4. Under the assumption that the whole story - the original PR move of the company, which was inflated only by third parties on the basis of rumors fired. We look forward to Monday ...



__________________

[Mechromancer]

http://stalker-game-world.com/news/g...2011-12-10-480
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/show...=170058&page=2



Quote:
Обновление 2 (10.12.2011, 12:30)
Поступили новые данные. Оказывается для GSC Game World строился новый офис. Отсюда выплывает... Вся информация до этого была получена от третьих лиц, сами же разработчики никак не комментировали происходящие, чем продолжали привлекать внимание заинтересованных. Закрытие GSC Game World, вероятно, не означает закрытие компании, а лишь офиса на улице Лепсе, 4. В предположении вся эта история - оригинальный пиар-ход компании, которая была раздута лишь третьими лицами на основании пущенных слухов. Ждем понедельника...



Google Translated:

Quote:
Update 2 (10.12.2011, 12:30)
Received new data. It turns out to GSC Game World was built a new office. From this comes up ... All information previously received from third parties, themselves, the developers did not comment on ongoing, continued to attract attention than concerned. Closure of GSC Game World, probably does not mean closing the company, and only office in the street Lepse, 4. Under the assumption that the whole story - the original PR move of the company, which was inflated only by third parties on the basis of rumors fired. We look forward to Monday ...



__________________[/QUOTE]


Friggin' HOORAY! I really hope this is true. You know there are some games that come out that really have to work for my money. Even blockbuster titles like BF3 and Skyrim have to prove themselves to me first. Now if it comes out of CD Projekt or GSC Gameworld, it is GOING to be owned by me, no questions asked.

[miahallen]

LOL....the rumor mill wins again.

Glad to here they're not gone....great games

[Aberration]

Their doors are closed though!!!

[ExodusC]

I really hope it's true that they're still around- it seemed like the STALKER series was really successful, so unless there was some kind of internal conflict, I'm not sure why GSC would have just gone under.