inXile General Discussion Thread

[Roguey]

Like the X series Roguey?

I am unaffiliated with this person who has apparently used the name longer than I have. The other Roguey has my sympathies.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/06...it-the-ultimate-honor-system-a-ign-unfiltered

INXILE HEAD PRAISES KICKSTARTER, CALLS IT THE 'ULTIMATE HONOR SYSTEM' — IGN UNFILTERED

Back in 2013, inXile Entertainment set the record for the highest-funded video game on Kickstarter with Torment: Tides of Numenera, and studio founder Brian Fargo has come forward to share his thoughts on the crowd-funding platform, describing it as the "ultimate honor system."

On the latest episode of our monthly interview show IGN Unfiltered, Fargo spoke incredibly highly of Kickstarter and the freedom it has offered his studio, which received over $4 million in funding from backers for Torment: Tides of Numenera.

"As a creative person, there are two important factors to me. That you're doing what you want to do... but as important is that you're doing it the way you want to do it," Fargo said. He went on to note that when you have a publisher to answer to, you could be "made to do it in a way that isn't with your style."

So for Fargo, the best aspect of working through Kickstarter is having the liberty to make games the way he and his team want. "We were actually having fun making games again... We could be nimble and make adjustments of something that felt right or didn't feel right without fear of not being paid," he explained.

"It's the ultimate honor system. Our backers are like, 'Here you go. Go make the game, please deliver, don't let us down,'" Fargo added, noting that he and his team like this relationship and that so far it has worked out really well for them. Before Torment: Tides of Numenera, inXile had incredible success on Kickstarter with Wasteland 2.

Torment: Tides of Numenera released earlier this year for PS4, Xbox One and PC. Read IGN's Torment: Tides of Numenera review to find out why it "manages to live up to the legacy of Planescape: Torment by offering a fascinatingly weird and well-written tale."

While you're at it, be sure to check out the third and final part of our IGN Unfiltered interview for Fargo's thoughts on the future of the RPG genre and what lies ahead for inXile Entertainment.

Last episode tomorrow.

 

[Abu Antar]

Probably managed to pocket a hefty sum of money in his pocket, which will allow him to retire I'd praise it, too.

 

[Iznaliu]

It's the ultimate honor system. Our backers are like, 'Here you go. Go make the game, please deliver, don't let us down

And of course, we all know what happened.

 

[TT1]

Just remembering:

 

[Infinitron]

Short: http://www.ign.com/videos/2017/06/2...nd-inxiles-future-ign-unfiltered-20-episode-3

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

I don't know what happened with Brian, but he doesn't look well.

 

[TT1]

Short: http://www.ign.com/videos/2017/06/2...nd-inxiles-future-ign-unfiltered-20-episode-3

I did not know that Fargo is a stutterer

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Short: http://www.ign.com/videos/2017/06/2...nd-inxiles-future-ign-unfiltered-20-episode-3

I did not know that Fargo is a stutterer

I think he must be ill. I remember around WL2 announcement I was listening to some podcast interview with Fargo, and he talked for like an hour while barely ever missing a beat. These last 12-15 months though, each time I see him out promoting TTON, he looks seriously awkward and uncomfortable during these interviews, especially for a guy who's been dealing with a press for 30 odd years. I mean, just look at his body language last 30 seconds, he almost wants to run out of there.

 

[Infinitron]

This interview apparently took place shortly after Torment's release.

 

[Tom Selleck]

Probably caught a disease from one of his porno whores, I'm guessing.

 

[Lahey]

Colin probably pozzed him up. Explains both Fargo's retirement and Colin's incessant healthcare tweeting.

Spoiler

 

[TT1]

Huh, guys... Can anyone tell me what the hell is this?

 

[Infinitron]

I think I remember Brother None telling me about the Torment and Desert Rangers games back in 2013, but I hadn't noticed the Van Buren one (it's from 2015). I'm guessing these are about strengthening their claims on the trademarks?

 

[FeelTheRads]

Quality developer.

 

[LESS T_T]

Road to the acclaimed VR developer: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...nxile-secures-usd4-5m-investment-from-gumi-vr

Brian Fargo's inXile secures $4.5m investment from gumi VR
Veteran plans to follow Mage's Tale with open-world survival VR title; gumi investment is part equity, part funding for development


Brian Fargo's inXile Entertainment has landed an investment from gumi VR, a subsidiary of Japan's gumi Inc. The $4.5 million investment is a combined total covering part equity in inXile and funding for a brand-new VR project. Fargo intends to build on his VR success with Mage's Tale by creating an open-world survival title for all high-end VR headsets. As part of the equity deal, gumi CEO Hironao Kunimitsu also joins inXile Entertainment's board.

"Gumi shares my passion for creating deeper virtual reality games and I'm fortunate to have a partner to work with in this spectacular new medium. We've had incredible feedback from our first game, The Mage's Tale, and we want to continue to build on our experience and reputation. I've always been fascinated by the social dynamics of the open world survival genre and experiencing that in virtual reality will create powerful and terrifying moments. We'll also be bringing our storytelling and RPG experience to the table to help enrich the genre," said Brian Fargo, CEO, inXile Entertainment.

Added Kunimitsu: "Brian is a legend in the games industry, and inXile Entertainment has a track record for creating ground-breaking PC and console games that feel AAA in scope and size using their creativity, ingenuity, and ambition. Over the past year, they've brought in very talented and experienced members as they shift their strategy from single player to multiplayer online games as a service, and we look forward to seeing how they approach the space. Since breaking into VR, we believe they've already delivered the best VR RPG game to date with The Mage's Tale. We're honored to become a strategic investor and partner with inXile, and delighted for the opportunity to work together on the next VR title with such a masterfully skilled team."

Gumi announced its intent to expand into VR/AR last year. It's an interesting choice of funding for inXile, which has relied upon crowdfunding assistance of late, but in a phone interview with GamesIndustry.biz Fargo commented that crowdfunding just wouldn't be a viable source for VR at this stage.

"I don't think the market's big enough to materially raise money for a virtual reality project yet. That's my opinion. Somebody may come along and prove me wrong, but it doesn't feel like it's there yet," he said.

Fargo also made it clear that the investment from gumi does not cover the project in its entirety: "The combined monies cover a great portion of the development, though we always put some financing into the games ourselves also. If we look to do other formats, then the funding requirements could go up. In a way, this deal is like crowdfunding in that we try to cover as much of the cost as we can, knowing that we'll end up coming out of pocket for some of it ourselves too."

We'll soon be publishing the full conversation on Fargo's approach to VR and his thoughts on the industry as he prepares for retirement. Stay tuned.

 

[LESS T_T]

https://venturebeat.com/2017/07/12/...-gumi-for-an-open-world-survival-rpg-vr-game/

The unannounced open-world survival RPG, InXile CEO and founder Brian Fargo said, is based on one of the studio’s existing worlds — so it could be riffing off Wasteland, Torment: Tides of Numenera, or The Bard’s Tale (though it could also be Hunted: The Demon’s Forge, a fantasy take on the cover shooter that InXile made for Bethesda Softworks in 2011). Fargo’s interested in open worlds like those found in Ark: Survival Evolved, but InXile wants to add more RPG elements.

Wasteland, I guess.

 

[undecaf]

Choplifter.

 

[Infinitron]

Post the whole thing:

InXile gets $4.5 million investment from Gumi for an open-world survival RPG VR game

The bard has a new story to sing at InXile thanks to an investment from Gumi, and the troubadour’s tale isn’t going to take the form of Torment: Tides of Numenera or Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius. What shape will this story take? How about an open-world survival role-playing game … in virtual reality.

Today, Gumi VR, the Japanese publisher’s VR subsidiary, announced that it’s investing $4.5 million in InXile Entertainment. This bundle of equity investment and project investment funding will go toward, among other uses, an unannounced RPG for Oculus Rift with Touch, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR. Gumi CEO Hironao Kunimitsu also joins inXile Entertainment’s board.

The unannounced open-world survival RPG, InXile CEO and founder Brian Fargo said, is based on one of the studio’s existing worlds — so it could be riffing off Wasteland, Torment: Tides of Numenera, or The Bard’s Tale (though it could also be Hunted: The Demon’s Forge, a fantasy take on the cover shooter that InXile made for Bethesda Softworks in 2011). Fargo’s interested in open worlds like those found in Ark: Survival Evolved, but InXile wants to add more RPG elements.

“I’ve been fascinated by the social dynamics of open world games, and I’ve wanted to bring our storytelling techniques into this genre and push on the intensity of that experience,” Fargo said over email. “It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how powerful this genre will be in VR.”

At first glance, this may look like a weird partnership. InXile and its forerunners (Black Isle and Interplay) have decades of experience in Western role-playing games, while Gumi focuses on RPG mechanics that work in Asia. But Fargo points out that InXile’s recent VR work went a long way to securing this investment and partnership.

“Gumi’s main focus here is on VR, and it appreciated the quality of the Mage’s Tale and sought us out based on it,” Fargo said. “One of the other great aspects to our partnership is that Gumi may help us bring our franchises into the Asian marketplace, something you need a local partner for.”

InXile is a leading RPG studio. It released the stellar Torment: Tides of Numenera earlier this year, and it followed with its first VR game last month, The Mage’s Tale, for Oculus Rift with Touch. You play a mage in The Bard’s Tale universe (The Bard’s Tale IV is also in development at InXile), and it features puzzle-solving and dungeon exploration. Players fight monsters and craft magical spells as they take the role of a mage apprentice who’s trying to save their master. It’s getting an update soon, too, to fix some movement issues (one of many subjects at designers tackled during the VR portion of this year’s Game Developers Conference).

The studio will be hiring to help augment its already talented design and development crew.

“We we will be adding staff to help us with uniqueness of making a server-based game,” Fargo sai.d “We’ve already found talented programmers who have created server-based games using Unreal and we’ll have a special talent announcement in the future. We are taking this initiative very seriously and want to bring in the best.”

Gumi began its expansion into VR in 2016 with Tokyo Startups, an incubator focusing on the Japanese market. It’s invested in The Venture Reality Fund, which deals with early-stage AR and VR comapnies in the U.S. And in March, it put $1.2 million into Playsnak for VR game development.

 

[Prime Junta]

Open-world survival RPG based on one of their worlds? But which one could it be?

 

[FeelTheRads]

lul remember when people were joking about how they're going to eventually turn Wasteland into a shooter? There you go.

 

[Athelas]

I guess Fargo isn't retiring just yet?

Gumi CEO Hironao Kunimitsu also joins inXile Entertainment’s board.

Does this mean any future topics about InXile's games will be moved to the jRPG weeaboo forum?

 

[undecaf]

So are they at a point now where they've rediscovered that old school RPG's are not a lucrative enough business and it is time to branch out?

 

[Fry]

So are they at a point now where they've rediscovered that old school RPG's are not a lucrative enough business and it is time to branch out?

 

[Infinitron]

lul remember when people were joking about how they're going to eventually turn Wasteland into a shooter? There you go.

That was Morality Games and he wasn't joking, but he thought it would be for console.