Author Topic: EA shut down Kesmai Studios (Read 3905 times)

Westy · « **on:** March 21, 2001, 03:51:00 PM »

Stay tuned. Uncomfirmed but the source is in their art department.

Air Warrior may be experiencing the last chapter in a long book

-Westy

Ripsnort · « **Reply #1 on:** March 21, 2001, 03:56:00 PM »

Volcano dive on the horizon?

NUTTZ · « **Reply #2 on:** March 21, 2001, 04:31:00 PM »

NUTTZ

Quote

Originally posted by Ripsnort:
Volcano dive on the horizon?

Ice · « **Reply #3 on:** March 21, 2001, 04:32:00 PM »

Thats too bad

TheWobble · « **Reply #4 on:** March 21, 2001, 06:21:00 PM »

Man the levi...flood a comin.

J_A_B · « **Reply #5 on:** March 21, 2001, 10:01:00 PM »

Looks like AH might be my home for a little longer than I thought.

At this point, I am hearing a lot of conflicting reports. Some people say Kesmai is shut down, others say it isn't. We'll know what is happening for sure soon enough.

As CCR put it, "There's a bad moon on the rise"

J_A_B

jihad · « **Reply #6 on:** March 21, 2001, 10:24:00 PM »

Too bad if true, but the bright side is more targets for us in AH.

fats · « **Reply #7 on:** March 22, 2001, 06:36:00 AM »

Just saw a reference to: http://lum.xrgaming.net/ for an news item that said Kesmai cancelled Battletech and Air Warrior 4.

// fats

Westy · « **Reply #8 on:** March 22, 2001, 07:32:00 AM »

Looks like Frank "Gray Eagle" Williamson the Lead Artisi on AW-4 and Gary "Moggy" Cooper" the develooper for AW-4 were let go - and more. No other names yet. But at this point that was the core of Kesmai as far as AW goes.

No matter what reputation AW had gained in the past several years in the flight sim/game world, these guys had thier heart in the right place and I for one am sorry to have seen it happen.
I don't think they have the passion for WWII or WWII aircombat simming/gaming that HTC and CRS have so I don't give much thought to them opening up an independant studio.

About all that's left is to wait for the eulogy. From perhaps Jonathan 'Blue Baron' himself? That would be most appropriate imo.

- Westy

[This message has been edited by Westy (edited 03-22-2001).]

Boroda · « **Reply #9 on:** March 22, 2001, 08:46:00 AM »

Just wondering: if they want to "sink" AW completely, and will not find anyone who will buy the game - is there any chance that they'll give up the code to public, so that AW enthusiasts will have an opportunity to carry on under something like GPL?

------------------
With respect,
Pavel Pavlov,
Commissar 25th IAP WB VVS

Toad · « **Reply #10 on:** March 22, 2001, 10:01:00 AM »

A free observation, worth what you pay for it.

AW was one of the $9.95 all you can eat sims, right?

Had a huge player base for quite a while, right?

Apparently didn't make it, right?

Go figure.

Moose11 · « **Reply #11 on:** March 22, 2001, 10:08:00 AM »

Wondering if any of that talent let go could be picked up by HTC.

I know that AH is hitech's love child, but a couple more guys on the team could help HTC blow iEN and CRS away in the long run.

Westy · « **Reply #12 on:** March 22, 2001, 10:44:00 AM »

AW was one of the $9.95 all you can eat sims, right?

Not quite. AW was one of the oldest games around of the "$9.95 all you can eat" type. AW's problemwas that besides the AW3 graphics change, it just .....never changed. All the features promised for AW II never made it into AW III either. The final AW slide to this point has been in the making for over 4 years IMO when they failed to do anything with the program the last time they had a chance..

You can only rest on your laurels for so long before community innovation and veteran interest starts to wane. 'Maintenance Mode" = online death. Especially when competition arrives on the scene as WB's did, then Fighter Ace and now AH.

I've yet to see any threat of AH settling for "status quo" or heading for "maintenance mode."

-Westy

[This message has been edited by Westy (edited 03-22-2001).]

Toad · « **Reply #13 on:** March 22, 2001, 11:36:00 AM »

Westy,

I agree. I, along with plenty of others around here, played AW DOS.

You are absolutely correct; it never really changed that much.

My point was that this may be the inevitable end of any $9.95 unlimited WW2 ACM game. The players continue to seek more and better "simulation" aspects as well as more and greater "realism" and "immersion" into "combined arms".

It's quite possible that at $10/player/month, a modest sum by any standard in today's world (What does it cost to feed two people at McDonald's, for example.), is insufficient to allow for continuous improvement and new features.

Of course, they may have just ridden what was once a good horse right into the ground.

In sum, maybe $10 doesn't allow enough spare cash to continually "grow" a game.

But it's also possible that they took the money and refused to reinvest in the game.

J_A_B · « **Reply #14 on:** March 22, 2001, 11:37:00 AM »

The sad thing is, as old as AW was it didn't die of old age. EA killed it. And that isn't the only game they axed.

I don't see how pissing off as many potential customers as possible is possibly a good corporate decision.

No way a big uncaring conglomerate is going to release the code, or even the rights to the name. AW is dead. Maybe they'll make a game called AW4 eventually, but without GE, Moggy and the others it will be a soulless shell which will NEVER see so much as a penny from me.

Goodbye, old friend <sniff>.

EDIT: What the above post says is about right. They apparently gutted it for what they could, then killed it.

J_A_B

[This message has been edited by J_A_B (edited 03-22-2001).]

Author Topic: EA shut down Kesmai Studios (Read 3905 times)

Ice

TheWobble

Moose11