Strategy First acquires Malfador Machinations

[Atrocities]

The only real games that it would seem they have are the Malfador ones. Perhaps it was Aaron who bought SFI and not the other way around.

Tim, I read last week on a gaming site that the independant gaming developer is an ever increasing rare breed. The cost of developing, not to mention learning to code, new pc games has dramatically thinned the hurd in recent years.

Whats your take on the garage game independant scene?

[Azselendor]

Strategy first's move, because of their injured name and sagging consumer confidence, makes perfect sense.

Best of luck to Aaron however!

[Thermodyne]

David E. Gervais said:
Read a fuller article here...

Press Release

I'm Sure Aaron knows what he is doing, and remember SFI is now fully under the reins od Silverstar Holdings.. Before you bash SFI,.. check out their new boss, Silverstar has an exceptionnal reputation.

Nuf said, cheers!

P.S. Silverstar Holdings last public financial report,.. looks like they sitting on 22mil in assets. So I'd say they are here to stay.

Not that it is any of my business, but were your services part of the deal?……Perhaps even a staff position?…….I’ve seen some of their packaging, they could use you.

[Rollo]

I fail to share the concern of losing our direct line to Aaron and less fan input. Aaron is now part of SFirst and according to Wargamer 'in a management role to direct the Space Empires franchise'.

In a positive outlook that could mean: more manpower, and for Aaron less coding but more customer relations (i.e. talking to fans) and strategic decisions that will strengthen the franchise.

Now, both the doomsaying and my positive outlook are pure speculation, of course, until we have more information.

What I would like to know from Aaron: 1) Will you get more resources?, 2) How is your new role defined?

[Fyron]

Tim Brooks said:
1) SF promised SEIV at retail. This hasn't happened to myknowledge. Rumors are that they are having a hard time getting back into retail after the bankruptcy due to distributors still being owed money from before the bankruptcy.

Actually, the game has started appearing on shelves in some places in the last few weeks. Quite lame to have taken this long to do it, of course.

Tim Brooks said:
...they are releasing games that need major pathches immediately...

In all fairness, SEIV was in need of patches on release day too. But at least that didn't have teams of programmers behind it.

[Malfador Machinations]

Hi All!

Not to worry, not to worry! Everything is ok. Here's some answers to those nervous questions:

1. What will this mean for future games? SE5?

Yes, SE5 is still coming out. We're beta testing and fixing it up for a release this summer.

This purchase means that you're pretty much guaranteed an SE6. It was looking doubtful with just my company backing it, but now with Strategy First in the mix, its much more likely. And with their help we should have even better graphics than SE5!

2. Will you still have control over development of the game, or is it now up to S1st management? Do you maintain creative control in this new arrangement? Or will it be up to people that have little knowledge of the series?

Not to worry, I still control development. In fact, very little will change in the day to day operations. Strategy First will have a say, obviously, but the games will still be developed by Malfador Machinations.

3. Does this new arrangement mean you will be getting help from more programmers from Strategy First? Will you still be programming the game in your new management position?

Yes and no. SE5 is pretty much done, so there's not much needed for it. For SE6 we'll be getting help in the art department, but not the programming department. But this will definitely help get development of the game done faster with more polish.

4. What will happen to your faithful beta testers? Will we be replaced by in house testing? Or will things continue as normal?

Things will continue as normal. I would never get rid of my faithful beta testers! If anything we may supplement our normal testing methods with Strategy First in-house testing.

5. What about the bevy of free patches that expanded functionality for SE3, SE4 and SF? Will this still be possible, or will we be forced into pay-for expansions for new content?

Things will continue as always, with patches coming out for quite a while. I will still be building the patches myself and putting in as much as I can. But with Strategy First's help, we may create actual expansion packs for our games with additional graphics, features, and more.


So all in all its good for both sides. I get the backing I need to stay in business and improve our future games. Strategy First gets a new product line and can make it available through more outlets such as Steam, Retail, Direct Download, etc. And heck, they may actually get me to make our games use standard user interface routines. Now, that can't be bad!

Here's looking forward to Space Empires V this summer!

Aaron Hall
Malfador Machinations

[Dizzy]

Sounds good. But will anything be 'dumbed down' to appeal to mainstream users? More often than not that kills the game. I can name half a dozen great games that when publishers got their hands on it they made so many changes to make it appeal to a broader spectrum of gamers that when all was said and done the games sucked.

[Raapys]

As Dizzy said, it sounds good. But, no disrespect to Aaron, no developer with self-respect would say that they were 'dumbing down' or 'mainstreaming' the game to appeal to a wider audience.

"And with their help we should have even better graphics than SE5!"

That's one of the things that bugs me, because we all know the effect graphics has when it comes to selling games. And at least to me, personally, the graphics in any of the SE games never has nor will be an issue. So I feel at least some of the focus is being put in the wrong area. But I'm sure others disagree, and want better graphics.

[Ed Kolis]

SE6???
<robotnik>I... can't believe it! This can't be happening!</robotnik>

Wow Aaron, this is truly incredible... I hope you never have to lose David Gervais from the team though... no offense to your previous artists (or to Atrocities or any of the other myriad shipset makers out there) but he's brought a new level to Space Empires art while being quite the gentleman in terms of public relations!

BTW, any plans for more public chats over at #SpaceEmpires? Those were fun!

[bearclaw]

I think this has the potential for a wonderful future for all of us. Seeing what else SF has, I think Aaron is THE man whole exceptional product is just what is needed to save SF. What's more, the additional resouces are just what Aaron needs to save MM.

I see this as the best possible situation. Or potentially.

I wish you all the best Aaron. You deserve all the success that this merger can bring you.

In truth, I have only 3 games installed on my computer: SEIV, Dungeon Odessy, Star Fury. SEIII and SEII are still there too, just not installed.

And worst case scenario, I'll be playing SEIV/SEV for many many years.