Visions of Mana Dev Basically Shut Down Just as the RPG Releases

Bad news. I hope something similar won't happen to Concord studio

This is just pure s**t. Its getting rediculous now.

What a time to be a video game developer.

@Cloud39472 or even Sony’s fault somehow 🤣

@colonelkilgore I was going to say that too lol

The real problem is NetEase and Tencent trying to make games under their supervision when Japanese game companies can do much better without them.

@colonelkilgore I hope Kier Starmer doesn't hear about this or it'll be all our faults.

I know I had a similar conversation when a publisher went out of business just before a game released recently but it really makes me not want to buy a game knowing all of the people who made the game are now unemployed and all of the income is going to the owners. Yes, I understand all of these people were paid for their work, probably, while making the game, but knowing they are now out of work while NetEase profits is still psychologically difficult for me. Another one to burrow from the library I suppose.

I wonder if they were expecting MOBA/Gatcha money.

@colonelkilgore careful with the conspiracy theories..we wouldn't want another I*N article being published..

@rjejr the people that make our playthings are all just capitalists' playthings themselves.

@Czar_Khastik Wow, an actual serious comment from you. Is it a full moon or something?!

I wonder if Square Enix was made aware of this. It certainly sounds like it was something in the works and the parent company was just waiting to finish contractual obligations.

I hope the developers land on their feet. Such a shame.

@rjejr It's a tough call when we don't know the specifics of the deal Square Enix made with NetEase to contract Ouka Studios to work on the game.

It's possible that NetEase flow of money was only for the development costs of the game (plus overhead) so only Square Enix (as the publisher) gets the sales dollar. But, it's also possible NetEase takes a small cut for every sale. I guess we'll never know.

Decisions, decisions!

God lord what a world (of layoffs) we live in.😞

This is what happens when you align your game with a dead and failed brand like Xbox. Metaphor Refantazio will also be a massive flop. When will these stupid companies learn?

@KevinDurCant What are you talking about? They were shut because NetEase are seemingly pulling out of Japanese devs completely, Xbox has absolutely nothing to do with this.

@KevinDurCant
This has less to do with Microsoft and more to do with Square awful management.

It feels like every AAA game coming from Square relies on money borrowed from other companies, this time the targets were NetEase, Tencent and Microsoft.

@KevinDurCant Not sure how it aligned itself with Xbox. Sure, it featured in one of their showcases, but that in itself doesn't mean much. There's not even been any time to find out if it flopped, it only released yesterday. If this closure is legit, it was likely planned well ahead of the game's release.

I'm guessing it's more about China realigning around their domestic games business that's suddenly booming almost like there's a government effort to help it along, pulling back from foreign game investment.

I called this back when Nagoshi left for NetEase..... Maybe RGG will have him back.....

@GamingFan4Lyf I started writing a sarcastic comment but then I realized that the folks at Concord studio could really get in trouble due to poor player count so I let it be and wrote a normal comment instead

@Czar_Khastik Kind of sad when even sarcasm looses its luster over stuff like this.

@colonelkilgore Considering the article is written by Mochizuki, who has a history of bashing both companies in front of gullible haters, I wouldn't put it past them.

That's just too bad. My copy is still in the mail, but I'm so eager, especially after the good reviews. It's so disappointing we see developers make great games, only to lose their jobs.

That suck since visions of mana is a good game, maybe after black myth wukong success the chinese corps think they rather fund games from their own country rather than funding japanese devs.

@GamingFan4Lyf Yeah either way it still has to suck to one day the whole company is celebrating the release of the game they've been working on for a year at least a year and then the next day you're unemployed, knowing people are out there buying your game, but you can't afford it b/.c you're unemployed.

I'm currently not objective or impartial b/c my kid graduated from a good college in May w/ a B.S. in game design and development and still can't find a job. 😩

@beardybot "the people that make our playthings are all just capitalists' playthings themselves."

Nice. 👍

@BloodyBlact
Hey it could be a HiFi rush situation, where they are saved from closure by another studio. Nobody wants to see people that are able to make good games get fired.

Wonder what's happening with Nagoshi's studio since he left SEGA for netease? 🤔

If Netease is essentially dead already I wonder what that means for Marvel Rivals as they are the main developer on that game. Will it be the one part of the company spared so the game gets continued support as it is already popular, or will they launch the game in December but not update it ever?

@KevinDurCant you could read the Bloomberg article to have a correct understanding of the situation.