Freeze B5:ItF Finland
Spaceman
As you've probably read about it, our final attempt to rescue the Babylon 5: Into the Fire space combat simulation has failed.
All this is thanks to the game company that cancelled it (Sierra) now sitting on the game material, reversing it's earlier decision to sell it. They grow aware of the game's ongoing support by it's fans and were apparently not very happy about all the negative PR it has got in the public on numerous occasions.
First they yanked up the price with Codemasters, who tried to purchase the game from them, now when an ex-developer based Sector 14 Studios who had all but the game material (game code, movies & storyline) tried to buy it with substantial about of money, were rejected with no explanation.
The explanation is that Sierra does not want the S14S to take a product they've canned as a non-quality product and turn it into a success.
We're still got some hope in the form that S14S would build the game from a scratch, and we're there to support them.
[nb]However, we would like to remind the gaming industry and public media about Sierra's behaviour against it's ex-developers and the gaming community in general, and we intend to do it with a bang.
Please come on in, and join the people signing this public letter:[/b]
Dear Gaming Community,
My name is Kevin Mac Neil, and I am speaking on behalf of the Babylon 5 gaming community, about the game Babylon 5:Into the Fire, cancelled by Sierra back in September of 1999.
The cancellation upset many gamers that were waiting for the game to come out, and many more gamers were upset at Sierra’s unprofessional treatment of the developers. The Babylon 5 team itself had just been relocated from Yosemite Studios to Bellevue months before the cancellation, a time when Sierra was probably already debating shutting down production.
Over the last year, at our site FirstOnes.com, and ItF-Finland.org, we have been working hard to try to resurrect the game. A group of the former developers formed their own company, Sector 14 Studios, and have been working to acquire funding, a publisher, a license, and the myriad of things necessary to buying the game materials from Sierra.
After all of this hard work, they have accomplished almost everything they need. They have funding. They are ready to go with a license from Warner Bros. They have a publisher. They have the talent. But after all this time, working on the assumption that Sierra was willing to sell the materials, to which they have previously alluded, Sierra says no. A flat out no. No reasoning behind it, just no.
I believe this act is simply to save face for Sierra. They have been offered a good deal of money, so that is not an issue. They just don’t want to let the developers get the best of them. They won’t let a community prove them wrong by making a Babylon 5 game a success.
This is a great injustice, and a tale about a good company going bad, being only influenced by greed and ego. And I feel this is a story that needs to be told. Gamers need to know.
But it is not too late. Babylon 5 fans all over the world are waiting for Sierra's next move. They could turn things around by selling the intellectual property, restoring gamers' faith in a strong software company. It's Sierra's decision now. Let's hope it is the right one.
Kevin Mac Neil
aka Drazi Guy
On behalf of the FirstOnes.com community
All this is thanks to the game company that cancelled it (Sierra) now sitting on the game material, reversing it's earlier decision to sell it. They grow aware of the game's ongoing support by it's fans and were apparently not very happy about all the negative PR it has got in the public on numerous occasions.
First they yanked up the price with Codemasters, who tried to purchase the game from them, now when an ex-developer based Sector 14 Studios who had all but the game material (game code, movies & storyline) tried to buy it with substantial about of money, were rejected with no explanation.
The explanation is that Sierra does not want the S14S to take a product they've canned as a non-quality product and turn it into a success.
We're still got some hope in the form that S14S would build the game from a scratch, and we're there to support them.
[nb]However, we would like to remind the gaming industry and public media about Sierra's behaviour against it's ex-developers and the gaming community in general, and we intend to do it with a bang.
Please come on in, and join the people signing this public letter:[/b]
Dear Gaming Community,
My name is Kevin Mac Neil, and I am speaking on behalf of the Babylon 5 gaming community, about the game Babylon 5:Into the Fire, cancelled by Sierra back in September of 1999.
The cancellation upset many gamers that were waiting for the game to come out, and many more gamers were upset at Sierra’s unprofessional treatment of the developers. The Babylon 5 team itself had just been relocated from Yosemite Studios to Bellevue months before the cancellation, a time when Sierra was probably already debating shutting down production.
Over the last year, at our site FirstOnes.com, and ItF-Finland.org, we have been working hard to try to resurrect the game. A group of the former developers formed their own company, Sector 14 Studios, and have been working to acquire funding, a publisher, a license, and the myriad of things necessary to buying the game materials from Sierra.
After all of this hard work, they have accomplished almost everything they need. They have funding. They are ready to go with a license from Warner Bros. They have a publisher. They have the talent. But after all this time, working on the assumption that Sierra was willing to sell the materials, to which they have previously alluded, Sierra says no. A flat out no. No reasoning behind it, just no.
I believe this act is simply to save face for Sierra. They have been offered a good deal of money, so that is not an issue. They just don’t want to let the developers get the best of them. They won’t let a community prove them wrong by making a Babylon 5 game a success.
This is a great injustice, and a tale about a good company going bad, being only influenced by greed and ego. And I feel this is a story that needs to be told. Gamers need to know.
But it is not too late. Babylon 5 fans all over the world are waiting for Sierra's next move. They could turn things around by selling the intellectual property, restoring gamers' faith in a strong software company. It's Sierra's decision now. Let's hope it is the right one.
Kevin Mac Neil
aka Drazi Guy
On behalf of the FirstOnes.com community
