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John D. · 09-03-2003, 07:08 AM

Following last week story about the shutdown of Motor City Online, some people (including the developers of the game) are trying to continue the game. The problem is that MCO is now the 'intellectual property' of EA and EA doesn't want to sell it. So the developers have resolved to begin work on a new game, one not restricted to MMOG only game play, one with a single player mode. Here's the full story:

"The somewhat revolutionary but poorly marketed Motor City Online was official shut down by Electronic Arts August 29th. For those unaware of the games premise, Motor City Online pitted players in supped up Muscle cars of their own creation, racing each other in a flowing online community. However, do to lackluster support and poor profit margins, EA decided, as it has done with other Massively Multiplayer Online Games, that continuing to support the servers and development team was not financially viable.

More interesting than the actual closing however, is the story that is continuing despite the fact the game has been irrevocably shut down.

Along with multitude of players left without an account or game to play after this decision, was, more importantly, most of the MCO development team, fired after the final server shutdown. Remarkably though, the development team had a serious desire to continue the game even after being released from EA, and put fourth a solid six months of effort to realize that dream. Deals were brokered that entire time between EA and the small group of developers, millions of dollars were raised, and other publishers were contacted regularly to ensure that the new MCO would have a solid ground once purchased. However, in true corporate fashion, EA declared that not only were the offers “"Not enough to be worthwhile” but that, "EA does not sell its intellectual properties, and MCO uses shared resources and libraries that other games utilize…”

Such responses were a drastic change from the early receptiveness of EA, and, as can be assumed, the small band of developers were crushed.

Determined not to be defeated however, they’ve started anew, complete with funds left over from the EA offers, as well as some hopeful investors from gaming companies, car magazines, and general supporters, they’ve resolved to begin work on a completely new game, one not restricted to MMOG only game play, one with a single player mode, and most importantly, one to show EA what they can do.

According to Jon “Yikes” Cummings, the leader of this project, with 2 million dollars, 2 years, and a team of 11 developers, he is confident he can best Motorcity.

Yikes has posted a commentary of the past six months on his personal site, here, and is hopefully raising support from the racing simulation community."

Feel free to post your comments...

09-03-2003, 07:08 AM	#1 (permalink)
John D. is on the 4th circle: Avarice & Prodigality Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Belgium Posts: 855 Hellbux: 27,757	Following last week story about the shutdown of Motor City Online, some people (including the developers of the game) are trying to continue the game. The problem is that MCO is now the 'intellectual property' of EA and EA doesn't want to sell it. So the developers have resolved to begin work on a new game, one not restricted to MMOG only game play, one with a single player mode. Here's the full story: "The somewhat revolutionary but poorly marketed Motor City Online was official shut down by Electronic Arts August 29th. For those unaware of the games premise, Motor City Online pitted players in supped up Muscle cars of their own creation, racing each other in a flowing online community. However, do to lackluster support and poor profit margins, EA decided, as it has done with other Massively Multiplayer Online Games, that continuing to support the servers and development team was not financially viable. More interesting than the actual closing however, is the story that is continuing despite the fact the game has been irrevocably shut down. Along with multitude of players left without an account or game to play after this decision, was, more importantly, most of the MCO development team, fired after the final server shutdown. Remarkably though, the development team had a serious desire to continue the game even after being released from EA, and put fourth a solid six months of effort to realize that dream. Deals were brokered that entire time between EA and the small group of developers, millions of dollars were raised, and other publishers were contacted regularly to ensure that the new MCO would have a solid ground once purchased. However, in true corporate fashion, EA declared that not only were the offers “"Not enough to be worthwhile” but that, "EA does not sell its intellectual properties, and MCO uses shared resources and libraries that other games utilize…” Such responses were a drastic change from the early receptiveness of EA, and, as can be assumed, the small band of developers were crushed. Determined not to be defeated however, they’ve started anew, complete with funds left over from the EA offers, as well as some hopeful investors from gaming companies, car magazines, and general supporters, they’ve resolved to begin work on a completely new game, one not restricted to MMOG only game play, one with a single player mode, and most importantly, one to show EA what they can do. According to Jon “Yikes” Cummings, the leader of this project, with 2 million dollars, 2 years, and a team of 11 developers, he is confident he can best Motorcity. Yikes has posted a commentary of the past six months on his personal site, here, and is hopefully raising support from the racing simulation community." Feel free to post your comments...