toadeater Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 FASA Interactive founder Jordan Weisman has spoken out about Microsoft's acquisition of his highly-regarded studio, saying that the corporation "destroyed" its development culture and came close to doing the same with Halo developer Bungie."When Microsoft bought FASA Interactive and incorporated it into Microsoft... the two reasons they bought us was, one, they wanted the catalogue of intellectual properties and, two, they felt that we had developed a really good development culture. And the reality is that, pretty much from the day we moved to Redmond, that development culture was destroyed," Weisman told GamesIndustry.biz. "When we were acquiring Bungie, they wanted me to sit down with the owners of Bungie and tell them how well the transition went," he explained. "And it was like - 'what planet are you guys on?' This transition did not go well. And actually I became the lead vocal pain in the ass to get things done very different for Bungie. In 2007, FASA became one of the first studios closed by Microsoft as part of a series of cutbacks. The reasons for this are clear for Weisman, who had already left the company to start up new venture WizKids by the time Microsoft pulled down the shutters on FASA. They moved everybody into Microsoft's standard organisation, he said, and then changed his role so his staff were no longer reporting to him. "I was creative director for the entire group - all 300 people, not just the 60 that came with me from Chicago - so that didn't help either." http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/micr...culture-weisman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexcyn Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 It's really too bad too, since FASA had some great Mechwarrior games. Shame we probably won't see any more of these since MS has the publishing rights. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistaT40 Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Mechwarrior - the good 90s - how I miss them:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted August 27, 2009 Member Share Posted August 27, 2009 That's one of the dangers when a big company buys a smaller one. The big one is more structured and every i has to be dotted just so, while in a smaller company things are more creative and there is much less structure. I've worked in both and I prefer the small company. It takes both kinds, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R-Flex Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 It's really too bad too, since FASA had some great Mechwarrior games. Shame we probably won't see any more of these since MS has the publishing rights. :( There is a possible new MechWarrior game under a new publisher. But it was destructive to the entire BattleTech universe, not merely the games, under FASA and WizKids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharpGreen Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 It's really too bad too, since FASA had some great Mechwarrior games. Shame we probably won't see any more of these since MS has the publishing rights. :( Can't remember who it was that acquired the rights to the series, but there is a new one in the works. A "reboot" of the series if you will. Though I have to say the original 2 from Activision were the best. MW3 was OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCordRm Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Anyone else have one of those arcades open up that had the mechwarrior pods? Basically, you got an ID Card and then setup your mech- weapons, etc. Then you got into the pod and setup all your controls. Then you went into combat. Those things ROCKED! Supposedly, some arcades still carry them... but it's nothing like it was back in the day when we'd organize "guilds". hehe All that being said... I REALLY hope that new mechwarrior games comes out. I need my fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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