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8 CommentsGas Powered Games may be renamed Wargaming Seattle, working on a free-to-play MMO
By Philip Kollar on Mar 29, 2013 03.29.13
"It's not a publisher acquiring a developer," Taylor said in an interview with Polygon. "It's a developer acquiring a developer [...] There was a 99 percent overlap in terms of company culture, genre choices, and leadership." Taylor said his company has tentatively been renamed "Wargaming Seattle," adding, "That's not 100 percent sure, but it's not a bad thing to say." Though the team is still very early into designing its first game under the Wargaming banner, Taylor confirmed that it will be a "free-to-play, triple-A MMO with PvP," in keeping with the model of other popular Wargaming titles such as World of Tanks. He said that Wildman, the game he had attempted to fund through Kickstarter, is no longer in development. Taylor expects to be ready to talk about the new project in a few...
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10 CommentsWargaming acquires Wildman developer Gas Powered Games
By Dave Tach on Feb 14, 2013 02.14.13
Wargaming.net, the studio behind massively multiplayer military games World of Tanks, World of Warplanes and World of Warships, acquired Gas Powered Games, the financially troubled studio that earlier this week canceled its Kickstarter campaign for Wildman, according to a press release from Wargaming. "Gas Powered Games' heritage and development pedigree shows us just how valuable an addition Chris and his company will make to the Wargaming family," said Victor Kislyi, Wargaming's CEO. "Gas Powered Games has a long track record of providing incredibly engaging AAA gaming experiences and we can't wait to start working with them." Late last year, Microsoft announced that Gas Powered Games would no longer be developing content for Age of Empires Online. Within weeks, the developer behind...
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46 CommentsKickstarter is wearing itself out, says Gas Powered Games CEO
By Megan Farokhmanesh on Feb 12, 2013 02.12.13
Gas Powered Games CEO Chris Taylor is "a little more on the cynical side" when it comes to Kickstarter and thinks the platform is "starting to wear itself out," VentureBeat reports. Taylor recently spoke at the Casual Connect event in Europe, where he touched on the company's experience with recently canceled Kickstarter, Wildman. "It's a numbers game," Taylor said. "Someone has lightning in a bottle. This business is really, really tough. It's turning into a lottery business, unless you work 12 hours a day, seven days a week and study gaming for decades." According to Taylor, the "heyday" of gamemaking has passed. "There was a heyday in the 1990s where you could burst in the door of a publisher and you could get a contract," Taylor said. "You blew your budget anyway, and they dealt...
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7 CommentsWildman Kickstarter canceled, developer to focus on keeping Gas Powered Games running
By Michael McWhertor on Feb 11, 2013 02.11.13
Gas Powered Games' Kickstarter drive to fund action-RPG Wildman has been canceled, according an update from the developer. "At this point, it makes sense for us to focus our attention on other ways to keep Gas Powered Games running," reads an update from the company. "Unfortunately, we are unable to share any specifics in public. When we have news to share, we will be posting it on our site." The Chris Taylor-led Gas Powered Games had just four days left to go on its Wildman Kickstarter, but was more than $590,000 short of its $1.1 million goal. More than 9,300 backers had committed to $504,120 in donations toward Wildman's development before the developer pulled the plug. Gas Powered (Supreme Commander, Dungeon Siege) announced Wildman and its intentions to fund the game through...
Wildman developer defends decision to layoff staff and then rehire some, details new rewards
By Alexa Ray Corriea on Jan 22, 2013 01.22.13
The Kickstarter campaign for Gas Powered Games' Wildman will release more details on its gameplay mechanics and add more reward tiers later this week, CEO Chris Taylor said in a video update on the game's page late yesterday, just one day after announcing his plans to rehire key staff members that were fired late last week. "This weekend was an incredible experience for me," said Taylor regarding his decision to fire most of his staff on Friday. "The reality is, is that we did what we thought was right and over time I think this will become more obvious to us." Taylor promised another update would come later this week describing how the developer plans to mesh real-time shooter and action role-playing game elements for Wildman. More concept art and another video update detailing...
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2 CommentsWildman: pledge because you like the game, not because you feel sorry for the studio, Taylor says
By Tracey Lien on Jan 21, 2013 01.21.13
Gas Powered Games CEO Chris Taylor would much prefer people pledge funds to Wildman's Kickstarter campaign because they like the game and not because they feel sorry for the studio, he revealed in a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) thread today. The studio, best known for its work on Dungeon Siege and Supreme Commander, laid off the majority of its staff last week days after launching a Kickstarter campaign for its strategy action role-playing game, Wildman. Funding for the game, which has a goal of $1.1. million, started off slow and has picked up since the announcement of the studio-wide layoffs, but Taylor continues to hold reservations about whether the game will meet its funding goal. When asked in the Reddit thread why he seemed so negative about the Kickstarter campaign's...
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18 CommentsWildman Kickstarter could save the company, Gas Powered CEO already trying to rehire
By Megan Farokhmanesh on Jan 20, 2013 01.20.13
Kickstarter could do more than keep Gas Powered Games' strategy game Wildman afloat — it could save the company itself, CEO Chris Taylor tells Polygon. "I don't want to make any assumptions at this point, but things look much better, and I think it's still going to be a long road ahead, but we're prepared to work very hard to make this happen," Taylor wrote in an email to Polygon. "And I'm already making phone calls and setting up meetings to talk to key people about coming back, to see the campaign through. "At least now, everyone has their eyes wide open, no surprises." Following layoffs at Gas Powered Games and a "grim outlook" on the Kickstarter, Taylor announced via Kickstarter that the project would either continue or end at the behest of its backers. The decision to...
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13 CommentsGas Powered Games considers pulling plug on Wildman Kickstarter in wake of 'substantial' layoffs (update)
By Michael McWhertor on Jan 18, 2013 01.18.13
The developer of Dungeon Siege and Supreme Commander has been hit with company-wide layoffs just days after the studio launched a Kickstarter campaign for its next game, Wildman. "These layoffs are substantial, but it's not everyone," Gas Powered Games CEO Chris Taylor told Polygon in an email. "We still have a fully functioning company, IT, HR, Operations, etc. And have retained some key people." Taylor says he'll be releasing a Kickstarter video that details Gas Powered's current situation. He also plans to ask supporters "if I should continue and then rehire people, or terminate the campaign now." Taylor told Polygon earlier this week that a leaner staff was to be expected after wrapping up one of the company's other projects. He estimated that of the company's 50 or so...
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8 CommentsWildman is a new SRPG from the makers of Dungeon Siege, Supreme Commander
By Brian Crecente on Jan 14, 2013 01.14.13
The people behind Dungeon Siege, Demigod and Supreme Commander just launched a $1.1 million Kickstarter for an action role-playing strategy PC game called Wildman. Gas Powered Games CEO Chris Taylor tells Polygon that the single player and cooperative game will blend the role-playing feel of Dungeon Siege with strong real-time strategy, multiplayer online battle arena elements. Wildman play will be broken into two distinct types of games. The overworld, Taylor says, will have a player controlling a single persistent character as they explore the world and its dungeons. Gameplay will be a bit like Diablo, he said, though in this case players won't just level up their character and unlock new abilities, they'll also discover new technology and special items for their awaiting army. W...
