Comments on: Major Changes at BioWare (Dragon Age 3, Mass Effect 4, and Co-Founder Leaving)

By: Jarrod Nichol

Jarrod Nichol — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 13:14:30 +0000

Ok so I did some more digging Ahmed and turns out that PD0 did indeed sell “well over a million copies” and that’s according to Peter Moore when he was still working at Microsoft. So obviously their press site leaves a lot to be desired. When Rare hit 100 million pieces of software sold, they stated PD0 sold 1.5 million, and that Kameo and Viva Pinata were approaching the 1 million mark. As for Banjo, we know it became a Platinum Hit, which means it sold at least 400,000 units worldwide.

By: Ahmed Mosly

Ahmed Mosly — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 10:30:39 +0000

I’m baffled that Banjo was able to reach 700000 in the end too. That’s a good number compared to what I was hearing.

By: Jarrod Nichol

Jarrod Nichol — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 00:56:16 +0000

Yeah these are worldwide number as per Microsoft’s sales date, rounded of course. I thought for certain PD0 sold over a million as well, but it says “as of Jan 1 2012″ on the site so it’s weird.

By: Ahmed Mosly

Ahmed Mosly — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 18:07:58 +0000

Those are worldwide sales? I remember reading that Kameo and PDZ crossed a million. And Banjo selling 700000? Or do you mean 70000? I know that Banjo did terribly.

Either way, these sales are nothing compared to their glory days with Nintendo. Even Star Fox Adventures did really well like you’ve shown and it was Rare’s sole title for the GameCube.

By: Jarrod Nichol

Jarrod Nichol — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 13:36:35 +0000

Yeah I can really see that happening, as it’s the only way to keep these franchises relevant. Microsoft tried, and even though the games got solid reviews, people simply showed little to no interest. Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, Viva Pinata, etc. all failed to really go anywhere in terms of sales. Here’s a quick list of how well some of their last games sold.

Star Fox Adventures: 1.9 million
Perfect Dark Zero: 700,000
Kameo: 300,000
Viva Pinata: 1.6 million
Viva Pinata Trouble in Paradise: 400,000
Banjo-Kazooie Nuts and Bolts: 700,000

Needless to say, that’s really bad for a company as famous as Rare. I hope Microsoft either sells their IP, or gives them to another developer they have so that these franchises can live on.

By: Ahmed Mosly

Ahmed Mosly — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:14:20 +0000

Yeah I’ve known that Rare was not the same earlier this year. Read a great editorial about it. The gist is that they had to transform to stay alive as the industry around them changed. They’re basically assisting Microsoft with hardware and Avatars now. Everybody that was there for game development and franchises are now gone. There are rumors that Microsoft wants to sell the rights to Rare characters and Nintendo is interested. Kind of hoping this transaction happens because it’s the only way to see Rare’s properties back in full force and Nintendo are the best people to develop them.

I didn’t know about the Stampers current situation though so that’s an interesting find.

By: Jarrod Nichol

Jarrod Nichol — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 04:04:45 +0000

Wow, I did some research and Tim and Chris Stamper are now into engineering and land development projects so they no longer work in the gaming industry whatsoever. That really sucks. These guys were awesome. Such a shame that so many old-school gaming legends up and left. Now the main publisher rule the industry, but I’m hoping we get a renaissance thanks to the likes of Kickstarter and Steam.

Talking about Rare itself, the studio is now officially a Kinect-only studio with no plans to work on traditional console games moving forward. I didn’t know that, but they restructured the company in 2010, and have completely dissolved all console development. THey’re also working on the hardware/software side of the next Xbox, and have reduced staffing significantly. Their assets are now being moved to other developers outside of Rare, which means we might see another Perfect Dark or Killer Instinct one day, but odds are it won’t even be made by Rare.

From everything I can gather, Rare is officially shut down as it was before. http://www.rare.net/ This should be proof enough that the studio really is finished. That’s a crying shame.

By: Jarrod Nichol

Jarrod Nichol — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 03:33:27 +0000

Do we know what happened to the Stamper brothers Ahmed? Did they form a new studio, or left the industry as a whole? These guys were instrumental in Rare’s success and now the studio is simply a shadow of its formal self :(. I haven’t been excited about a new Rare project in ages man :(

By: Ahmed Mosly

Ahmed Mosly — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 22:55:45 +0000

The news immediately reminded me of the Stamper Brothers leaving Rare after being bought out by Microsoft. It’s been inevitable for BioWare to go through the same motions. The only difference is that BioWare’s founders made some very genuine goodbyes, steering away from the politics behind their departure. I’m sure the company won’t be the same, but it won’t turn into another Rare anytime soon as the core staff is still there and as creative as ever.