Sword Coast Legends Developer n-Space Closes Down After 21 Years

ZeshinX said:

Digital Extremes would be foolish to even bother spending any time or money on SCL at this point. It was a dead game after only a month...releasing the console version will not suddenly raise nSpace from the dead and will only cost DE money.

I hope those who lost their jobs find new work elsewhere in short order, but I won't say I'm sorry SCL failed as spectacularly hard as it has.

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I think that the economic calculus on this decision is that releasing SCL on console will cost less than breaking a contract with both Sony and Microsoft at this point. And perhaps there's some consideration for "goodwill" and their reputation with both customers and distributors.

goldomark said:

If D&D's financial vitality did not depend on SCL's revenues, than all is fine for 5e.

I do not think they made that mistake twice.

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Hasbro HAS made the same mistake twice.

They promised digital tools for D&D - that Codename: Morningstar thing. Those guys had plans to produce a digital marketplace for DMs to trade their own content (just like we have with DM's Guild) but mediated by a cross-platform app that also served as digital books for your D&D content (just like Fantasy Grounds has now).

Either Morningstar did not get the licensing support from WotC that would let them monetize the app, or they bit off more than they could chew contractually; so they fell out with WotC and tried to branch out on their own. Seems like n-space also had one or both of the same problems.

Hasbro's agenda with D&D is very clear: The core RPG is not their business model. They made a system designed to focus on the core brand of Dungeons and Dragons to keep their hard core tabletop gaming base active, but they plan to make all their profit by licensing the IP.

This business model is great for companies that play on nostalgia or geek culture without selling to the relatively small niche of actual D&D players. TV, video games, movies, merchandise, etc. can all be made D&D-related without being limited to the core of people who currently play D&D. This is the greater market for geek stuff.

This business model is not great for companies that want to use the IP to develop new innovative ways to actually play D&D. Their market is much smaller - if you're not playing D&D because of job/kids/life/etc. you probably had no need for Morningstar and no interest in running D&D as a DM through SCL. No more than you needed a copy of the Monster Manual.

So when expectations shifted for SCL to make it more of a DM tool (niche) than a D&D video game (greater market), they had to spend a lot of money for a little market. Not a good business move.

That's my theory anyway.

Especially when the DM tool was so limited. I'm one of those who wanted a video game that made me feel like I was playing D&D when I couldn't play with my normal group. This game failed on every level for me. I wanted an awesome D&D simulator that I could make characters and play through a story without needing friends to play with. That is something I did with Balder's Gate and Neverwinter Nights. I feel sorry for N-Space but if they didn't intend on making Balder's Gate 3 they shouldn't have said that's what their goal was.

They might not have a choice.

I just wanted a toolset and persistent world mod support like NWN (1) had. Heck, if NWN 1 still had persistent world server services around and mods which made it use 5E rules, I'd happily still use it.

Reinhart said:

I think that the economic calculus on this decision is that releasing SCL on console will cost less than breaking a contract with both Sony and Microsoft at this point. And perhaps there's some consideration for "goodwill" and their reputation with both customers and distributors.

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I suspect that's the case. Though I'm a little leary about the "goodwill" element. I find it decidedly not too good to release something that is, for all intents and purposes, dead before you even receive it...unless there is a giant sticker or label or online warning that indicates this is sold "as is" with no real support (beyond perhaps token efforts).

Whatever efforts are put into it at this point, to me at any rate, are wasted (beyond contractual obligations). Better to hold hat in hand and apologize and move on than to limp pathetically forward for another month or so.

This is unfortunate. Sword Coast Legends is its own animal in the library of D&D video games, and it's one I've had a lot of fun with. I'm genuinely disappointed that N-Space won't get the chance to make further improvements to the dungeon master tools. They are the one place where the game really does fall flat. I would have liked to see updates to the other game modes as well but they are not as necessary.

I really like SCL. The Dungeon Crawl mode is the most fun I've had with a multiplayer video game in a long time. Despite the streamlined rules and cooldowns the game feels like playing D&D to me, which is something Baldur's Gate never achieved. Neverwinter Nights is definitely the holy grail of the genre but it required so much work to engage that I never found it worthwhile.

SCL is a medium between the playability of BG and the customizability of NN and it has the potential for far more mass-market appeal than either title. I agree that the biggest mistake N-Space made was not calling more attention to what SCL is and what it is not (e.g., BG3).

I would have liked to see it marketed toward the Leage of Legends crowd. My friends and I have plenty of fun in the game with four players and a dungeon master, without using the much-maligned tools. Dungeon Crawl mode, and the casual multiplayer with depth that it represents, was and still is the selling point of this game. I don't know of any other title that brings this style of play to the table.

It was doomed, imo, when it was clear it was not using D&D rules.

Picked up SCL on Steam sale. As I had a full gaming plate, I was waiting on the expanded DM tools update before joining in. Sounds like I waited on something that will never happen now.

JeffB said:

Hate to hear about folks losing their jobs, but very glad I did not buy into this.

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Yep +1

I made a mistake in buying SCL. I really wanted 5E in a format similar to Baldur's Gate PC was for AD&D. This game was not that. Sad that the best FR game is still that old. Neverwinter Nights 2 and Temple of Elemental Evil were good iterations of 3/3.5 but lacked a certain charisma and charm that the older games had-like good NPC's.

If I had waited for a 75% steam sale, it would not have stung as much. Still an ok dungeon crawler, but not a D&D 5E game.

...on to Dragonspear.....