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

Thanks for the update. I really had hopes for this game but the more I found out about it the less I was interested. I loved the idea of a live DM running a digital game. I hope this doesn't damper future work on that kind of idea.

 

[Reinhart]

The developer of Sword Coast Legends, n-Space, is shutting its doors for good. Publisher Digital Expremes says "We are deeply saddened by the closing of n-Space. Staying alive as a mid-sized independent developer in the games industry is no small feat. Their passion for creating games never faltered and their dedicated team has ended on the high note of completing the console version of Sword Coast Legends. We are working hard with them to realize as much as we can for their team during this difficult time and encourage players to keep an eye on the official website for more details on the launch of Sword Coast Legends on Xbox One and PlayStation 4."

Sword Coast Legends was not received well by the gaming public, or by D&D fans (it is trending at only 20.5% here on EN World). The following was posted by SCL artist Ben Leary.

We can be certain that the commercial failure of Sword Coast Legends is a major factor in this. What isn't certain is the fate of the products and content that their publisher Digital Extremes promised. Digital Extremes claims that they are still planning on releasing Sword Coast Legends for both Playstation 4 and Xbox One. One can only assume that they must be contractually obligated to do so at this point, otherwise why not put this mess behind them? Hopefully this means they'll continue to run the servers necessary to run SCL as a multiplayer game. Unfortunately Digital Extremes did not mention any intent to complete the promised expansions of Community Packet 3 and Rage of Demons.

The impact this has on Wizards of the Coast and D&D seems minimal, of course. But I can't help but remember that Sword Coast Legends and its Rage of Demons DLC was the recompense that WotC gave their customers last Gen Con. Those I.O.U's seem pretty worthless now.

From here.

 

[JeffB]

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

 

[EthanSental]

I guess I need to log into my account and make sure I have all the DLC for it.
I agree with darjr - hopefully someone picks up the ball and fine tunes the idea of a live DM running a digital game...if there's enough interest for it to make it commercially successful.

 

[Mirtek]

Wasn't RoD sold as part of some versions of SCL?

Those customers should better file their claims quickly.

 

[Jester David]

The last minute nature of this always surprises me.
Given the announcement only mentions the console version (which was apparently finished but not distributed), Rage of Demons is unfinished (they just started giving out Beta keys) and now there's good odds it will never will be finished. But they were filming Twitch streams, still talking about Rage of Demons, and giving out said keys last Thursday when they absolutely had to know this was coming. It's one thing to keep the new quiet, it's another to act like everything is fine.

Of course, this is a company that "announced" its closure via it's publisher, and artist's post, and the community manager's goodbye post on the forums. They haven't made their own announcement yet. Their website even still lists "Sword Coast Legends" as "upcoming". Their official Twitter channel has been silent since mid-2015, and their Facebook's last post was Halloween pictures.

 

[Reinhart]

Rage of Demons eventually became a promised update for all PC owners of Sword Coast Legends. Unfortunately, RoD was already expected to be released by now. After delaying the release of Community Packet 3, n-Space promised that CP3 would be available after the release of the console versions and Rage of Demons. Digital Extremes seems content on fulfilling the release of the console game. That means they are likely contracting another studio to complete the project. Considering that most of the assets for Rage of Demons seem completed and it was also listed for console release, there may be hope for that DLC. I would not get my hopes up for the Community Packet 3 which promised to allow DMs and module creators the ability to actually edit maps and create interactive NPC dialog.

 

[Kramodlog]

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.

 

[ZeshinX]

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.

 

[Jester David]

I would not get my hopes up for the Community Packet 3 which promised to allow DMs and module creators the ability to actually edit maps and create interactive NPC dialog.

Aka make the DM tools actually functional as DM tools.
CP3 was supposed to be out in December. I imagine it's delay was likely moving people off that project and quietly packing up shop while they completed their contractual obligations.