After the plane crash there are several dismantled corpses lying here and there. In those corpses you can find two of the projects I’ve been working on since 2 years as Lead Designer. What is the name of those two projects? Totems and Urban Race.
I hope I’ll be able to show some stuff about the amazing things we’ve been doing lately before deciding to close the studios.
Totems as you may already know is an action adventure game featuring amazing parkour and stunts like you can find in Assassin Creed or Prince or Persia plus an extra shamanic and magical part that don’t exists in other games of the genre. We were at the VSD stage when the studios closed and more recently the project was paused due to the financial crisis 10Tacle AG suffered as well as some delay in the production of the project. The new CEO and more over the investors wanted to invest more into online games and online worlds.
The second project was Urban Race, it is a spin-off project that the company initiated three months ago as an attempt to get some cash in more rapidly than with Totems (which was way too far from completion). Urban Race is a game that uses the SESS system, the same movement and environment recognition system which is used behind Totems. It is a mid scaled multiplayer parkour game set in a violent universe. I hope I’ll be able to publish some screenshots and gameplay in the next few days to show you the project.
So what’s the situation today? All employees at Elsewhere Entertainment have 2 and half of unpaid salary and are waiting with little hope to see that money. Of course everybody’s looking for a new job. I just feel very sad to see so much talent and efforts wasted, those projects had the potential to be successful products.
I would like to take the time to send a message to my fellow talented colleagues out there to let them know that it was a pleasure to work with them, that I spent three happy years at EE and more over I’ll always remember the work environment which was just a great time. I’m pretty much sure we’ll meet soon enough under clearer skies. Good luck to all of you.
As you’ve guessed I’m now looking for a job as Lead/Senior Game Designer. Feel free to contact me if my profile interests you.
If you want more information about 10Tacle crisis, EE projects and comments:
Planet-Adelpha (fan site) (EN)
Factornews (FR)
10Tacle crisis summary (unofficial)
August 9th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
I feel very much everything them happened, both for the closing of the Belgian study and unpaid of payments in your payroll. About all the persons are we speaking unpaid?
Last year I knew, that at the end of 2006 there were enough draftsmen that left the study, I do not know because, so the person that told me the info could not explain it to me very well, but already had problems on the course of the project.
Now well…
- Who does possess the license of TOTEMS?
- And Whom is it a property the graphical engine ‘NeoReality’?
- Does UBISOFT know of the existence of this title? Might not theyhelp you? At least that saw your talent and to be employed together with Jane Raymon at ASSASSIN’s CREED (to improve it thanks to you). It will be well, true?
Today announce in my OUTCAST’s web, the news of the cancellation of TOTEMS, and of the project URBAN RACE, this way like of your blog for that in the next days, we wait could show us something of this project and know that it happens with everything else that I ask you.
To enter on ‘OUTCAST-Spain’, only have that to look in the search Google, under this name.
Greetings from Spain!
August 10th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Hi Bruno,
We already spoke about it last days and you know I think you deserve better than this situation. I hope you will find a new company with goods projects and, first of all, a good management.
You deserve to concretize your ideas about game design and team management. Keep going on.
Friendly,
MiKA
August 19th, 2008 at 4:35 am
Bonjour,
J’esperes que tout va s’arranger au plus vite pour vous et vos anciens collègues, niveau situation professionelle.
Totems était un jeu que j’attendais depuis vraiment pas mal de temps.
Ce que je vois en ce moment, c’est un flashback il y a quelques années, lorsque Outcast 2 fut annulé. Certes la situation n’est peut être pas la même ( j’avoue ne pas avoir suivi l’affaire à l’époque ), mais mon sentiment est le même. ( même si l’annulation d’Outcast 2 fut bien pire pour moi ).
J’espere vraiment que vous allez pouvoir tirer quelque chose d’Urban Race, ou alors que quelqu’un de votre équipe devient multi miliardaire et décide de continuer le financement du jeu ( On peut toujours rêvé non ? :] )
Bonne continuation à vous, en espérant avoir des bonnes nouvelles dans un futur proche.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:03 pm
[…] that we only see the top of the iceberg and less known studios are being hit by the job cuts too. Being recently in the situation but not for the same reasons, we, at Fishing Cactus, would like to give our support to the fellow […]
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:24 am
Hi Bruno,
I sympathize with you greatly! Working 2 years on games to only have them pulled out from under you is indeed a disaster! How normal is to work many years on developing a video game anyway? Does it really take that long?
Thanks for your input and I wish you all the best!
Sincerely,
Anethea