PC Games meets Ascaron for an exclusive interview

[Stéphane 2]

Translation of this interview

 

 

PC Games meets Ascaron for an exclusive interview: "Sacred 2 Expansion for end of July."

Following the news surrounding the insolvency of Ascaron Entertainment GmbH (Germany), what is the situation with Sacred 2? At what stage is Sacred 3? Will publishers start to grab pieces of Ascaron? PC Games talks with Ascaron Entertainment GmbH Managing Director, Heiko tom Felde.

 

 

PC Games: The news of the Ascaron insolvency shocked the Sacred community. Looking back with what you know today, did you underestimate the efforts necessary to complete the PS3 and Xbox 360 version of Sacred 2 or did you hope for higher sales of the PC version?

 

tom Felde: The sales of the PC version so far have been about what was expected. At this stage we’ve registered over 400,000 Sacred 2 activations on PC, so I think we can be quite satisfied with the performance to date. However, after various cracks were released, the sales numbers began to show a significant downturn and sales decreased. This is always disappointing, particularly when companies like Ascaron go the extra mile and provide post-release support, updates and other additional free content (For example, Sacred 1 saw the "Sacred Plus" update with new regions, enemies and items Sacred 2 has received the "Christmas Isle", a collection of new bosses, and many more items besides). We see this as vital support, consider it a big "thank you" and a reward for those gamers who have supported us and bought our game.

 

The console versions took approximately five months longer than we anticipated. So yes, the time and effort for the console versions (without compromising on features) was a problem.

 

 

PC Games: Ascaron has always been an independent, medium-size enterprise. With the latest news from Ascaron, we hear talks of a take-over. Many renowned German studios - such as Phenomic and Blue Byte - have been sold in recent years. Which buyer and/or investor would you prefer: A German publisher such as Koch Media and DTP, or an international company such as Ubisoft or Electronic Arts?

 

tom Felde: I'm fine with everyone. Whichever option provides the best job security for my colleagues and keeps Sacred and other Ascaron projects alive. With the Sacred 2 Expansion and Sacred 3, as well as other unspecified opportunities, Ascaron is a very interesting topic and worthwhile proposition.

 

 

PC Games: Considering the current players and future buyers of Sacred 2, how sure can we be that updates, customer support and multiplayer servers will still exist in the next 6 months?

 

tom Felde: Well, this is assured through the various agreements with each of our Sacred 2 publishing and distribution partners across all of the territories in which Sacred 2 is released.

 

 

PC Games: In the press release you announced a Sacred 2 Expansion as well as Sacred 3. At what stage of development are both these projects?

 

tom Felde: The Expansion could be finished for the end of July, which potentially means Sacred 2 fans could be enjoying the new content in a summer release. Sacred 3 is fully conceptualized and is currently in the prototype development phase, all of which is presently held behind closed doors.

Some reassuring news from Ascaron.

 

It's on the sif here : http://forum.sacredeng.ascaron-net.com/sho...mp;postcount=14

 

Greetings,

Stéphane.

[gogoblender 3,069]

Two things I'm dancing away with... Expansion for the game and...

 

Sacred 3!

 

Thanks for the press release Stéphane

 

The re-structuring of the company seems to be going healthily, and if this offers security for the company's employees and families, even better.

 

Keep goin Ascaron!

 

 

 

gogo

[Flooxim 49]

This is awesome news! I'm glad that Ascaron will stay alive and I can't wait for the expansion!

 

 

Max

[FrostElfGuard 9]

Hmmm.

 

Why aren't we Sacred fans buying Ascaron? After all, they work for us. Why not have them work directly for us? If we could cobble money together we could buy them!

 

Just a thought.

[Viper007 0]

This sounds like very good news. I was a bit worried about server support and new expansions before I read this.

[Little Faith 24]

This article confirms my suspicion that the Expansion pack for Sacred 2 is nearly complete.

 

The rest isn't particularly reassuring. A company like EA and Ubisoft might just make off with the Intellectual Property and fire the lot for all I know. Today really isn't a business environment to develop games in, no matter how big or small you are, which is weird given that the buying audience has probably never been bigger.

[gial 2]

It all sounds like rhetoric to me. Nothing concrete -- of course they could hardly divulge anything like that in this sensitive a situation unless it was rock solid. But what I read presents no alternate reassurance to me either. No mention of expected sales of PS3 and XBox versions. That is where I see an infusion of cash coming from. If there were good numbers there, I would have expected a mention of sales of the console version.

[Spyrus 0]

If there is an expansion, then I would like to see a teaser. Without it, I am not optimistic about it.

[stubbie 21]

However, after various cracks were released, the sales numbers began to show a significant downturn and sales decreased.

 

Well........so much for the SecuROM DRM system, that seems to only hurt legit customers and in many cases stops others from buying their games.

 

While I personally don't have a problem with it, a lot of people do and I'm sure sales were affected by the decision to use that form of "piracy protection" that doesn't seem to work anyway.

[Katran 0]

what will be will be we can read it any way and still not be closer to finding out whats going out.

This part is the part I like to talk about:

 

The sales of the PC version so far have been about what was expected. At this stage we’ve registered over 400,000 Sacred 2 activations on PC,

 

Ok so thats 400.000 games. Lets say 1% out of those are EU server players so that would be 4000 players. So where are does players online or am I to optimistic to want to see that big a number of active players.

[Spyrus 0]

So, by registering he means that 40000 actually bought the game AND install it.

O is it maybe the half, considering 2 activations per key?

Are they the copies already to stores, those bought and those that are still in selfs?

Sorry, but it might be a stupid note, but in this world ... everything is expected

Edited April 23, 2009 by Spyrus

[podgie_bear 184]

Well........so much for the SecuROM DRM system, that seems to only hurt legit customers and in many cases stops others from buying their games. While I personally don't have a problem with it, a lot of people do and I'm sure sales were affected by the decision to use that form of "piracy protection" that doesn't seem to work anyway.

 

I certainly thought very carefully about the SecuROM when I considered buying Sacred2 and in the end it was enough to put me off, so I have not bought it. I have previously had enough bad experiences with this type of thing messing up my system that I would rather not play the game than go through that again. Now that it is obvious that SecuROM does not do what it was supposed to do, that should offer a version of Sacred2 that doesn't use it and then I would certainly buy it. After all, if they want my money they need to sell what I want. In the long run they need my business more than I need their game, attractive as it might be!

Edited April 23, 2009 by Katran

[gial 2]

My poor halcyon view of things. I have no clue about SecurRom - how it works (or doesn't?) or its associated issues. All I know is I have not had any problems . . . yet

[gogoblender 3,069]

Never had a problem with Securom either. In fact, unless reading about other peeps talking about it, would never had had the slightest idea that it was an issue.

 

This game, even without the two last patches, was way way more than fair value out of the box. With more than a few hundred hours of game-playing in Ancaria this second time around (maybe close to a thousand ? ) Ascaron has impressed me again with their second release and here's to hoping they can still keep doing it.

 

 

 

Go go Ascaron!

 

 

gogo

[Dobri 55]

That is good news... But with that kind of money and so many activations, Ascaron shouldn't be going bankrupt now, because that's a significant amount of money 400.000 x 30 euro average... 12 mil, corrected (my math's bad at 3 AM) Not enough to cover the expenses? Come on! I think that this number is vastly overstated and Ascaron is trying to look good prior to the release of PS3 and XBOX version in order to manage some more cash before they get well or go down.

 

If I was in Ascaron's shoes, I would give absolutely every indication that the company is OK, it's doing ok and the upcoming sales will be as high as they can get because of the game which is oh so cool. This means they'll get support from purchases and maybe a good company will buy them. That's a normal thing to try and accumulate resources and/or give wondrous bonuses to the salaries of the board of directors or company owners before going down... That's how the real world works

 

Take a look at this:

 

PC Games: Ascaron has always been an independent, medium-size enterprise. With the latest news from Ascaron, we hear talks of a take-over. Many renowned German studios - such as Phenomic and Blue Byte - have been sold in recent years. Which buyer and/or investor would you prefer: A German publisher such as Koch Media and DTP, or an international company such as Ubisoft or Electronic Arts?

 

tom Felde: I'm fine with everyone. Whichever option provides the best job security for my colleagues and keeps Sacred and other Ascaron projects alive. With the Sacred 2 Expansion and Sacred 3, as well as other unspecified opportunities, Ascaron is a very interesting topic and worthwhile proposition.

 

This little thing means (at least for me) that Ascaron has given up and is waiting for someone to buy them. Otherwise, if they were confident in their well-being, Tom Felde would've said that a friendly takeover is possible only if the company doesn't do well with the upcoming sales or something much more reassuring than "I'm fine with everyone as long as Sacred 2 goes on". Otherwise, all we hear is pleas like "Buy Us", which are desperate to say the least. They may be working on other projects, but if they can't get well - and I doubt they'll get back on their feet with only the PS3-XBOX Sacred 2 sales - they'll sell the company to whoever is willing to buy them in the end. And if that company doesn't see Sacred 2 as a good project... It's BB Sacred 2! And besides, who knows what the new company will do? If there are so many players, wouldn't it be nice for them to put up a small fee for online play, just like the MMORPG's? For example, Lineage 2 DOES require you to buy the original game cd in order to make a proper account online. Afterwards you can download free clients all you want, but you will pay for each month online play... What if Sacred 2 becomes something like that? I don't even want to think about it

 

Dunkel ist die Zukunft, ladies and gentlemen...

Edited April 24, 2009 by Dobri

[Stéphane 2]

Spyrus> I'm sure that by 400.000 activations they mean 400.000 unique activation of the key "xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx"

 

 

That is good news... But with that kind of money and so many activations, Ascaron shouldn't be going bankrupt now, because that's a significant amount of money 400.000 x 30 euro average... 12 mil, corrected (my math's bad at 3 AM) Not enough to cover the expenses? Come on! I think that this number is vastly overstated and Ascaron is trying to look good prior to the release of PS3 and XBOX version in order to manage some more cash before they get well or go down.

I don't think Ascaron recieved even half of the price on each copies, maybe less than 10%.

And If I recall right, the development of Sacred 2 have cost around 35+millions (€), however I can't find the source to prove it >_<

 

 

Take a look at this:

 

PC Games: Ascaron has always been an independent, medium-size enterprise. With the latest news from Ascaron, we hear talks of a take-over. Many renowned German studios - such as Phenomic and Blue Byte - have been sold in recent years. Which buyer and/or investor would you prefer: A German publisher such as Koch Media and DTP, or an international company such as Ubisoft or Electronic Arts?

 

tom Felde: I'm fine with everyone. Whichever option provides the best job security for my colleagues and keeps Sacred and other Ascaron projects alive. With the Sacred 2 Expansion and Sacred 3, as well as other unspecified opportunities, Ascaron is a very interesting topic and worthwhile proposition.

 

This little thing means (at least for me) that Ascaron has given up and is waiting for someone to buy them. Otherwise, if they were confident in their well-being, Tom Felde would've said that a friendly takeover is possible only if the company doesn't do well with the upcoming sales or something much more reassuring than "I'm fine with everyone as long as Sacred 2 goes on". Otherwise, all we hear is pleas like "Buy Us", which are desperate to say the least. They may be working on other projects, but if they can't get well - and I doubt they'll get back on their feet with only the PS3-XBOX Sacred 2 sales - they'll sell the company to whoever is willing to buy them in the end. And if that company doesn't see Sacred 2 as a good project... It's BB Sacred 2! And besides, who knows what the new company will do? If there are so many players, wouldn't it be nice for them to put up a small fee for online play, just like the MMORPG's? For example, Lineage 2 DOES require you to buy the original game cd in order to make a proper account online. Afterwards you can download free clients all you want, but you will pay for each month online play... What if Sacred 2 becomes something like that? I don't even want to think about it

 

Dunkel ist die Zukunft, ladies and gentlemen...

Tom felde is fine with everyone yes, but as long as "the job of their colleagues and keep Sacred and the others Ascaron projects alive", there is a lot of condition, they not going to sell so easily, nor to the more generous.

[Dobri 55]

I'll be very happy if things are the way you say, Stephane I would very much like to play this game for over an year, even more if possible.

 

35 mil is quite a budget for a game of this scale though... If your number is correct, ascaron made a serious error in judgment, trying to reach out way too far, no wonder they are in this position I'm still worried, that if they don't get a good buyer that would agree to the conditions, they're going to sell to the best buyer they get...

Edited April 24, 2009 by Dobri

[Schot 407]

I'm so glad that Ascaron stepped up to address Sacred 2 fans during this explosively speculative time. Frankly, I think this was planned in order to give themselves a much needed extension on their deadline. Keep the angry wolves at bay so to speak. Investors... If word around is correct that pc gaming isn't as big a seller as console these days then hopefully console sales will match or better the pc sales bringing Ascaron back on top of things. One can hope.

 

Thanx for the heads up Stéphane!

[gogoblender 3,069]

I just wanna know what's gonna be in the new Expansion!

 

 

gogo

[gial 2]

Pants, gogo -- lots of pants. Enough to soothe your soul . . .

[Dragon Brother 619]

I have to say I hope everything works out well in the long run so we do get S3 and an expansion for Sacred 2 and that they come out as soon as possible just to try it out. But then I also want it to take a while for S3 to come out so we have plenty of time for working out everything in Sacred 2. And I hope (alot of hoping in this post) that everyone that works for ascaron is gonna be able to keep working if they get bought.

 

And I agree with Gogo...whats in the expansion... please tell or ill get my mafia contacts onto ya

[Spyrus 0]

It it too early for S3, since we are not bored from Sacred 2 yet.

With the expansion on summer we should expect it at 2010.

[gial 2]

They worked on Sacred 2 for 5 years. Unless 2 of those were really working on S3, there's no way it could be close to ready. I doubt you'll see the expansion until 2010.

[Katran 0]

Sacred 3 is fully conceptualized and is currently in the prototype development phase, all of which is presently held behind closed doors.

 

He said it best. It will be a long long time before S3.

[Timotheus 416]

I just hope Ascaron gets their stuff together and makes the game enjoyable again. Still not playing atm, killed off my characters, uninstalled the game and waiting for a patch. And no, I'm not waiting for an expansion pack. Ascaron should release at least one more patch before they need to start thinking about a release of the expansion.

 

I want Sacred 2 to run as smooth as S1, but it seems that's impossible for now. I hope that it'll get better in the future.