I feel like Eurogamer should have explained a bit more in detail about the acquisition of the Valhalla game engine. There's some more information in the 2015 press release. PR speak warning. What...
Exemplary
I feel like Eurogamer should have explained a bit more in detail about the acquisition of the Valhalla game engine. There's some more information in the 2015 press release. PR speak warning.
Starbreeze AB, a Swedish independent creator, publisher and distributor of high quality entertainment products, has agreed to acquire Valhalla, a next generation game engine under development with its related technology and tools.
What sounds like the main problem with the engine is actually mentioned in the first sentence: Under development. As the interviewed employees say, the game engine wasn't yet in a state where it could be used to build games with.
Valhalla represents the next generation with a true browser based AAA game engine.
Remember browser based video games? Hasn't really taken off yet, to my knowledge.
Valhalla’s graphic cloud engine will revolutionize the art pipeline by providing an integrated development environment for rapid and creative game development across multiple studios and teams.
I assume this means some kind of cloud integration for developers to allow easier cooperation between teams at different locations. Probably potentially useful for multinational studios.
Valhalla supports not only 3D but is fully virtual reality (VR) ready, and proofed on several headsets currently on the market.
Also it was part of their company-wide focus on VR technology.
I wonder what state the engine is in now? If anyone buys Starbreeze I assume they get both the Payday IP and the Valhalla engine.
I'm not so sure the Payday IP is worth £34 million.
According to Starbreeze's administrator, the company debt amounts to SEK 400m (£34m). This relates to four loans: two from bank Nordea, which lent Starbreeze SEK 190m in 2017, one from Smilegate Holdings, which has a loan valued at SEK 215m from when it commissioned Starbreeze to develop a co-op Crossfire game, and another worth SEK 75m owed to Acer from the failed virtual reality venture.
Whether either creditor will ever get their money back remains to be seen. I've heard THQ Nordic mentioned as a potential buyer of Starbreeze, but any deal would involve paying the debt off. Perhaps more likely is an IP firesale, with the likes of Smilegate potentially interested in Payday.
I'm not so sure the Payday IP is worth £34 million.
I feel like Eurogamer should have explained a bit more in detail about the acquisition of the Valhalla game engine. There's some more information in the 2015 press release. PR speak warning.
What sounds like the main problem with the engine is actually mentioned in the first sentence: Under development. As the interviewed employees say, the game engine wasn't yet in a state where it could be used to build games with.
Remember browser based video games? Hasn't really taken off yet, to my knowledge.
I assume this means some kind of cloud integration for developers to allow easier cooperation between teams at different locations. Probably potentially useful for multinational studios.
Also it was part of their company-wide focus on VR technology.
I wonder what state the engine is in now? If anyone buys Starbreeze I assume they get both the Payday IP and the Valhalla engine.
I wonder who will buy them for their payday IP and then kill them off
I'm not so sure the Payday IP is worth £34 million.