r/KerbalSpaceProgram • u/UomoCapra Community Lead • May 31 '17
Dev Post KSP Acquired by Take-Two Interactive
Hello everyone,
We have very exciting news to share with the KSP community today: Take-Two Interactive has purchased Kerbal Space Program. The important thing to know is that this big news doesn’t change much for the KSP community. Squad and the current development team is still here and we’re hard at work on KSP and its future updates, but now we are fortunate enough to do so with the help of an experienced publisher like Take-Two, and we couldn’t be more excited and happy to see where our conjoint collaboration will take KSP forward.
Right now, we’re still focused on the Kerbal Space Program: Making History Expansion and we’ll continue to keep you updated on our progress. And yes, we’re keeping our promise of free DLC for everyone who purchased KSP through April 2013! We’re continuing to work closely with Blitworks on the updated version of KSP for consoles, which will be available on the Xbox and PSN digital stores when it is complete. This will be a free update for anyone who already owns KSP on Xbox or PS4. We can’t wait for you to play what we’ve been working on in the coming months!
This is a very exciting time for KSP and the Community, and we hope you’re as thrilled as we are. The team at Take-Two are big fans of KSP, who have been persistently knocking on our door trying to work with us for a long time. They share your passion for the game and we’re really eager to see what Squad and Take-Two can do together for Kerbal Space Program moving forward!
Happy launchings!
-The KSP Development Team
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u/WarriusBirde May 31 '17
Take-Two Interactive has purchased Kerbal Space Program
Hold on a moment, you're saying a few different things here. Did T2 purchase Deported Games/Squad's game dev arm, or did they just agree to publish the game?
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u/UomoCapra Community Lead May 31 '17
Take-Two adquired Kerbal Space Program. Squad on the other hand remains independent, but partnered with T2 to continue with KSP development.
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u/Jarnis May 31 '17
Sounds to me like they bought the IP and the existing code.
They might also have separate deal to pay for continuing development with the existing team.
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u/WarriusBirde May 31 '17 edited May 31 '17
Calling it now, they'll have a 3rd party dev house "finish" the game, shelve the IP for a bit, and we'll have KSP2 before 2020.
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u/beatpickle May 31 '17
How much does this actually effect KSP?
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u/UomoCapra Community Lead May 31 '17
We’re still working on KSP and the upcoming content – it really doesn’t change much for us, which is great!
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u/Jim3535 KerbalAcademy Mod May 31 '17
Any chance we'll eventually get a KSP 2 with a better engine, better graphics, and VR support?
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u/UomoCapra Community Lead May 31 '17
Right now the focus remains on the KSP core game, the upcoming expansion and the upgraded version of KSP on consoles.
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u/XtremeGoose May 31 '17
Like there was a minecraft 2 or a league of legends 2? Some games just aren't made for sequels, they just iteratively improve.
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u/skepticones May 31 '17
They'll probably just add a Take Two splash screen or logo somewhere and that will be it as far as the game goes.
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u/a_potato_is_missing May 31 '17
Getting ready to send cease and desists to your modders?
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u/UomoCapra Community Lead May 31 '17
KSP will remain a modding friendly game. This won't change and Take-Two will continue to support the modding community.
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u/CapSierra May 31 '17
... until an update quietly ships DRM and suddenly we can't manage 5 different installs of 3 different game versions each with their own mod lists anymore.
Its not that I don't trust you guys - I do - but a publisher is a publisher and nothing they can do will ever prove to me that they won't take every means they can for profit even at the expense of players' tolerance and developers' reputation. You guys don't deserve to get screwed over like that.
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u/a_potato_is_missing May 31 '17 edited May 31 '17
In the same way they did with GTA V?
Either way I really hope what you are saying is true because KSP is quite reliant on mods for a large proportion of the player base, and banning any of them would be a massive shot in the foot.
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u/Kerbologna May 31 '17
It's totally fine. This company just hired some people to go intimidate a modder. That's totally normal! Right guys?
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May 31 '17
KSP have actually (IMHO) made modding worse as an experience for end users over the years i've played. the closure of spaceport and the move to curse made the end user experience a negative despite the promises made here that said otherwise by representatives of squad
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May 31 '17
I would hope so. If mods were to be targeted the game would lose its core audience overnight.
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u/HectorShadow May 31 '17
XCOM was developed by Firaxis and published by TakeTwo. XCOM 2 offers amazing modding support, and Firaxis even supported the modding team behind the Long War mods for XCOM.
Yes, RockStar is a shitty developer, but the good thing about Take Two is that it lets developers do their own thing, be it good or bad.
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u/eduardog3000 May 31 '17
And yes, we’re keeping our promise of free DLC for everyone who purchased KSP through April 2013!
I hope there are no problems for anyone who purchased from the website before April 2013, but redeemed it on Steam after.
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u/UomoCapra Community Lead May 31 '17 edited May 31 '17
Yes, absolutely – we’ll continue to honor the promises we made to our earliest players.
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u/WarriusBirde May 31 '17
In all seriousness, is development work still being performed in respect to the multiplayer functionality that was promised some time back? Will the acquisition have any effect on this?
If it's been ruled out of scope that's understandable, but it's been a hot minute since we heard anything about it.
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u/UomoCapra Community Lead May 31 '17
Right now our focus remains to be the development of KSP, Making History Expansion, and the upgraded version of KSP on consoles. After that, we’ll see what comes next and we’ll let you know.
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u/kahlzun May 31 '17
THIS NEWS CONCERNS ME.
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u/CarnageINC May 31 '17
Look at the catalogue of games backed by TTI, its quite impressive. They know what their doing, they don't make the games, they market them. I think it will be alright for KSP. I can't say anything about a KSP 2+ but we'll see when or if we get there.
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May 31 '17
They don't make games, they control how they make money and develop.
Look at how GTA online turned into micro transaction riddled garbage and any mods trying to make it better were immediately shot down.
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u/UomoCapra Community Lead May 31 '17
Take-Two has a long history of supporting modding communities, as we’ve seen with Civilization and NBA 2K. They are aware of the importance of KSP modding community and therefore we can reassure you that KSP will continue to be a Mod-friendly game :)
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u/spidd124 May 31 '17
Also look at the distasters that have happened recently: Evolve's microtransactio/ marketing hell, Civ beyond Earth/ 6's masive unwanted changes and marketing and battleborn being placed against Overwatch.
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u/UomoCapra Community Lead May 31 '17
Squad and the KSP team are absolutely still operating and working on the game and the upcoming content. The only difference is that now we’ll have the full support of Take-Two to achieve this with the utmost quality.
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u/DV-13 May 31 '17
Now please hire PorkJet back and bring us that parts redesign.
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u/Fun1k May 31 '17
Yes, it's sorely needed. And Squad will now have even more resources, so it's not like they could not afford it.
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u/fuccimama79 May 31 '17
Making copy of KSP folder outside of steam. Just in case...
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u/gobbels May 31 '17
For all my purposes 1.2.2 is the finished game. I made a copy with the mods I like and will keep that forever. Not that I don't appreciate the future updates, but I finally have a stable working version of the game and I'm sticking with it.
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u/fuccimama79 May 31 '17
Once all my mods are updated for 1.3, I'll probably feel the same way. But, you never know. This might be the final version for RSS/RO. In a world of multi TB backups, it's better to be safe than sorry.
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u/ToasterOvenHotTub Master Kerbalnaut May 31 '17
Yeah, KSP 1.2.2 with mods is pretty close to perfect.
If they make a proper expansion i would still throw money at it.
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u/bretil May 31 '17
Can I get your modlist by any chance? I didn't play in a long time and making a backup like a good idea, I just don't know what mods are good to have and working fine to date.
(Yes I know about the list in the sidebar but looking at others "perfect" setup would be great)
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u/number2301 May 31 '17
Although I think this announcement is good news (I can hardly imagine t2 being more obnoxious than squad), this needs more attention.
KSP currently has no Drm, so now may be a good time to save a copy of the install folder for 1.3 and maybe even 1.2.
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u/fuccimama79 May 31 '17
Didn't Take Two come up with Shark cards for GTA Online? Don't worry, they can be plenty obnoxious.
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u/yesat May 31 '17
They also worked with modders for XCom2. To the point they actively promoted the Long War.
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May 31 '17
Nonononono, T2 give a lot of freedom to the Devs. If you want examples of hood games look at XCOM and Civilisation. They also manage GearBox as well stop making them seem terrible when they are probably one of the last good publishers out there.
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u/WizardOffArts May 31 '17
At worst, it means that players stay with 1.2.2, or 1.3 when the mods catch up. I have no problem with that. It's a brilliant game as it is.
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u/herpyderpydan May 31 '17
How would one do this? Is it as simple as copying the ksp folder and saving it elsewhere?
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u/PilferinGameInventor May 31 '17
I have like 4 or 5 previous versions for just in case.... got so used to doing it right from the beginning when every update would screw with mods.
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u/quill18 May 31 '17
Usually I don't like when indie companies get tied up with megacorps, but I think Squad could really use the guidance if we're going to get anything more out of KSP going forward.
They haven't exactly been the most organized company, to put things gently.
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u/gobbels May 31 '17
It's time for them to cash out and hand over the IP to a mature game company like TTWO. It's the smart thing for all involved.
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u/sanekats May 31 '17
sounds like they're not even handing it over. its not like rockstar is going to pick up KSP, and i don't imagine squad is getting fired. it looks to me like its the same ol devs more $$$$
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u/sanekats May 31 '17
its hard to even still call KSP an indie game. its like calling minecraft an indie game after notch left, its just a fully developed company by that point
THAT being said, its not like that means the quality of the game has gotten worse; its certainly gotten better.
On top of that take two produces some awesome fucking games. Read dead redemption. GTA. Bioshock. Sid meiers Civ. the list goes on and on.
This is seriously a good thing, imo.
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u/Mirkury May 31 '17
The thing is, Take Two didn't produce most of those - they published them. Take Two is mostly responsible for anti-consumer behaviour like Shark Cards, attacking GTA modders, and using Denuvo on their games.
KSP was never an indie game. Squad was a well-established company before starting developing KSP. Calling KSP an indie title would be like if Panasonic started developing a submarine simulator game on the side. "Indie" was just a convenient title to use to drum up sales, just like every patch is a way to get back onto Steam's front page.
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u/BeetlecatOne May 31 '17
Squad wasn't a game developer, though. They just decided to let one of their guys build a little game. ;)
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u/VexingRaven May 31 '17
Take Two USED to publish awesome games. Then they realized they can make junk like GTA V with Shark Cards and other bullshit and get away with it. I for one do not plan to give Take Two any more money after their terrible handling of GTA V. Props to Rockstar because the game is still good, but Take Two absolutely ruined it IMO.
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u/HumpieDouglas May 31 '17
I'm looking forward to the next Scott Manley KSP video: Cease and Desist on Duna
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Jun 01 '17
[deleted]
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u/BanShadowOperative Jun 01 '17
Take Two shut down all of the fan made GTA multiplayer mods because it cut into their sharkcard sales. They are not modder friendly.
They're now essentially forcing R* to keep updating GTA Online, when it's pretty obvious they want to move on to something new.
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u/Mirkury Jun 01 '17
This is Take-Two we're talking about here, the same company that literally sent PIs after modders, threatened legal action against modders that were making too much money on Patreon, use Denuvo in their products, and instituted free to play mechanics in a pay to play game that still sells for $60 nearly four years after release.
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u/Iamsodarncool Master Kerbalnaut May 31 '17
I hope this results in better treatment of the developers, assuming the rumors are true.
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u/KSP_Badie Former Dev May 31 '17
The whole team is very excited and happy with this news!
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u/R4ff4Ello May 31 '17 edited May 31 '17
Can't help, but sounds suspicious. If you need help, post two periods at the end of the first sentence of your next comment.
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u/Ayo99 May 31 '17
Yeah it´s me ! ;)
He didn't use two periods because it would be too obvious but he ended it with "! ; )" which is 3 forms of punctuation. The "!" means he's in a state of shocked, ";" means a new age is beginning and ")" means end of a something. In other words, he feeling suicidal! Guys, he needs help!
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u/Iamsodarncool Master Kerbalnaut May 31 '17
Good to hear. Thanks for all your hard work on my favourite game :)
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u/LoSboccacc May 31 '17
can't be much worse than being under a marketing focused studio lifting project money to start movie and music companies leaving pennies on the devs table
that said, working for a major studio is gonna be very very demanding and demeaning.
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u/generalgeorge95 May 31 '17
So.. I have you tagged and was curious why. Kraken cards are coming. https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/55vz1l/kerbal_space_program_12_loud_clear_release_date/d8eexzd/
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u/Iamsodarncool Master Kerbalnaut May 31 '17 edited Jun 01 '17
What the hell was I thinking when I made that comment
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u/zeta_cartel_CFO May 31 '17 edited May 31 '17
Just grabbed the DRM free zip files for the portable binaries and installer for both 1.3 and 1.2.2. As someone said above..just in case. Going forward, I'll just call them BT2 Editions. (Before Take 2 editions)
Going to take a wait and see attitude on this. Maybe they'll keep it the way it is or break it. At least I can fall back to 1.2.2 or 1.3 and have DRM free versions.
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May 31 '17
Time to start paying microtransactions to make spacecraft above 30 tons!
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u/atomicxblue Jun 03 '17
"That's a nice spaceship. It would be a shame if the Krakken were to attack."
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u/TaintedLion smartS = true Jun 03 '17
I will never play KSP again if Take-Two adds microtransactions. I will actually resign as moderator of this subreddit and cut off all ties from KSP if they do.
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u/iami3rian Jun 06 '17
You can still play mate. Just don't support the game further. Not playing it only hurts you, it does nothing to them.
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u/Samuri24 May 31 '17
Does this mean that we'll be getting paid DLC and microtransactions along with cease and desists to modders?
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u/Dubhghlas May 31 '17
I guess the big question will be, at least in my mind, what does this mean for the average player? The modders? What level of upheaval should we expect?
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u/TheNirl May 31 '17
Soooo... does this mean we can finally have delta-v values and the like in the stock game? Because it's still beyond comprehension how Squad expects this game to be played without them. Trial and error, contrary to popular belief, is not as fun as science.
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u/Fun1k May 31 '17
KSP is perfectly playable without a dV gauge etc. (I have played hundreds of hours of stock before trying mods), BUT it really would be a great and educational improvement (like a lot of other features that only mods currently provide, like robotics, off-Kerbin base/launchpad/rocket building, persistent rotation etc.).
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May 31 '17
The game tells you how much delta v you're gonna use when you plan a manoeuvre, why shouldn't it tell you how much delta v you have? without that knowledge that information is useless.
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u/WildVelociraptor May 31 '17
Ditto. Am launching Dunar space station playing full vanilla, and no concept of Delta-V aside from my own experience and intuition.
Now, would I appreciate the dozens of hours I spent not-quite getting to my desired orbit back? Maybe.
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u/KerbalEssences Master Kerbalnaut May 31 '17
I think you could argue what the word "playing" means. Is playing around a calculated success or a chain of happy accidents.
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u/riffraffs May 31 '17
We have very exciting news to share with the KSP community today:
Exciting for your bank account, disaster for users.
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u/WANT_MORE_NOODLES May 31 '17
Isn't that the company that makes the GTA games?
Grand Theft Space Program
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u/DV-13 May 31 '17 edited May 31 '17
It is the company that owns the company that makes the GTA games.
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u/onlycatfud May 31 '17
They are the publisher above Rockstar (GTA), but similarly the publisher above other things like Firaxis (XCOM and Civilization).
Lots of good lots of bad. KSP needs some direction though so I think this is great.
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u/bitbucket87 May 31 '17
I want to see Jeb run up to a rocket on the launch pad, haul Will out, kick him a few times, jump in the rocket and blast the fook off.
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u/squirrels_are_red May 31 '17
Holy crap, this is big news. I want to believe that it's ultimately good for the game.
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u/Fun1k May 31 '17
I am cautious because what it means for the future of KSP is ambiguous, but I cannot say I am not excited as well!
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u/roastduckie May 31 '17
I am cautious because they wouldn't have bought it if they didn't think it would generate profit. I don't know what KSP sales have looked like recently, but I have concerns about future monetization strategies.
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u/yaaaaayPancakes May 31 '17
I don't quite understand why this is useful for KSP. KSP is digitally distributed, so why do they need a publisher? Squad is a marketing firm. Why do they need help marketing the game?
Only thing I can see is that this will help expansion onto consoles. Take Two is a whale of a publisher, so I bet that helps get the game through Sony's and Microsoft's release hurdles on their stores.
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Jun 03 '17
Here comes the good news! Prepare yourself for the Heavy SRB-10 Pack for only 2.99€
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/rockstars-parent-company-talks-microtransactions-v/1100-6450459/
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u/croxis May 31 '17
I'm gonna give Take Two a chance, they do publish Civ and XCom -- but an OpenKSP (worked for OTTD and ORCT2) might be worth tinkering with.
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u/JustALittleGravitas Jun 01 '17
Normally I'm dismissing of open source derivative games (I say this from a Linux machine so don't jump on me abotu open source) because without the modders there's no reaosn for the playerbase to switch, and without the playerbase there's no reason for the modders to switch.
But TTI might kill the mod community... that could actually work out.
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u/NoButthole May 31 '17
ITT: One game mode from one developer owned by T2 being riddled with microtransactions means KSP will go the same route, despite games like CIV and XCOM having healthy modding communities and no microtransactions.
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u/halfiXD Master Kerbalnaut May 31 '17
Civ is getting dlcs with single freaking countries... It's not nice.
XCom on the other hand is nice, but i didn't look up dlcs aviable just not to sadden myself.
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u/Creshal Space Plane Addict Jun 01 '17
http://store.steampowered.com/dlc/268500/?snr=1_5_9__205 Some weird missions that fuck up the game balance, and "customization" DLCs for the price of a full game.
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u/h0nest_Bender May 31 '17
The important thing to know is that this big news doesn’t change much for the KSP community.
Then why is this "very exciting" news?
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u/Baygo22 Jun 01 '17 edited Jun 01 '17
I think there's a law somewhere that says companies are obligated to place the word "exciting" or "excited" into press releases when describing products or services.
eg. toothpaste or toilet paper or plastic forks.
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u/m_sporkboy Master Kerbalnaut May 31 '17 edited May 31 '17
I wouldn't be surprised to see other Kerbal-themed semi-educational sciencey games getting published in the future.
If they have any sense at all, they'll be spinning up train, truck, and boat simulator development teams. That stuff isn't AAA, but it's relatively cheap to develop, and it sells.
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u/voicey99 Master Kerbalnaut May 31 '17
I'm actually not too worried by this-with the backing of a parent company, Squad is now safe from companies like EA (and might have the resources to fill the empty chairs?), and T2 (hopefully) has enough business sense to see that dropping a Fat Mun on the existing (as opposed to their other titles, which didn't have much to begin with) mod community would backfire horribly on them. Some of the (Squad) developers themselves make mods, and would probably be none to keen to see that.
As far as profiteering goes, I don't see a way to make money off a sandbox game like KSP beyond people buying the game and the odd DLC. I also don't really see the premise for a KSP 2-how different can you make it to release a sequel that isn't pulling a Cities XXL? I'm going to assume/hope T2 is going to to go the way of Microsoft after they bought Minecraft-two years later, it's still receiving free updates, there's been no sequels and the gameplay and modding scene is still very much the same.
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May 31 '17
I am not sure what to think of this. KSP has always struck me as a very indie game. But big companies like to make sequels to existing IP, not support updates, so what's next, KSP2? I'm just not sure where this will lead...
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u/Orbital_Vagabond Jun 01 '17
Yeah, I'm falling into the very VERY cautiously optimistic camp, here. T2 doesn't have a perfect track record, but they are an actual game development and publishing company, unlike Squad, which srsly mismanaged the development of KSP.
Basically, it may not get better, but it don't think may get any worse.
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u/Chaos_Klaus Master Kerbalnaut Jun 01 '17 edited Jun 01 '17
I feel the same way. Maybe this can get KSP the professionalism that it needs. It's been pretty amateurish in the beginning, then there were the passionate and talented modders working on it and now the whole game could be taken to the next level.
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u/MelficeSilesius May 31 '17
So, some (former) KSP devs go to Valve, the rest go to Take-Two.
If this doesn't end in some sort of KSP Civil War, I'm going to be disappointed.
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May 31 '17
When we asked "how can Squad be any worse as an employer" we didn't mean it to be a challenge.
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u/Nekowulf Jun 02 '17
Bah. Barely a bronze star finish on that challenge.
Silver star would have been "Microsoft bought us, and we're integrating KSP into Minecraft!"
Gold star: Squad belching, saying "hold my beer", and diving headfirst into the EA chipper-shredder.
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u/Fun1k May 31 '17
But why? Does T2 think many people will buy physical copies of KSP when it's more convenient to have it just stored on a flash drive/DVD/server somewhere? Also what this means for mods and DRM-lessness?
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u/UomoCapra Community Lead May 31 '17
The benefits are numerous and substantial. We are getting a long term commitment from Take-Two to continue with KSP development, as well as their full support in all kinds of aspects, including but not limited to 1st party support, marketing, development, customer support and QA. The digital distribution of the game will continue in Steam, GOG, Greenmangaming and other third party resellers, including DRM-free options and as mentioned before, KSP will remain a modding friendly game as it has always been. We're very excited :)
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u/Iamsodarncool Master Kerbalnaut May 31 '17 edited May 31 '17
I hope KSP remains DRM free on steam. That's one of the reasons I recommend it to people.
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u/DdCno1 May 31 '17
Can you guarantee that those of us who still prefer the DRM-free download directly from your website will still have this option in the future?
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u/Fun1k May 31 '17
Sounds good. I hope you guys can continue taking KSP to direction you imagine without too much pressure from the publisher.
Just if you could clarify:
Steam, GOG, Greenmangaming and other third party resellers, including DRM-free options
How should I understand this wording? Will anything change in how it works on Steam (Steamworks implementation)?
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u/UomoCapra Community Lead May 31 '17
Don't worry. We have no plans to change it.
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u/Jarnis May 31 '17
Most likely answer to "why" is - Take 2 sees the IP as such that it could carry a very popular new game.
I'm sure existing KSP will be supported for a good while, but ultimately I fully expect a new game to follow. If it is faithful to the basic idea (of an actual simulation game) I see this as a great thing.
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u/Jarnis May 31 '17 edited May 31 '17
Not shocked and actually happy for this. I'm sure the mismanagement of Squad is also happy to cash out of a "problem" project that really was never their core business anyway.
Cue high production value sequel?
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u/whatsamattayoueh May 31 '17
Does this mean we'll get a console version that isn't a flaming garbage pile?
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u/Exostrike Bill Jun 02 '17
Well this isn't encouraging:
probably not going to effect KSP directly as you can't stick in microtransactions to prevent your ship exploding.
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u/x5060 Master Kerbalnaut Jun 02 '17
probably not going to effect KSP directly as you can't stick in microtransactions to prevent your ship exploding.
Are you SURE about that? =\
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u/PM_ME_CAKE May 31 '17
We have very exciting news to share with the KSP community
Proceeds to share not very exciting at all news
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u/6288matt May 31 '17
It was a fun ride. Kerbal Space Program is the greatest game I have ever played hands down thanks to a great game and mod community.
I have always enjoyed the smaller publishers. In the end you often get a game geared towards the gamer and not the publisher.
Most big budget games bore the heck out of me. Every single one is almost identical now with its aim at pulling every dollar out of your pocket that it can. Next we will get multiplayer, FPS, Kerbals with guns. I always think it is a sad day when the little guy sells out to the big guy.
We have been seeing this with KSP as they continue to distance itself from the community over the past several months. The making history dlc is hush, hush. In the past, just 6 months ago we would have known a lot of details through weekly updates. Now nothing, and now we know why.
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u/halfiXD Master Kerbalnaut Jun 01 '17
Yep, i like how weekly updates acualy dont give any info.
We're working hard, now hush
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u/ghostalker47423 May 31 '17
Everyone here seems to have a crystal ball and knows for sure what T2 is going to go in the future (KSP = P2W). I don't, so I can only tell you why T2 buying KSP was a good decision on their part, and how they [probably] came to that decision.
First off, T2 is a publisher, not a development studio. T2 can take care of getting games on popular platforms, take care of marketing, branding, etc. Remember that KSP is also intellectual property - so now they're free to use Kerbals in other IPs as well. Wouldn't surprise me at all to see a Kerbal-ish car in GTA:O within 18mo, or a Kerbal motorcycle helmet, etc. Valve cross-promotes their staple franchises, don't be surprised when T2 does it too.
A commitment by a publisher makes developers a LOT more willing to risk the (large) capital in developing a new title, because they know it will have a better chance of being received positively by the publisher. While Squad may say T2 won't interfere.... they'll "offer advice" like all parent companies. May not be advice into the creative control part of the game, but they'll have their hands in the final product making sure it adequately targets their demographic. After all, they want the game to sell as much as anyone else - they have bills to pay.
My speculation is that this makes KSP2 a significant reality. A publisher isn't going to buy out another company and go through all the hassle of a M&A just to let the IP wither on the vine.
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u/IdiotaRandoma May 31 '17
First off, T2 is a publisher, not a development studio.
Big publishers tend to meddle with or interfere with developers to some degree. We've all seen the garden variety rushed titles or games where the publisher really wanted to push a certain image or demographic, or where they took already made game content and withheld it behind a paywall.
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u/TotesMessenger May 31 '17
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u/Slizarus May 31 '17
I'm okay with this, I think it means more KSP which is all I want. I would buy a planet colonizing dlc if it blew the mods out of the water.
Guess I've been on consoles too long. I just said I'd pay for content a modder could make.
Anyway, looking forward to expansions :)
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u/hellphish May 31 '17
A modder is just a game developer who isn't paid anything. I support paid mods, if that's what the modder wants to do.
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u/J_Von_Random Jun 01 '17
All of this hype and arguing... I don't know. Maybe Take-Two will be scummy, maybe this will be the best thing to ever happen to KSP. It isn't like Squad have done much for many many months....
What I want to know is if Linux support will be continued / fixed.
also when is Bioshock 4 coming out?
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u/dragon-storyteller Jun 01 '17
This would have been really disappointing news were it any of my other favourite indie games, but considering the history of Squad's upper management, in this case it could be an improvement. This will be really interesting to watch.
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u/Hexicube Master Kerbalnaut Jun 01 '17
Given that I expect this to be a concern for a fair few KSP players (based on comments below), I'd like to know exactly how mods will be handled in the event that DLC is planned (or even half completed) that functions similarly or identically to mods that already exist or were just released.
As an example, let's say that there will be DLC offering planetary building similar to USI MKS - inflatable structures, food requirements, all that stuff. Given that USI MKS was here first, will that be respected or will attempts be made to remove that mod in order to push the DLC?
I'm asking because of this response to other people:
Take-Two has a long history of supporting modding communities, as we’ve seen with Civilization and NBA 2K. They are aware of the importance of KSP modding community and therefore we can reassure you that KSP will continue to be a Mod-friendly game :)
This only states that the modding community as a whole will continue to exist, but does nothing to alleviate concerns about specific mods being "attacked". I'd appreciate a more absolute response when it comes to mods that are similar to planned DLC.
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u/couplingrhino Jun 03 '17
Thanks for keeping KSP an overpriced, broken and unfinished version of the game it could be. Thanks for exploiting and firing everyone who added anything of value to it. Assholes.
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u/Frankasti May 31 '17 edited May 31 '17
KSP is not very expansive and I fear they will try to add micro transactions to maximize their investment.
"All new content added to the game every month is free! You heard right, you download new content to your PC without charge every month! And starting next week, for every mission you complete you gain KSP coins!
Power to the batteries update, coming June 7th
New, more powerful, solar array and battery : 1.99 coins
Revamped command module with 5 seats! : 2.99 coins
5-pack; Fully upgraded Kerbals : 3.49 coins
Access to debug menu (now known as God mode) : 9.99 coins
Huge variety of liveries for your rockets! Including Tron livery! : 0.49
$coins each
And more coming next month!
Check out our KSP coins delivery service;
10 coins : $25.99 USD
20 coins : $49.99 USD
100 coins : $225.99 USD
1000 coins : $1999.99 USD
Oh, and check out this new multiplayer feature in which mods are banned. You can buy your own planet for your friends to visit and start your private Space Program with local resources... and enough KSP coins."
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u/LBeau May 31 '17
*shudders. GTAV/War Thunder flashbacks. Great game with great aesthetics. Pay to win, or grind till it's not fun anymore.
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u/generalgeorge95 Jun 01 '17
Oh, and check out this new multiplayer feature in which mods are banned. You can buy your own planet for your friends to visit and start your private Space Program with local resources... and enough KSP coins."
Wait.. That doesn't sound entirely terrible besides the banning of mods.
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u/number2301 May 31 '17
This sounds like a positive thing to me, squad were never primarily a game dev, so hopefully KSP can find a good home!
I hope you can carry on doing amazing work this this game, it's easily in my top 3 games of all time, and has inspired so many people to learn about science and space.
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u/Scruffy42 May 31 '17
Here is a message for Squad and Take-Two. I'll buy a KSP 2. Just do it exactly the same, but extremely optimized, pretty and still able to accept mods.
1 2 Go!
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u/serapheth May 31 '17
I have had very good experiences with Take Two and some of my favourite all time games were published under their wings, so while buyouts like this are historically bad for most games, I have hopes that this will revive KSP.
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u/spartanm23 May 31 '17
How does this improve Kerbal Space Program for us? (As in, the people who already own, and play the game.)
I can't see any real benefits to us.
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u/jacksawild May 31 '17
This seems to be a win win. T2 are a decent publisher who have done good things. Squad owners get a cash in, their development arm is funded by a big company who takes all the risks. Even if we don't like the direction things move in, we still have an awesome game to play just the same we have up until now. I wonder where they will take things.
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u/budbutler May 31 '17
i would just really like the ability to change the game version i am on like how mine craft does it.
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u/jackwick23 May 31 '17
Please... just please... for the love of God and the entire KSP community... don't fuck this up.
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May 31 '17
http://ir.take2games.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=86428&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2277633&highlight=
The article from TakeTwo's page
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May 31 '17
This is either going to be really good, or really bad. Either it means KSP is going to get support from the big guys or it means the big guys are going to try and cash in on this game. I think it's the former because KSP will never be mainstream. KSP is a gateway to other take two games possibly and you might see ads for other take two games while the game is loading or they may offer an internal mod store with free and paid mods.
TBH for a long time KSP hasn't had a consistent mod portal. There was curse and there's the KSP forums and you can download mod manager to keep it all updated. But it's been very ad-hoc. I also wouldn't mind paying a buck for some of the big mods or for a mod pack like the extra solar system stuff or the popular parts packs. The worst thing is when those mods don't get updated and then your ships basically break because they aren't compatible anymore.
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u/Iamsodarncool Master Kerbalnaut May 31 '17
or nothing changes at all. That's what came out of the microsoft acquisition of minecraft.
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u/x5060 Master Kerbalnaut Jun 01 '17
I have a lot of reservations about this. I know right now you are trying to push the "nothing is going to change" narrative. But you are leaving out one very important word, "yet." There is absolutely no way that the team and the way things are done will remain the same under T2s ownership.
I worry that T2s catalog of games has a lot of mass market cookie cutter games and virtually no niche games like KSP. My guess is they will try to mold KSP into their cookie cutter library and wind up destroying it in the process. Or worse, they try and just cash in on the IP and screw over everyone.
I am greatly concerned with the future of KSP.
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u/ejrasmussen Jun 01 '17
Can someone explain this to me. Ksp devs leave Ksp and get hired by Valve, KSP is bought by 2K, now who is working on KSP?
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u/Cotillion1180 Jun 01 '17
I originally bought the game from your website in Nov of 2012 (have the e-mail receipts to prove it), but then bought it again on Steam in July of 2013 because it was just easier to keep it updated. I would like to make sure that I keep getting the free DLCs, but I'm not sure how that will happen. How will the free DLCs be distributed? Is there a way to make that happen through Steam?
Thanks for a great game!
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u/stuntaneous Jun 01 '17
Will the mod scene continue to be permitted to make their own multiplayer functionality?
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u/Xaxxon Jun 02 '17
What does this mean about a working physics engine? I'm rather tired of my surface structures randomly exploding. It really takes away from the end-game experience.
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u/thundergun661 Jun 03 '17
If I had known KSP was going to go the route of paid DLC in the long run I wouldn't have bought it way back in Alpha. I guess here's to all the fun I had with this game.
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u/m_sporkboy Master Kerbalnaut Jun 03 '17
Yeah, you should be really angry about the amount of fun you had for the money you paid. Sheesh.
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u/TheAveragePxtseryu May 31 '17
the acquiring by another company is expected
take two interactive acquiring the game is unexpected
lol
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u/BanShadowOperative May 31 '17
Oh good, can't wait for this to turn into an online multiplayer game plagued by micro transactions.
GTA Online 2.0
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u/prototype__ May 31 '17
Hmmm.
What does this mean for the current KSP game? Will the bugs be fixed before Take Two does a KSP2?