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Sword Coast Legends developer n-space has closed up shop

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Always a shame to hear this, it seems n-space the developers behind Sword Coast Legends have closed up.

Ben Leary who worked for n-space gave this statement on twitter:
image

Shame, but games development like a lot of industries is a highly competitive environment, and pretty cut-throat when dealing with publishers. I imagine Sword Coast Legends didn't sell as well as they hoped, and it didn't get the best reviews.

Hopefully the publisher will still be able to bring out the Rage of Demons expansion and further patches. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial
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slaapliedje Apr 3, 2016
That was quick... they did their money grab then disappeared. Probably because something they claimed would be basically Neverwinter Nights 3 became more like something that was made with Basic D&D rules. At least that was the impression I got from my short time with the game. I had high hopes for it, but then no one liked most of their decisions.

Pretty sad.

Edit: read the post, I'd never heard of n-Space until this game, 21 years? what else did they make?


Last edited by slaapliedje on 3 April 2016 at 2:41 pm UTC
niarbeht Apr 3, 2016
:(
Halifax Apr 3, 2016
Sad, really sad. I bought Sword Coast Legends on day 1 due to its day 1 Linux support. I liked the game - it wasn't the most optimized Linux port, but it also never crashed on me. I thought it was a pretty good action RPG, not the best that ever was, but definitely still fun to play through - I had no regrets paying full price for it.
Keyrock Apr 3, 2016
I'm one of the few people that liked Sword Coast Legends, so I'm quite sad to hear this. Sadly, studios closing is something that happens constantly in the video game industry (likely almost every industry).
wintermute Apr 3, 2016
Quoting: slaapliedjeThat was quick... they did their money grab then disappeared.

I think if they'd actually grabbed their money they wouldn't be going bankrupt. The game didn't sell very well but from what I saw of it on the free weekend it wouldn't have been cheap to develop, plus I assume the license would have cost something.

Dumbest thing they did was requiring online registration to play offline during a free weekend. I wonder how anyone's going to play now if the registration servers are all set to disappear?
Halifax Apr 3, 2016
Quoting: slaapliedjebut then no one liked most of their decisions.

Pretty sad.

Closer to the truth was it was about a 50/50 mix, about half of their player base was fine with the streamlined action RPG gameplay mechanics. But the jeremiads from the 50% that didn't like it were intense and amply posted, for sure.
salamanderrake Apr 3, 2016
Quoting: slaapliedjeThat was quick... they did their money grab then disappeared. Probably because something they claimed would be basically Neverwinter Nights 3 became more like something that was made with Basic D&D rules. At least that was the impression I got from my short time with the game. I had high hopes for it, but then no one liked most of their decisions.

Pretty sad.

Edit: read the post, I'd never heard of n-Space until this game, 21 years? what else did they make?

They have a long list of games, more then what some known studios have, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-Space#History
SuperTux Apr 3, 2016
Quoting: Halifax
Quoting: slaapliedjebut then no one liked most of their decisions.

Pretty sad.

Closer to the truth was it was about a 50/50 mix, about half of their player base was fine with the streamlined action RPG gameplay mechanics. But the jeremiads from the 50% that didn't like it were intense and amply posted, for sure.

This is it, they killed the game as it was advertised quite heavily that it was a streamlined action RPG (it was obvious to me this is what they were going to deliver). We're not likely to see another NWN style game with D&D rules for the foreseeable future, especially not on Linux. Rage of Demons for PC is also looking doubtful.

Only real way to succeed is perhaps via what Obisidian do and actually listen to what the PC playerbase wants and it wasn't a streamlined action RPG (I suspect a lot of those 50% who were happy would also be happy with a more traditional in depth RPG). Interestingly enough the publisher has confirmed Rage of Demons and Sword Coast will release on consoles. I wonder how much of the mechanics were indeed affected by consoles?

Only thing left is that abysmal themepark grindfest on Windows made by Cryptic it seems, unless you want to buy the old enhanced versions of Baldurs Gate etc.

I do hope the employees at N-Space find work soon!
madmachinations Apr 3, 2016
Awwwrr :( I wish the best of luck to everyone there
Halifax Apr 3, 2016
Quoting: SuperTuxOnly real way to succeed is perhaps via what Obisidian do and actually listen to what the PC playerbase wants and it wasn't a streamlined action RPG (I suspect a lot of those 50% who were happy would also be happy with a more traditional in depth RPG).

You are probably right. For my part, I was surprised the reverse of that didn't hold true. Which is me, I totally love the more detailed and in-depth RPGs too. But I was OK with a streamlined version - mainly because it was well done, it had a good flow to the combat and had a real inventory system/item economy. (I don't like it when they streamline inventory completely out - that's too much streamlining.)

I especially thought SCL made a good fit in this current games market, with a resurgence in "old-school" RPGs making a come-back in a big big way, there was room for it. It's not like we're starving for modern takes on "old school" RPGs anymore, Internet crowd funding has revived that genre 110%.
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