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-   -   What happened to The Adventure Company? (https://adventuregamers.com/archive/forums/adventure/28898-what-happened-adventure-company.html)

Oscar 04-17-2011 06:04 AM

What happened to The Adventure Company?
 
They used to publish 3 or 4 games a year and were the most prominent adventure game publishers. Apparently they're still active but haven't published anything since 2009. Anyone know what happened? Are they still alive?

Wikbi 04-17-2011 06:16 AM

The Adventure Company was part of DreamCatcher Interactive.
DreamCatcher was purchased by JoWood Entertainment in 2006.

JoWood recently declared bankruptcy.

Ivynwater 05-13-2011 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wikbi (Post 578277)
The Adventure Company was part of DreamCatcher Interactive.
DreamCatcher was purchased by JoWood Entertainment in 2006.

JoWood recently declared bankruptcy.

Are u sure? I read about the chance of recapitalisation of the Company and not about definite bankruptcy.

jhetfield21 05-13-2011 12:49 PM

isn't Jowood the one that has the Gothic series?

crabapple 05-14-2011 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ivynwater (Post 580468)
Are u sure? I read about the chance of recapitalisation of the Company and not about definite bankruptcy.

That apparently fell through.
http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13236

A couple of days after that announcement the Dreamcatcher site was no longer accessible.

Ivynwater 05-14-2011 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crabapple (Post 580522)
That apparently fell through.
http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13236

A couple of days after that announcement the Dreamcatcher site was no longer accessible.

Dammit, that is very sad, particularly because it didn't pass much time in between the acquisition and the declaration of bankruptcy, at least not under the point of view of business development. Have u read any reason in regards to how they arrived at this situation?

tsampikos 05-14-2011 11:18 AM

It is like it was mentioned above. Dreamcatcher and the Adventure Company were bought from the now obsolete Jowood. You can forget all three of them.

jhetfield21 05-14-2011 12:34 PM

they might have closed but i imagine the human resources are gonna be absorbed to a point from the existing companies or they might even start anew.i doubt they are gonna be wasted like that.

Captain Blondebeard 05-14-2011 01:35 PM

The Adventure Company would buy good licenses and ruin them. I honestly think TAC being out of business does more good for the adventure genre than bad. For a struggling genre, you have to put out good games or else you give the genre a bad name. They would just put out massive amounts of games to turn a profit.

jhetfield21 05-14-2011 03:49 PM

yeah but closing down in an already struggling industry is not a good sign either.

Captain Blondebeard 05-14-2011 06:21 PM

I think that has more to do with TAG's mismanagement than the adventure industry as a whole. They litteraly ran everything they touched into the ground. One poor decision follwed by another.

Ivynwater 05-15-2011 04:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhetfield21 (Post 580531)
they might have closed but i imagine the human resources are gonna be absorbed to a point from the existing companies or they might even start anew.i doubt they are gonna be wasted like that.

That is what I wondered. I've heard that the majority of game programmers are contracted by project and once finished they don't necessarily are asked to remain for a new one, even if it is a next installments of the game they've been working with originally. Is that true?

jhetfield21 05-15-2011 04:48 AM

it might be........i've heard that this also stands for generic programmer's in software companies.
our future looks bleak:P

Oscar 05-15-2011 05:00 AM

They are only publishers, not developers but I don't know how much of a role game publishers have in the content of a game. It's a shame because I think they made available games which wouldn't have had the funding or publicity otherwise to publish independently.

jhetfield21 05-15-2011 05:16 AM

i thought they also had a studio.....apparently i'm wrong...........anyways.it is a shame.....just look at the games that got out because of TAC:
A Vampyre Story
Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None
Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express
Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun
Amerzone
Atlantis: The Lost Tales (Rerelease)
Atlantis II: Beyond Atlantis (Rerelease)
Atlantis III: The New World (Rerelease)
Atlantis IV: Evolution
Atlantis V: The Sacred Legacy
Aura: Fate of the Ages
The Black Mirror
Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon
The Cameron Files: Secret at Loch Ness
The Cameron Files: The Pharaoh's Curse
The Crystal Key
Cypher / Traitors Gate 2
Dark Fall
Dark Fall: Lights Out
Dead Reefs
Dracula: Origin
ECHO: Secrets of the Lost Cavern
Evidence: The Last Ritual
The Experiment
The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft
Keepsake
Martin Mystère: Operation Dorian Gray (also known as Crime Stories)
The Messenger
Missing: Since January
Mysterious Journey II
The Moment of Silence
Next Life
Nibiru: Age of Secrets
Outcry
Post Mortem
Return to Mysterious Island
ROTS-1 Riddle of the Sphinx
ROTS-2 The Omega Stone
Sam & Max Season One
Safecracker: The Ultimate Puzzle Adventure
Schizm: Mysterious Journey
Sentinel: Descendants in Time (AKA Realms of Illusion)
Secret Files: Tunguska
Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis
Still Life
Syberia
Treasure Island
Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne

some of 'em i haven't even heard of but the majority are good titles.

Ivynwater 05-15-2011 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhetfield21 (Post 580585)
i thought they also had a studio.....apparently i'm wrong...........anyways.it is a shame.....just look at the games that got out because of TAC:

Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon

How much I loved George Stobbart American accent and sense of humor! I'd love to have another game with him and Nicolette! :9

jannar85 05-15-2011 07:44 AM

Revolution are developing Broken Sword 5, though :) I won't say this is the end of the adventure as a genre, but maybe the old publishing methods will be more or less gone, as digital publishing is obviously the new way to go.

Just take a look at Telltale. They've done a great job without any publishers, except Ubisoft where they got hired to do a job.

Ivynwater 05-15-2011 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jannar85 (Post 580594)
Revolution are developing Broken Sword 5, though :) I won't say this is the end of the adventure as a genre, but maybe the old publishing methods will be more or less gone, as digital publishing is obviously the new way to go.

Just take a look at Telltale. They've done a great job without any publishers, except Ubisoft where they got hired to do a job.

Thanks for the news Jannar85! I will surely have a look at it! :)

Lee in Limbo 05-15-2011 08:34 PM

I'm pretty sure I said it before in another thread of the same flavour, but while I feel bad for anyone still awaiting payment from TAC, or anyone awaiting the next installment of the Atlantis franchise, over all, I suspect TAC had outlived its usefulness. It really does come down to the fact that they clearly had no real interest in developing and solidifying the future of Adventure Games.

Most of the games they published were throwbacks to the kind of games we were playing in the early 90s. Some of them were games I enjoyed greatly; others were a distinct letdown, and meaning no insult to the fans of some of the games I'm thinking of, were also an embarrassment to the genre. Nothing breeds failure more than fostering mediocrity and rewarding failure with more of the same.

It also does no one any good sacking one amateur studio to put funding into another equally green studio for the next installment. they should have had the courage of their convictions to back a team until it had the product truly ready for the current market, or halted production before costs ran too high.

Either maintain a respectable level of commitment to quality game development, or start selling toiletries, because believe me, those will always be in high demand.

Ivynwater 05-16-2011 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee in Limbo (Post 580636)
I'm pretty sure I said it before in another thread of the same flavour, but while I feel bad for anyone still awaiting payment from TAC, or anyone awaiting the next installment of the Atlantis franchise, over all, I suspect TAC had outlived its usefulness. It really does come down to the fact that they clearly had no real interest in developing and solidifying the future of Adventure Games.

I'm new to the forum so I didn't read any post similar to this but I find your opinion interesting and challenging although I'm not sure I agree with it completely.

Most of the games they published were throwbacks to the kind of games we were playing in the early 90s. Some of them were games I enjoyed greatly; others were a distinct letdown, and meaning no insult to the fans of some of the games I'm thinking of, were also an embarrassment to the genre. Nothing breeds failure more than fostering mediocrity and rewarding failure with more of the same.

I don't undesrtand if you refer to a specific game or series or to a genre of games that you find too obsolete to be created anymore. I remeber the very same discussion related to the Thief series (which I absolute adore expect for the 3rd installment). among the fans there is even now a huge debate over the necessity to develop the upcoming 4th game beyond any imagining or actually go back to the root of the game either in terms of sotryline quality or in terms of care and attention put into the playability of the game. In this case, for instance, I find myself to be quite a purist, a traditionalist and I would never enjoyed a Thief game which betraied and wrongly interterpreted the nature of the series using as scapegoat the "necessity to make it modern" wihtout, therefore, considering all the goodness that would be thrown to the trash. It's beem said all over the net that in the game market there is not space anymore for stealth games andt the fact that they constitute a small nieche reinforces in me the conviction that they need to build up a strong identity and not losing themselves in the ocean of all the other games.


It also does no one any good sacking one amateur studio to put funding into another equally green studio for the next installment. they should have had the courage of their convictions to back a team until it had the product truly ready for the current market, or halted production before costs ran too high.

Either maintain a respectable level of commitment to quality game development, or start selling toiletries, because believe me, those will always be in high demand.

As for this, yes, I totally agree.

jhetfield21 05-16-2011 01:03 AM

for me it's just disappointing that a publisher for adventures has shut down.now i just hope that the developers that were getting published by TAC are gonna find publishing elsewhere.i just want the games to get released.

Fien 05-16-2011 01:18 AM

I've heard bad things about The Adventure Company, but I'm surprised some people seem to dismiss the games they published as mediocre. If we were discussing the old Cyro I'd agree, but I see lots of good adventures on the list, by various developers. All the Kheops ones are solid, Dark Fall, Still Life, Moment of Silence, BS3, Black Mirror, Syberia.

Oscar 05-16-2011 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fien (Post 580656)
I've heard bad things about The Adventure Company, but I'm surprised some people seem to dismiss the games they published as mediocre. If we were discussing the old Cyro I'd agree, but I see lots of good adventures on the list, by various developers. All the Kheops ones are solid, Dark Fall, Still Life, Moment of Silence, BS3, Black Mirror, Syberia.

Absolutely. I would say the majority of TAC games are good ones, with a few absolute gems and a few for the trash. Not many companies can claim that track record. The 2000s adventure scene would have looked completely barren if not for them.

If you want companies not interested in the future of adventure games, look to where all the hundreds of casual/hidden object games are streaming out from every year.

rayvio 05-16-2011 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oscar (Post 580661)
If you want companies not interested in the future of adventure games, look to where all the hundreds of casual/hidden object games are streaming out from every year.

I dunno, I think those games can be a good gateway into adventure games. I've managed to convince a couple of hidden object fans to give some adventure games a go and one of them just went and bought Longest Journey, Syberia 1 & 2 and the Gabriel Knight trilogy off ebay because she can't get enough of them :P

Ivynwater 05-16-2011 03:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayvio (Post 580666)
(...) I've managed to convince a couple of hidden object fans to give some adventure games a go and one of them just went and bought Longest Journey, Syberia 1 & 2 and the Gabriel Knight trilogy off ebay because she can't get enough of them :P

Quite difficult would be to do the reverse! :D:devil:

Fien 05-16-2011 05:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ivynwater (Post 580667)
Quite difficult would be to do the reverse! :D:devil:

Oh no, not at all. There's an exodus of adventure game players turning to casual gaming.

Ivynwater 05-16-2011 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fien (Post 580677)
Oh no, not at all. There's an exodus of adventure game players turning to casual gaming.

Really? How come? Bored at the office? What target do they have?

rayvio 05-16-2011 09:34 AM

I guess it depends what you look for in adventure games, there's definitely a stronger crossover between adventures and casual/hidden objects than between for example adventures and first person shooters (not to say that somebody can't like both, just that the two genres have less in common so less people are likely to like both)

personally I don't like the idea of buying a game I can finish in an hour, no matter how cheap it is. for people who love puzzles but don't have much free time though, I'd imagine the casual games are perfect, since if you tried to split up a big game playing it in small chunks occasionally you'd probably end up forgetting what happened in earlier parts by the time you get to the end

crabapple 05-16-2011 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ivynwater (Post 580680)
Really? How come? Bored at the office? What target do they have?

Casual adventure-like games such as the Drawn series (which isn't strictly a hidden object game) are attractive to adventure gamers who have played all the new adventure games they can find and want something else to play besides shooters, RPG's, and sims to play.

Annacat 05-16-2011 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crabapple (Post 580704)
Casual adventure-like games such as the Drawn series (which isn't strictly a hidden object game) are attractive to adventure gamers who have played all the new adventure games they can find and want something else to play besides shooters, RPG's, and sims to play.

Yeah, this.

Personally, I really enjoyed the Drawn games, and would happily play future games in the same light genre. That doesn't mean I've stopped playing the more "pure" adventure games, though. I'm still buying those, too.

There may be some players who are really making an "exodus," but I don't think it can be assumed that everyone who plays casual games no longer plays adventures. Many of us enjoy more than one genre.

Ivynwater 05-16-2011 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crabapple (Post 580704)
Casual adventure-like games such as the Drawn series (which isn't strictly a hidden object game) are attractive to adventure gamers who have played all the new adventure games they can find and want something else to play besides shooters, RPG's, and sims to play.

There are stealth games too btw. Maybe that's my limitation, but I'd rather do crosswords or playing chess online than spend some hours on an hidden objects games. Good games are made first of all of good storylines and characters development and in those it's very lame or not existent. My opinion of course....

adventor 05-16-2011 12:51 PM

It is sad about TAC. They published a ton of stuff.

As for casual... well... I like some casual games... no hidden object stuff, but more of the plants vs. zombies fare. I'm sure BTTF by telltale should probably also be considered a casual game but that's just me.

When it comes to adventures though I want it to be big, awesome, and full of memorable moments with a main character or story that is something exciting.

diego 08-19-2011 12:23 PM

Incredible news - Nordic Games has just bought The Adventure Company brand, along with JoWood, and they're planning on supporting existing games catalogue:

"Nordic Games has also acquired The Adventure Company and has expressed plans to relaunch all the old franchises of both companies."

Quote:

This is the beginning of a new era and over the coming months product development will start on a variety of well loved and respected brands and products
Website will be open soon at - http://www.nordicgames.at/

Oscar 08-19-2011 03:33 PM

Great news but i'm not sure what it means... ALL the old franchises? What does that mean, more Agatha Christie and Riddle of the Sphinx games?

rtrooney 08-19-2011 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhetfield21 (Post 580585)
i thought they also had a studio.....apparently i'm wrong...........anyways.it is a shame.....just look at the games that got out because of TAC:

I am impressed with the list. I have played almost all of these. I am depressed that the publisher of all these great games can't make a go of it financially.

While another commentator seems to think casual games are the cause of the demise. I think they might be the salvation. I see no reason why BFG, for example, might not publish "true" adventures as long as they fit into the BFG business model.

diego 08-20-2011 01:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oscar (Post 588089)
Great news but i'm not sure what it means... ALL the old franchises? What does that mean, more Agatha Christie and Riddle of the Sphinx games?

I'm not sure too, but they are surely not buying and relaunching The Adventure Company brand if they don't have any plans with it. We'll just have to wait and see.

The only adventure game they specifically mentioned, though, is Safecracker only:

Quote:

JoWooD and The Adventure Company will become publishing labels within Nordic Games GmbH,with the plan to re-launch the huge back catalogue of games and invest in developing the wholly owned IP’s and franchises, including SpellForce, Painkiller, ArcaniA, The Guild, Panzer Elite, Legend of Kay, The Nations, Safecracker, and Neighbours From Hell, amongst others

Oscar 08-20-2011 02:13 AM

Well that's great news - Safecracker is one of my favorite TAC games.
I'd also love sequels to:
-Keepsake
-Outcry
-Post Mortem
-Nibiru
-The Experiment

rayvio 08-20-2011 07:24 AM

by relaunch I'd guess they mean ensure that they're still available, maybe on Steam or GoG or something, rather than actually make sequels to all of them. although some sequels would probably come for the more popular franchises

diego 08-20-2011 08:15 AM

True, but they are just a publisher, to begin with. but having ip's "alive" gives us more chance of potential sequels. afterall, having one more adventure publisher back in business doesn't hurt :P

kate me 08-20-2011 09:59 AM

That may give us a tiny ray of hope...
I would like to see sequels to my BS game and even Keepsake which I like, (even with those empty corridors :P) I would like to see Lydia and Zack again...


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