| Fury Goes Free Amid Layoffs, Outsourcing and Dire Predictions
This gets a bit confusing, so brace yourselves. Australian developer Auran announced yesterday that Fury would be free-to-play forever as of the December 14th expansion pack. Within hours of the announcement though, Kotaku Australia posted a quote from CEO Tony Hilliam that said: "We will then have some bad news to follow (unless a miracle occurs), but there will be a very positive end to the week."
This follows a report from Angry-Gamer.net that claimed, "Auran out of steam" and predicted a dire future, which Hilliam later refused as "categorically false" back on Kotaku. That Angry-Gamer article ran on the same day that Kotaku had this report that spoke of downsizing, a more agile development team and the absorption of some people into a new Tantalus studio next door to the Auran studio. Just for fun, GamesIndustry.biz chimed in with a report that seems to mirror a report from Kotaku five days earlier.
So, if that's as clear as mud, here is the deal: Fury is going free-to-play, there will be layoffs, some people are moving to a new Brisebane studio unrelated to Fury run by Tantalus and bad news is likely to follow.
"FURY" FREE TO PLAY FOREVER
Age of the Chosen Free Content Update
Cockpit, Austin, TX - December 10, 2007 - Gamecock Media Group and Auran Games today announced a new Free to Download, Free to Play option for their fast paced arena combat game FURY. The new business model will begin with the release of the first major free content update "Age of the Chosen" on December 14, 2007.
"FURY was built around giving players options that suit their play style and their wallet," said Tony Hilliam, CEO of Auran. "With the AotC update, we are introducing a new player category called "Chosen". As one of the Chosen, players can access all game types, equip all weapons and unlock all 400 abilities - and they can play as much as they like absolutely free. This is a fantastic opportunity for players to jump into battle with their mates and discover the frenetic pace of the fastest RPG combat ever. Chosen will earn less gold and essence, and will not be able to trade with other players."
"Chosen players can purchase game gold from the FURY store or upgrade to "Hero" status to earn more Essence and Gold. Retail stores sell the "Hero" status pack, along with a free month of "Immortal" status, so this is $30 value for the new price of $19.99 (in US stores). As a Hero or Immortal players can unlock abilities faster and purchase better gear, but the matchmaker then ensures they are playing against other players of similar skill and rank."
FURY: Age of the Chosen is a massive free content update that introduces two new game types aimed at the new player. "Carnage" throws two teams into battle with the aim of returning blood tokens to their base faster than their opposition. Blood tokens are gained from killing bots, not other players, so the action is indirect competition rather than head to head. The 1v1 Elimination game type means games will spawn faster and matches are more evenly balanced.
For more on FURY, visit www.unleashthefury.com. Also, be sure and visit http://www.unleashthefury.com/ageofthechosen/ for information on the Age of the Chosen update and new business model.
Permalink |
Fury Goes Free Amid Layoffs, Outsourcing and Dire Predictions
This gets a bit confusing, so brace yourselves. Australian developer Auran announced yesterday that Fury would be free-to-play forever as of the December 14th expansion pack. Within hours of the announcement though, Kotaku Australia posted a quote from CEO Tony Hilliam that said: "We will then have some bad news to follow (unless a miracle occurs), but there will be a very positive end to the week."
This follows a report from Angry-Gamer.net that claimed, "Auran out of steam" and predicted a dire future, which Hilliam later refused as "categorically false" back on Kotaku. That Angry-Gamer article ran on the same day that Kotaku had this report that spoke of downsizing, a more agile development team and the absorption of some people into a new Tantalus studio next door to the Auran studio. Just for fun, GamesIndustry.biz chimed in with a report that seems to mirror a report from Kotaku five days earlier.
So, if that's as clear as mud, here is the deal: Fury is going free-to-play, there will be layoffs, some people are moving to a new Brisebane studio unrelated to Fury run by Tantalus and bad news is likely to follow.
Permalink