Are Valve and Bad Robot Still Working Together on a New Game?

[-smash-]

It's been almost three years since Gabe Newell and J.J. Abrams appeared together on stage at the 2013 D.I.C.E. Summit. In their speech they discussed the importance of story telling in both games & films and how bridging the gap between the two mediums was a logical next-step for the entertainment industry. At the end of their speech, both executives from their respective entertainment studios, Valve and Bad Robot, expressed how interested they were in working with each other; Bad Robot would get help from Valve for their new game, and Valve would get help from Bad Robot with movie production. Well, as of today, it's looking like the former isn't going to happen - at least between Valve and Bad Robot.

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A new game, entitled SPYJINX, is being developed by Bad Robot and ChAIR. In a video released today, J.J. and Donald Mustard, ChAIR's Founder & Director, said exactly the same thing that was discussed at D.I.C.E.: how important it is for both studios to work together to make great games. But another point of emphasis was how important the development tools are for this new game, and Unreal Engine 4 was exactly what both studios were looking for. So, can you see where this is going and why the Valve/Bad Robot partnership may have ended for games?

If not, then you're probably saying, "but, smash, Bad Robot just released a game mode for TF2! The partnership isn't over!" Well, here's how I interpret the current situation...

Bad Robot was either tired of waiting for Source 2's tools, or Source 2 wasn't good enough for them in that they wouldn't have been able to rapidly build a new, full-fledged IP and also release & support it on multiple platforms. So, Bad Robot had to cut and run. But, they still value Valve's expertise, and so they reached an agreement where Bad Robot would be given a platform to experiment with game development and user feedback - that's where Team Fortress 2's PASS Time game mode comes in, but it's probably the extent of their game development partnership for now, unfortunately.

But what do you think's going on with the Valve/Bad Robot partnership?

 

[Aizawa]

I would be VERY dissapointed if they won't do a Half-Life or Portal movie. I honestly don't care about the game Bad Robot wanted to make with Valve.
I don't even expect the movies to be as great as the games, I just want to see what their approach is.

 

[Clan Wolf 2]

well its no surprise coming from bad robot and valve, that there's a twist. one of the few traits they have in common is they are talking to each other.
But i mostly boil this down to pros and cons about the two

Valve to name a few, you know these
Pros
has the abundance of capital and goodwill from gamers
can work whatever they like
no one is in charge
not publicly traded or has a publisher
has conversations alot with all types of companys/film studios
has the valvetime trait, which is head scratching but its charming, so its good
wont ever outsource in negative ways

cons
often strange way of communicating with customers
lets gamers run on odd bits of information, to whats coming next
source 2 has taken its toll

bad robot like most other film studios
pros (for anything but valve, and their flat structure i have nothing nice to say about others, except..)

talks to valve a games studio that isnt commanding them to do whatever

cons.... told you....
hierarchy boss policy
couldn't possibly have the abundances required to work on whatever they want
like most film studios with cgi they outsource to taiwan etc, like locust. cant prove it but know alot that do.

((just check the credits at the end of films for animation/CGI teams for names. i say its bad because, saving money shouldnt be the clear objective. making long time investments at home. is better. n for economies))

like most will smite those ideas from workers, with furious vengeance.
would never take risks, n take alot for beta to solve current situations


i feel valve would be not only working with bad robot but also to whatever outsource team on jj abrams end, they would need to work with. its likely.

like Valve alot more now...n kinda feel they should of worked on more of that portal 2, super 8 interactive trailer alot more. would of been alright

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

as far as I can tell their relationship has been developing a piece of shit game mode for an out of date and completely broken game

 

[Aizawa]

as far as I can tell their relationship has been developing a piece of shit game mode for an out of date and completely broken game

xD

 

[Clan Wolf 2]

eh its prolly valves end. most of the workers at valve are likely working at these percentages, but its Valve these prolly change regularly


40% VR development
17% steamos development
15% game updates
10% other projects
10% Source 2 Development but actually more just on deciding what game to update it too.
5% working steam beta
3% working next game title

i can't imagine the writers having much to do lately. But they are gifted, talented people. All of them.

lost count since 2012 how many employees work there now. but say if it was 350 and their bottlenecking pretty bad at this point, given how much their taking own for such a small studio.

Given Valves colorful flat management work with no boss structure. Yanis who did their economics and did a analysis of them. In 2012 said in interview they didn't think their policy would ever grow too 350 back when they were just under 150 but it did in 2012, however its likely reduced now. So say they need to expand, but can't the building their in skyline tower.....restricts them someway for office space.

this article suggests they are expanding, who knows.
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/...eft-bellevue-to-expand-is-valve-software.html


Its rumored for some time now Valve have been seeking new floor space in Seattle, quite possibly at a new sunset coast line of new tall buildings far from the inner city bellevue

Or perhaps they as a group have decided whatever figure their at right now, is enough. Their very careful, not to fall prey to the lure of hiring, remember the great purge? And that is where the disagreement between us gamers wanting more from them is at.

its just a guess..

from the yanis point of view its all about social science that determines the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services.

http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/02/varoufakis_on_v.html

 

[sage78]

as far as I can tell their relationship has been developing a piece of shit game mode for an out of date and completely broken game

they just seem to want to do so many things but never finish none of it
PASS Time looked like an attempt to mimic Rocket League to me