I was amazed a few months ago that Gametap (or any other publisher, for that matter) would ever sign this guy again.
Well, I guess they learned their lesson:
February 14, 2008
GameTap Cancels Galactic Command Publishing Deal
GameTap Cancels Galactic Command Publishing Deal When Gamasutra recently spoke to GameTap content VP Ricardo Sanchez to discuss his advice on the episodic content trend, we also got the opportunity to ask the exec at the Turner-owned PC game subscription service a few questions about the state of its union and its future plans.
Sanchez is pleased with the performance of Sam & Max and very enthusiastic about the upcoming unveiling of American McGee’s Grimm. But last year, GameTap announced it would bring Derek Smart’s Galactic Command: Echo Squad to the series – and when we asked him how that game was coming, we learned that it actually isn’t.
“It was a good game, it was very solid, but as we were going through, it ended up not being the right title for our audience,” says Sanchez. “It was a tough call. I think it’s one of the strongest games ever made. We put a lot of effort into it… I honestly think it’s one of Derek’s strongest games.”
So why kibosh it? Sanchez says ultimately his team decided the space shooter just wasn’t the best fit for GameTap’s somewhat more casual audience. “We could put a lot of promos behind it, but it wouldn’t resonate too strongly with our audience… We thought it would succeed better with Derek’s core base.”
Smart still plans to release the game, Sanchez adds – just not through GameTap. At the time the partnership was announced, Smart indicated he was hoping to bring the title to Xbox Live.
Y’know, despite all of the Derek Smart silliness, it always seemed like there was the kernel of a decent game in there somewhere, and that with enough development and polishing, you might actually have something good. Yet when I see something like Universal Combat (or whatever the latest iteration is) in the store, I still don’t feel compelled to test that theory…
All I think I can safely say is that I’m surprised people are picking up on this now, as I’m pretty sure both Derek and Rick (disclaimer: Rick is my boss’ boss, but that doesn’t mean I have insight into Gametap deals and whatnot) made statements about this topic back in mid-January.