Earlier this week, MMORPG fans were reminded of the baked-in cruelty of the games industry when they learned NetEase was pulling its funding from Fantastic Pixel Castle, which in turn left the studio’s developing MMO Project Ghost in the lurch. Studio head Greg Street minced no words in the announcement, stating that if a publisher isn’t secured soon, the entire studio would likely close.
It’s with that context in mind that sees Street attempting to swaddle the vampiric, panicky hens that make up games investors with some backup plans to keep the lights on, including a scaling back of Project Ghost’s MMORPG ambitions.
“We have a downscoped version of the game that focuses on multiplayer sessions (think a fantasy Helldivers or brighter Elden Ring Nightreign) but isn’t a full MMO,” Street writes on Linkedin. “It also requires half the budget and is halfway complete. This smaller game could also grow into an MMO over time, in the clever way Warframe has done.” This effectively sounds like the blue zones that have been a focus for development and testing, only as a standalone title.
The second option Street offers is to effectively turn Fantastic Pixel Castle into a studio-for-hire, offering leadership and development skills to other games studios who need help pushing their own releases over the finish line. “Ghost is my dream game but in these times one must be practical as well as a big dreamer,” Street concludes. Oof.
source: LinkedIn, thanks to Alessio for the tip!