Mr. Subversive's Report On The Digital Anvil/ Chris Roberts/ Microsoft Tryst
posted at 9:11 AM on Monday, December 4th, 2000
Introduction
Continuing the quasi-drama that is Digital Anvil, Adrenaline Vault is reporting that Chris Roberts continues to be fired. In addition to him and Tony Zurovec, Chris’ brother Erin is also rumored to be leaving. No one actually knows for certain about any of this because everyone in a position to actually confirm the story is keeping their mouths closed tighter then a nun’s legs.
For those of you just tuning in to this, rumors sprung up last week on Daily Radar that Chris and Tony had been forced out by Microsoft. Microsoft has a long-term distribution deal with the Anvil that gives Microsoft some sort of say in matters like this, it seems. Since then, different gaming magazines, as well as yours truly, have tried to get some official comments from DA or MS only to be rebuffed.
No one seems completely certain how much this will affect the games Anvil is developing. The Vault is telling us that Freelancer, Anvil’s Massive Online Game, is either cancelled or being scaled back, probably to a simple Starlancer sequel at best. Their source/sources tell them that Chris was fighting for a game that needed technology beyond which was currently available. As far as anyone knows, this could have been the reason for his departure. Certainly there aren’t many explanations out there for this. The company had already released Starlancer to modest success and acclaim. It has two other games, Conquest and Loose Cannon, in the works as well.
If the rumors are true about Freelancer, it's certainly a shame. I was really looking forward to some space-based MMOG playing to relieve some pain from the corporate whipping sessions we have around here (Mr. Poppinfresh likes us motivated). With Privateer Online canned, that will leave me with nothing but Jumpgate to fill the void. Mind you, Jumpgate seems okay and all, but Freelancer was being made by the same man who brought us the original Privateer. Remember that game? It’s the one that made you look up from your computer and wonder where a week went. Yeah, that one.
With Freelancer, Roberts was promising us a lot. On the surface, things looked a lot like Privateer. You got a ship and played your way up to a better one. You could diversify: be a trader, a miner, a pirate, or a mercenary. Yet in this game, you’d be going up against other players, not predictable AIs. The Freelancer Universe had four houses, fighting for galactic domination. It promised a dynamically generated universe that changed with the players’ actions. It promised graphical excellence, with highly detailed vessels and recoiling turrets, nebulae that decorated space like stained church glass, and massive starships and fighters which could occupy an area by the dozens and battle each other out in immense fights. It was even implied that small capital ships could be purchased and piloted.
Before it seems like I’m overly fond of a game that doesn't yet exist, I’m not. The game did not promise everything. It was doubtful that you would be able to move around or generally interact with others outside of your ship, rather an impediment to MMOG socialization. Also, Anvil intended the game to be played single player first and foremost. It seemed that the Massive Online aspects were rather secondary in nature.
Another concern was one of graphics and technology. It seemed doubtful that Anvil could fully deliver everything they were promising. The game previewed at E3 to the press on a Pentium II 450 with a Riva TNT video card, which seemed to set at least the base standard. What we do know is that Freelancer promised capital ships, made of thousands of polygons, and interacting closely with one another. Not exactly a short graphical order. If this is indeed the reason that Freelancer went under, it would seem that either Roberts had pulled a Daikatana out of his hat or Microsoft just didn’t have the balls to see it through.
One thing that appears to be true is that Chris is no Derek Smart: a self-perceived genius in a realm of infidels. After all, he wasn’t the only one fired. If the cause of this turns out to be personality-related, then either the Anvil is most certainly split, deeply, or they got in over their heads with Microsoft and weren’t able to get back out.
Considering they just made an agreement with MS to distribute Conquest with another publisher, the latter seems like a viable a theory as any.
My sources have reported incidents of Richard Garriot pointing and laughing, while other sources show Gariott as sympathetic, offering to let Roberts stay at his castle.
Update on this story: Blue's News is reporting that Digital Anvil has been bought out by Microsoft and absorbed into the Microsoft Gaming division. Chris Roberts is still leaving the company, but will remain on for the completion of Freespace.
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