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What's happening to Beamdog?

Both Andrew, Amber, Mad Bee and now Dee have left Beamdog. Probably some more behind the scenes.
I am pretty sure I am not the only one who is starting to get a bit worried about the future of the company.

So, uhm ... what's going on?
Is everything alright with the studio?
I guess restructuring like this is a common thing in the industry, but given all the drama since the SoD release, things are looking rather dubious from the outside.

I am also worried, because some of the people who assured a strong connection between you and the community, so are you gonna get more distant from us? I hope not ...
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Comments

  • ButtercheeseButtercheese Member Posts: 3,766
    Andrew leaving hit me really hard as well. I flippin love that guy and his work. I just really hope his next project is gonna happen smoothly, can't wait to read his next comic. Nine hells, even if it's gonna be a novel or the likes I'd read it, despide my problems with the medium.
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  • NonnahswriterNonnahswriter Member Posts: 2,520
    Shandyr said:

    Yeah I was thinking about posting a similar topic as well.

    Also what I don't understand is this part that @Dee said:

    Dee said:


    What does this mean for the community? In the short term, it likely means less "blue" sightings--fewer posts from the developers themselves.

    So in addition to Dee's departure - the other developers will post less often on the forum?
    Why? What does that have to do with anything?
    I hope it doesn't mean they'll stop chatting with us and do the corporate thing of putting up a wall of silence between themselves and the fans, but...
  • DoubledimasDoubledimas Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 1,286
    Well, there goes my simple idea out of the window, unless @JuliusBorisov picks up the torch.

    Although I highly doubt that we won't get any more support in the form of patches and stuff, I do find it troubling, especially as communication hasn't been the strong suit of Beamdog throughout the years. Dee was, as @thedamages already said, by far the most active in keeping us somewhat updated and keep the conversation going. You only have to look at the UI discussion and see what an added value for the community he was.
  • CahirCahir Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,819
    edited August 2016
    Here are my concerns:
    - SoD was heavily criticized for a bad writing (I'm passing over the fact whether it's been justified or not) and suddenly Amber and Andrew left the company
    - SoD was also even more heavily criticized for sloppy UI design - and surprise surprise, Mad Bee has also left the the company. Well, I'm not sure if Mad Bee was in fact responsible for UI design, but I have a feeling that she was.
    - not sure how @Dee fits into this scenario, but well... he's gone now too :(

    I have a bad feeling that it could all be an outcome of a poor SoD sales... Please, let someone put me right on this.

    EDIT: I hope Trent was not went berserk or something :p
  • shawneshawne Member Posts: 3,239
    Cahir said:

    Here are my concerns:
    - SoD was heavily criticized for a bad writing (I'm passing over the fact whether it's been justified or not) and suddenly Amber and Andrew left the company
    - SoD was also even more heavily criticized for sloppy UI design - and surprise surprise, Mad Bee has also left the the company. Well, I'm not sure if Mad Bee was in fact responsible for UI design, but I have a feeling that she was.
    - not sure how @Dee fits into this scenario, but well... he's gone now too :(

    I have a bad feeling that it could all be an outcome of a poor SoD sales... Please, let someone put me right on this.

    No hard facts here, but if you take the criticism at face value, I suppose the more optimistic interpretation of these events is that Amateur Night is finally over, and Beamdog is on the verge of getting its sh*t together and leveling up.
  • kanisathakanisatha Member Posts: 1,308
    Thanks, @Buttercheese. I'll add my name to the list of people who were about to start a thread on this topic.

    I think it would be nice if someone high up at Beamdog, perhaps Trent himself since we know he visits these forums, posted a note of reassurance. I can appreciate not providing too many details, but at least something to let us know the next big shoe isn't about to drop.
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    Well reading between the lines, @Dee knew he was leaving since May. That is when @Bengoshi posted he was excited, and Dee followed up, by saying he was excited too. So it wasn't a sudden thing.

    It could have been a contract not being renewed as the resources weren't there to do so, but when your entire communications team leaves roughly at the same time, t doesn't bode well, especially when they are cancelling appearances at conferences.

    hopefully, this is a little blip and @TrentOster has a plan and vision to see through it.
  • DoubledimasDoubledimas Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 1,286
    edited August 2016


    For example, I will deliver Road-tested badges to everyone as soon as a small transition period is over.

    Very small transition period indeed ;)

    Also, you might want to rephrase your last sentence in your last post here. It reads as if Trent doesn't has a plan ;).
  • CahirCahir Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,819


    For example, I will deliver Road-tested badges to everyone as soon as a small transition period is over.

    Very small transition period indeed ;)

    Also, you might want to rephrase your last sentence in your last post here. It reads as if Trent doesn't has a plan ;).
    Sitting comfortably before PC and grabbing a beer don't take long :p
  • ajwzajwz Member Posts: 4,122
    I just got what appears to be a new forum badge so clearly something is happening, even if it means that beamdog is moving into the badge making industry.

    On a serious note, I expect we will hear about potential new patches or projects fairly close to their release date (a few months say) rather than seasons or years in advance
  • SilverstarSilverstar Member Posts: 2,207
    Huh. News to me. No idea who Mad Bee was though. But if Amber's gone then a lack of communication makes sense as she was in charge of PR I believe (the weblog and official statements and stuff) and Dee was kinda their face on the forums as we all know. Downsizing of an allready small company is troubling, but if I understand things correctly from Oster (and JuliusBorisov which it just dawned on me is Bengoshi :O ) there, we don't have anything to actually worry about. Of course they would tell us not to worry regardless, but they're typically quite an honest bunch.
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    May I ask you a quite noobish question? How do you manage the financial part in a modest game company such as Beamdog? Do you pay devs upfront? Is profit expected to drop by within a semester? A year? Do they subscribe for events and such?
  • catsarekacampcatsarekacamp Member Posts: 52
    I dunno. With a savaged first original product, nonexistent Collector's Edition for how long now (lots of excuses though)? Nonexistent Android port, "maybe someday" IOS port, employees bailing, nearly nonexistent company communication might go to completely nonexistent company communication, I think paying fans have a right to be very concerned.

    Of course any rep is suddenly going to say "Nothing to see here, everyone move along, everything is wonderful and on track." And maybe that's absolutely right - I certainly hope it is. Of course you see things on your end that we don't. But your products are in trouble right now, at least in the eyes of the consumer, and some massive levels of communication, quickly and consistently, are going to be key.
  • lvdisturbed1lvdisturbed1 Member Posts: 20
    Ugh, the fact that Android is still stuck at 1.3 is unsettling. Perhaps the Android ports didn't sell well enough to warrant any serious attention. Or maybe they have 1 person coding and optimizing them. It seems Beamdog has been busy behind the curtains. A new project seems to be underway, and Trent mentioned indie licensing for the consoles. Perhaps in all this, Android just got thrown on the backburner. Android has always seemed to be Beamdog's red-headed stepchild anyway so I guess it is fitting. It would probably be best if they just admitted it already. At least then the sting of disappointment would be lessened.

    *Sigh* I suppose I'll go have a Snickers now.
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    DJKajuru said:

    May I ask you a quite noobish question? How do you manage the financial part in a modest game company such as Beamdog? Do you pay devs upfront? Is profit expected to drop by within a semester? A year? Do they subscribe for events and such?

    Financial backing.

    A bank or other company will give them money upfront to pay for the production, in return, they pay back the loan with interest, or with a cut of the profits.
  • FardragonFardragon Member Posts: 4,511

    Ugh, the fact that Android is still stuck at 1.3 is unsettling. Perhaps the Android ports didn't sell well enough to warrant any serious attention. Or maybe they have 1 person coding and optimizing them. It seems Beamdog has been busy behind the curtains. A new project seems to be underway, and Trent mentioned indie licensing for the consoles. Perhaps in all this, Android just got thrown on the backburner. Android has always seemed to be Beamdog's red-headed stepchild anyway so I guess it is fitting. It would probably be best if they just admitted it already. At least then the sting of disappointment would be lessened.

    *Sigh* I suppose I'll go have a Snickers now.

    Nope, the iOS verion is delayed as well. I think it's purely technical - BG + SoD is proving simply too big for phones/tablets, and without SoD it's too expensive to push the update. I think they are frantically, frantically trying to get it to work.
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