By now, you may be slightly familiar with the name Stephen Calender, ex-programmer for NetDevil. A few weeks ago, I brought up his blog post in a Week in Review, that went into detail starting at the acquisition of Lego Universe by Lego (and subsequent layoffs) to the relationship between Gazillion and NetDevil and even advice on how to get hired in the industry. In his post, he also expressed his “frustration with fellow co-workers who primed the rumor machine,” dealing with how the media (including myself) managed to come across the news of the NetDevil layoffs before some of the people actually affected by the layoffs, thanks partially to the quick dissemination of details by laid off staff.
The next day I found an email from who else? Stephen Calender, with the hopes of explaining that his intention was not to “take a jab” (as I described it) at the media. So after a short back and forth, I saw this as an excellent opportunity for both of us, and requested an interview.
The interview is huge, so I’ve taken the liberty of hiding it behind the break.
I have to admit: Second free to play announcement of the day, yet not as exciting as the first. MMORPG.com is reporting that Lego Universe is set to go free to play this fall, although reading the announcement, the transition sounds more like calling Warhammer Online’s endless trial a free to play system.
The LEGO Universe free-to-play experience will offer a limited selection of game content, including two adventure zones and one player property area for building their own virtual LEGO models. Paying members will have access to all areas in the full game, along with membership benefits such as competitions and community events. In addition to the 15+ robust adventure zones and instances as well as 5+ property worlds currently in-game, access to new expansions, like major Ninjago content coming later this year, will require players to register for full membership.
Hopefully this will entice players to join up and subscriber. More information on an actual date when it is released. This move is likely related to the Lego team being sold by NetDevil back to Lego.
Lego Universe will no longer be maintained by NetDevil, as the game and development team have been bought up by Lego Team.
Jumpgate Evolution's future in question.
I love Lego, so I am perpetually looking for a reason to talk about NetDevil’s Lego Universe. It isn’t often that an IP holder takes direct stake in an MMO based off of their property, so the news comes as a surprise that the Lego Team has bought up the development team for Lego Universe, the MMO that launched last year. Lego Universe, for those of you who don’t remember, is a kids MMO that features many of the features of a standard game, but with the added ability to customize the aesthetic look of your creations.
We can speculate for hours as to why Lego Team bought the developers, and whether or not they felt the game’s future was in uncertain hands with NetDevil, but Gazillion’s (owns NetDevil) President David Brevik had this to say:
“The transition of members of our team to the LEGO Group allows us to conclude the work-for-hire segment of NetDevil’s business and lets us expand our internally-published, free-to-play game businesses based on our own properties and licensed properties. Gazillion is wholly focused on developing, operating, and publishing the next generation of browser-delivered games We’re proud of the LEGO Universe game that our team built, and we are certain that it has a bright future.”
My ideas? I think this has to do with the ongoing lawsuit headed by Codemasters against NetDevil over the developer not releasing Jumpgate Evolution in a timely manner. Either NetDevil is having money issues and sold the game and team, or Lego Team is concerned about the long term viability of the company and bought up the game. On the positive side, this means that customers of Lego Universe will keep their beloved game, and with the development team staying on board, this means no sudden major changes in development focus.
NetDevil is a subsidiary of Gazillion Entertainment, and known for the defunct MMO Auto Assault. The company has several MMOs currently in development, including the aforementioned Jumpgate Evolution, Marvel Universe, and Marvel Super Hero Squad Online.
MMO Fallout 