BIS broken with CODEMASTERS?

[DFP-Tim]

I didn't found a topic about this subject, so I started one.
You probally all know that BIS and CODEMASTERS have split. codies won't publish any flashpoint titles, and BIS won't be able to use the name operation flashpoint in their next games. what do you think about it? My opinion is that it's not bad that codies and bis split, codemasters would only bring the lever of ofp down. but it's not fun that they have the rights about the game. And the codies are currently in shit i think, they lost some games, stopped releasing games and they are not present at E3.

greetz

[Swatdog]

Actually, they are present at E3. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif

[theavonlady]

Actually, they are present at E3. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif
But is Marek wearing CM's diamond ring? http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif

[Mellis]

Would actully see Bohemia do publish the upcoming titles them self, So they will be easier to release patch/server files or other kind of stuff related to the games, so thay don't need to wait for authoraztion.

[.pablo.]

does anyone know why they split?

[Evishion]

dont think there is offical news that they have yet.... http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif

[Garcia]

if they split, it only shows that CM are stupid f***s...and would be good if BIS published the game themself...only bad thing (if they split) is that they gotta change the name.

[void_false]

Lets help BIS buy CM. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif

[colossus]

Lets help BIS buy CM. ***http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif
What for? The company is useless, you should know that by now http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif

[DFP-Tim]

Let's help BIS by never buying a new codemasters game ;).

Garcia and others, it's sure that they split, look at the end of the xbox press release...

* OPERATION FLASHPOINT IS THE US REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF CODEMASTER SOFTWARE COMPANY LTD. THE ORIGINAL PRODUCTS MENTIONED ARE SOLD AND DISTRIBUTED BY BOHEMIA INTERACTIVE STUDIO S.R.O., WHICH IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH, AUTHORIZED BY OR RELATED TO THE TRADEMARK OWNER.[B]


..... i think that's clear enough lol ;)

[shinRaiden]

Lets help BIS buy CM. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif
With the BIS a.s. joint-stock corp, both parts of that idea are now theoretically doable, just need the real or leveraged market capitalization... http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/blues.gif

[MattXR]

No lets help BIS buy the OFP name so they can continue with such a great title lol

[DFP-Tim]

indeed matt, that would be a good ide...
but there are other ways to get the name back...

(ps: You know who I am matty, we played allot to gether a year ago or something ;), don't know if I got you still in msn)

[granQ]

So what..

Operation flashpoint 2..

isnt a good name, infact it sucks, sounds like a crap sequel like:
delta force II, half-life 2, Scream 2, I still know what you did last summer..


Flashpoint 2

So much fresher, its neat, its so simpel its a beauty, and CM doesnt have that protected (what i know)..


when it comes to distrubution, when the game is done someone will most likely take care of that without problem.

I wonder is there any good distrubation company, like a Codemasters, EA, Ubisoft but it doesnt do a shit with the game, it doesnt buy the rights or anything.. all they do is to sell the game to stores and do the marketing and stuff?

Anyone intrested on starting a company.. because I see a need for those independet game dev's..

[Evishion]

Operation Flashpoint 2 is a GOOD name http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/mad_o.gif

[InqWiper]

I think the only bad part is the name change but I think we can live with that. Everything else is probably better http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif

[Heatseeker]

I dont know...OPF could have used better advertising but it was BIS first game and distribution and stuff was good, and even if CM isnt in a very good shape it is still a well known publisher of decent games.
Now for BIS to become a worldwide publisher would be very risky, i mean if they were able to publish their own games it would be alot more profitable but think about advertising, manufactoring, distribution, were talking millions here right http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/rock.gif . Seems like a very daring and even greedy move that could result in a catastrophy, now think about other publishers and we either got small budget game ones or the big, greedy monsters like EA, UBI, etc.
I think its a shame if things really are going bad betwean BIS and CM, maybe CM will still publish OPF2 but not armed assault or the xbox opf, anyway im hoping for the best..

[shinRaiden]

No-no, grander conspiricies than that... BIS does what distro they can with Xbox and Armed Assault, then stuffs that revenue into the Cenega holding corp and does any number of the following items...

* Buy's Krk outright and turns the north half into a uber-Silicon Valley/MegaResort and the south half into the premier NATO/EU version of the NTC. Hires the bulk of the community to be OPFOR and content dev's, mod's serve drinks all day. Howitzers actually work 'in-game'

* Buy's a random number of Romanian and Ukrainian CD/DVD pirate presses, turns them into distro warehouses, gets a fat bounty from the RIAA/MPAA/Microsoft in the process, and get's their infrastructure.

* Partners with Google Games and crushes Steam for all time. There's your online infrastructure with Google trying to corner the market on dark fiber.

* Buy's Eidos, Codemasters, and Vivendi, releases TombRaider X : Amsterdam Adventures then fires the staff except for the Commandos team and sends the CM crew out to herd goats in the Falklands. Vivendi's easy, they're french so they must be Iraqi collaborators. Blame them for something then fire 'em all. Keep all their channel partners and shippers and reseller info of course.

* Bundles director cuts of Gunner's Palace with a desert warfare addon pack, charging more money for another nickel DVD.

* Funds R&D as a founding partner of both UN Spacey and UAC.

Am I nuts? Well ralphies on his munchies, but we've all should have learned by now that what ever you do, do not under estimate the power of the Dark Side of the Spanel brothers.

ok, back to the cave I go now.

[4 IN 1]

No-no, grander conspiricies than that... BIS does what distro they can with Xbox and Armed Assault, then stuffs that revenue into the Cenega holding corp and does any number of the following items...

* Buy's Krk outright and turns the north half into a uber-Silicon Valley/MegaResort and the south half into the premier NATO/EU version of the NTC. Hires the bulk of the community to be OPFOR and content dev's, mod's serve drinks all day. Howitzers actually work 'in-game'

* Buy's a random number of Romanian and Ukrainian CD/DVD pirate presses, turns them into distro warehouses, gets a fat bounty from the RIAA/MPAA/Microsoft in the process, and get's their infrastructure.

* Partners with Google Games and crushes Steam for all time. There's your online infrastructure with Google trying to corner the market on dark fiber.

* Buy's Eidos, Codemasters, and Vivendi, releases TombRaider X : Amsterdam Adventures then fires the staff except for the Commandos team and sends the CM crew out to herd goats in the Falklands. Vivendi's easy, they're french so they must be Iraqi collaborators. Blame them for something then fire 'em all. Keep all their channel partners and shippers and reseller info of course.

* Bundles director cuts of Gunner's Palace with a desert warfare addon pack, charging more money for another nickel DVD.

* Funds R&D as a founding partner of both UN Spacey and UAC.

Am I nuts? Well ralphies on his munchies, but we've all should have learned by now that what ever you do, do not under estimate the power of the Dark Side of the Spanel brothers.

ok, back to the cave I go now.
shinRaiden comes here to save world gamer's day? http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/biggrin_o.gif

oh BTW you forgot to tell us how to due with EA?

how about buying Maxis aswell?

[shinRaiden]

Will Wright's a genius, but integrating multiple geniuses on a project who have radically diverse long-range visions is rather dangerous. Maxis would be a good farm though.

EA's different, you don't play dice with the Spawn Lord of Satan. You have others do your dirty work for you. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif Copy M$'s approach with SCO and payoff a bunch of lawyers to class-action them for outsourcing, abusive labor practices, troll their financials and rat everything to the SEC, rattle the stockholders, start an guerilla insurgency (plenty of volunteers from here I assume) ad campaign and swamp them. Get the stockholders to panic, that squeezes EA, who then pressures the devs who make mistakes and miss deadlines. EA calls for crunch time, lawyers step in, rinse, lather, repeat.

Bring in congress to pass some uninformed laws that cracks down on abusive work practices in the entertainment industry, then slap them with anti-outsourcing laws when they ship the devs out to Pakistan. A sure win politically. Then bribe the Europeons with preferential trade agreements for new startups from the 'under-privileged' Eastern Europe.

This puts EA's stock in a tailspin, chaos reigns, sports leagues panic but still demand license revenue, gamers riot, and BIS is out in the parking lot with sacks of money to hire away dev's leaving the building.

World Domination Stage Two... Complete. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif

Next... The Sony and Apple Hydra...

[kavoven]

BIS should take the money they'll earn with AA and OFP:XBOX and buy the name OFP back from CM http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif

@shinRaiden
If that what i've written is not the case, then we just take our field experience *ehem* and invade the CM HQ, I think there are enough people here to do that!
http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/biggrin_o.gif

[4 IN 1]

BIS should take the money they'll earn with AA and OFP:XBOX and buy the name OFP back from CM http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif

@shinRaiden
If that what i've written is not the case, then we just take our field experience *ehem* and invade the CM HQ, I think there are enough people here to do that!
http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/biggrin_o.gif
http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/biggrin_o.gif

@shinRaiden
now thats sounds like a plan, and the good thing is, we wont need to get our hands wet http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif ***http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif

[theavonlady]

From the bottom of the AA site's homepage:

Quote[/b] ]THE ORIGINAL PRODUCTS ADVERTISED ON THIS WEBSITE ARE SOLD AND DISTRIBUTED BY BOHEMIA INTERACTIVE STUDIO S.R.O., WHICH IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH, AUTHORIZED BY OR RELATED TO THE TRADEMARK OWNER.

[Cozza]

Look on the good side. In ten years people will be paying hundred to get a game named Operation Flashpoint http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif

[Mr_Tea]

Now BIS is free to make "OFP2" like they want, and they can wait with the release until it`s realy ready for release.

What the hell (sorry) will Codemasters do with the rights on the name Operation Flashpoint 2? When they release such title with BIS was not involved, then we all know what they want to sell. And I don`t think that we want that game. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/mad_o.gif
If Operation Flashpoint 2 is not developed by BIS, then the rights on the name are worth absolutely nothing. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/crazy_o.gif

[shinRaiden]

"sore loser camping" is a tried and true tactic of spawn-camping publishers, best thwarted by end-runs.

[Swatdog]

Would actully see Bohemia do publish the upcoming titles them self, So they will be easier to release patch/server files or other kind of stuff related to the games, so thay don't need to wait for authoraztion.
It would be SO much more expensive if they were to publish it themselves. Think about it, mass pressing machines, paying for new employees to do the work, etc... It may be better in the short run, but defiantly not in the long run.

My thoughts on BIS and Codemasters splitting:
I think it's a good move on BIS's part. I was never a fan of Codemasters. I believe they would rip developers off, and it takes them such a long time to release games to major countries like the USA and Canada, as opposed to European countries.

If I were Codemasters, I would be SO upset because with BIS releasing 3 new games within the next year and a half that are guaranteed massive popularity and results, I would be missing out on MILLIONS of dollars. But hell, they deserve it IMO.

Good move, BIS. Not so good move, Codemasters!

[Noon416 (OFPEC)]

The biggest issue I see will be the structure of fan-sites that support both (or all three) games.

Depending on how hard CM chases the community about their trademark, sites labelled "Operation Flashpoint something" will not be able to carry the "Armed Assault" or "Whatever OFP2 is called" content as well in their site branding.

So sites will either:
- Become generalised sites supporting all three but using none of them in the site names/branding; or,
- Split their content and have two visibly seperate sites, one supporting OFP and the other supporting BIS's other games; or,
- Will stop supporting OFP altogether and start supporting BIS's new games exclusively; or last but not least,
- Won't support BIS's new games and will stay supporting OFP only.

Either way, the structure of the sites in the community is going to experience a "shake-up"...

[granQ]

so you mean if there is some car site out there that writes about volvo and let say... BMW, they would go crasy if both cars was named on same site??

i dont think so

[Noon416 (OFPEC)]

Depending on how hard CM chases the community about their trademark...
Re-quoting the point you completely missed... http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif

[Ex-RoNiN]

The biggest issue I see will be the structure of fan-sites that support both (or all three) games.

Depending on how hard CM chases the community about their trademark, sites labelled "Operation Flashpoint something" will not be able to carry the "Armed Assault" or "Whatever OFP2 is called" content as well in their site branding.

So sites will either:
- Become generalised sites supporting all three but using none of them in the site names/branding; or,
- Split their content and have two visibly seperate sites, one supporting OFP and the other supporting BIS's other games; or,
- Will stop supporting OFP altogether and start supporting BIS's new games exclusively; or last but not least,
- Won't support BIS's new games and will stay supporting OFP only.

Either way, the structure of the sites in the community is going to experience a "shake-up"...
There are plenty of gaming websites that cater for rivelling products (Clanwars, Jolt) and these aren't even community websites, they are paid services. So I really doubt anything of the sort will happen.

[Cozza]

The biggest issue I see will be the structure of fan-sites that support both (or all three) games.

Depending on how hard CM chases the community about their trademark, sites labelled "Operation Flashpoint something" will not be able to carry the "Armed Assault" or "Whatever OFP2 is called" content as well in their site branding.

So sites will either:
- Become generalised sites supporting all three but using none of them in the site names/branding; or,
- Split their content and have two visibly seperate sites, one supporting OFP and the other supporting BIS's other games; or,
- Will stop supporting OFP altogether and start supporting BIS's new games exclusively; or last but not least,
- Won't support BIS's new games and will stay supporting OFP only.

Either way, the structure of the sites in the community is going to experience a "shake-up"...
Yeah. AAEC dosnt have a ring to it ***http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/sad_o.gif
*** *** *** *** AA CZ dosnt ether
niether does AAbase.com

[WargamingNor]

I have already had a lenghty discussion with myself concerning my website (Flashpoint2source).

The outcome will probably be that I register a new domain, set up a new site dedicated to the 3 new BIS games... but keep some general info on the "old" OFP games - and still have news and info on VBS1.

Flashpoint2source will probably be closed down after a while... unless Codies really pulls off a big one with OFP 2 (which I doubt...but...). My heart is with BIS and not Codies.

(Ok...I can't contain myself... I have already registered a domain name for the new site http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif stay tuned for an official announcement from me in the near future)

[Eda Mrcoch]

This is propably irrelevant for most of you out there, but Cenega (the publisher of OFp in Middle/Easter Europe [Poland, Czech rep. etc] closely tied to BIS) has been bought by major Russian publisher C1.

I just imagined what it would be if Flashpoint 2 was released only in Eastern Europe. :evilslavicsmile:

[Garcia]

Hmm, Codemasters claim they are gonna publish OFP2.

At least that's what the community officer posted at their forums.

[SomeRandomOtherPerson]

yes here:


Quote[/b] ]Operation Flashpoint 2 will be published by us and will not be a dumbed down arcade shooter as many fear. Flashpoint stands for military sim gaming and veering off that track is something we don't plan on doing.
There are indeed many plans for the Flashpoint Community, of which I know you will all be excited by.
Alas I can't say much more yet, so keep your eyes peeled and your ears open.....

very confusing... http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/crazy_o.gif

[[ASO] Farandir]

well, even if they're gonna publish some game with the title OFP2, whatever BIS has in the making will be the true sequel to our beloved OFP!!!

but i'd like to have some clarity in this, too.

[Hockey112]

Will Wright's a genius, but integrating multiple geniuses on a project who have radically diverse long-range visions is rather dangerous. Maxis would be a good farm though.
*OFFTOPIC*

While your at it, why not implement the features of the sims in ofp? :P like a couple of new features for the civilian side. haha.

[kavoven]

If that what CM wants to publish isn't the real OFP 2, I would become really angry, because that's somehow .... can't find the words.... http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/sad_o.gif

[shinRaiden]

This is propably irrelevant for most of you out there, but Cenega (the publisher of OFp in Middle/Easter Europe [Poland, Czech rep. etc] closely tied to BIS) has been bought by major Russian publisher C1.

I just imagined what it would be if Flashpoint 2 was released only in Eastern Europe. :evilslavicsmile:
Which Cenega? Links? I count 4 distributors plus a publisher under the parent holding corp.

-edit-

www.ferrago.com (http://www.ferrago.com/story/5780)


Quote[/b] ]
Bohemia split with Codemasters, Operation Flashpoint's original publishers, a while back so legal issues meant that a change of branding was in order.


http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/rock.gif

Xbox (http://www.bistudio.com/presspages/xboxpressrelease.html)
Armed Assault (http://www.bistudio.com/presspages/aapressrelease.html)
PC (2) (http://www.bistudio.com/presspages/pcpressrelease.html)


Quote[/b] ]
* OPERATION FLASHPOINT IS THE US REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF CODEMASTER SOFTWARE COMPANY LTD. THE ORIGINAL PRODUCTS MENTIONED ARE SOLD AND DISTRIBUTED BY BOHEMIA INTERACTIVE STUDIO S.R.O., WHICH IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH, AUTHORIZED BY OR RELATED TO THE TRADEMARK OWNER.


So what did we miss, and when? Last time there was any rumbles was when there were rumors of Ubisoft looking to buy out CM. Thought that was just rumors, no fallout.

But from CM... (http://community.codemasters.com/forum/showthread.php?p=694168#post69416)


Quote[/b] ]
Operation Flashpoint 2 will be published by us and will not be a dumbed down arcade shooter as many fear. Flashpoint stands for military sim gaming and veering off that track is something we don't plan on doing.
There are indeed many plans for the Flashpoint Community, of which I know you will all be excited by.
Alas I can't say much more yet, so keep your eyes peeled and your ears open.....
...

Miker_CLO
Community Liaison Officer
Action/Strategy Games
Codemasters


Well my eyes and ears are open I think, and what I'm seeing is absolute silence from BIS regarding them developing "Operation Flashpoint" branded material. They're even taking great pains to make legal distance, which is not usually a sign of a cozy relationship with a publisher.

On the other hand, we knew BIS was in the process of making a next generation PC game and an intermediate Xbox game. Well now we see something fitting those profiles, but BIS is staying "arms length" from the brand name. Of course you could make the vague remote theory that this is a product line mirroring the Flashpoint line, but what sense is there in making reboxed versions of essentially the same thing?

Pretty much the only news of late out of Codemasters is how they effectively got bought out by a venture capital firm (40% has a bit of clout I would think, especially when you've already got the intial shares farmed around). Secondly, the CM boss was 'promoted' to Chief Creative Officer. Riiiight. A new CEO and COO got brought in from outside, two survivors from the Acclaim train wreck. That and they came in at the same time the money did too. You would think that money would equal increased game dev, but now BIS is doing their own thing? More befuddling confusion.

Unlike the stock OFP smoke grenades, this one has so far befuddled my AI search-bots. I'm at a loss here trying to connect the dots over here with the dots over there. Unfortunately, it's probably a little too late to call up Gamespot et al (they owe BIS big time now http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif pwn'd in public too) and have them go over to CM's booth and grill them back and forth with BIS.

Might be an option for post-E3 followups, as they say on TV, "The truth is out there"... http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/crazy_o.gif

[[ASO] Farandir]

CM couldn't have been grilled at E3 'cause AFAIK they weren't even there.

Well, since there wasn't any statement about the splitting of BIS and CM explaining why etc. we can only guess what the cause was. Now it seems like CM wants to make profit out of the name they own. Seems quite naturally since they must have paid at least some money for it... but if there comes any good out of it........... http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/rock.gif After BIS showing pictures etc. at E3, if CM wants to do anything that is noticed by the community, they should show something soon.

we will stay loyal to BIS anyway, that's for sure.

[JdB]

@ May 20 2005,17:34)]
Quote[/b] ]
There are indeed many plans for the Flashpoint Community, of which I know you will all be excited by.

If they choose to work with any developer other than Bohemia Interactive Studios for OFP2, than there won't be a ''Flashpoint Community for them to have plans with as far as I am concerned http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif

[Eda Mrcoch]

Which Cenega? Links? I count 4 distributors plus a publisher under the parent holding corp.
Cenega Distribution Group and Cenega Publishing (that practically means the whole holding).

I mistyped the company name, it is called 1C

http://www.gamershell.com/companies/1c/227817.html

[d034rk]

It wouldn't be irrational to assume that Cenega is going to publish the game in Western Europe. The Czech Republic for example even borders on Germany so why should there be a hurdle?

[kavoven]

@ May 20 2005,17:34)]
Quote[/b] ]
There are indeed many plans for the Flashpoint Community, of which I know you will all be excited by.

If they choose to work with any developer other than Bohemia Interactive Studios for OFP2, than there won't be a ''Flashpoint Community for them to have plans with as far as I am concerned http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif
Exactly

[shinRaiden]

Well the 1C deal should help nicely, they did the Russian publishing of the RES pack and they've got a lot of experience and size from other projects. That will help a lot in markets that have been underappreciated by western publishers, a very interesting move by the powers that be.

Not seeing a whole lot of details yet, mainly because this is still the announcement state and the documents haven't trickled into the online disclosure systems yet. That and I haven't found the background on the dutch Cenega holding firm yet. (All public records btw.) But the announcement posted above is sufficently vague enough to leave lots of questions unanswered.

What this deal is not helping (or hindering) is the US and elsewhere distribution. Go into a Gamestop, Bestbuy, or Walmart and ask if they have any Cenega games. They know of BIS - if you mention Flashpoint.

As for Codemasters though, same goes for what everyone else has said. If they try to pull off an OFP2 without BIS, they're missing the entire reason for the name, the reputation, and the success of the franchise.

[redface]

a "roundtable discussion" got published on ofpec, mainly about the publisher question.

It's not that you actually get married to a publisher, this is mainly about trademark and distribution rights. And the situation has changed alot since 2001. Back then, development studios would propose concepts to publishers, and the publisher would then cofinance the actual development (Red Hammer being a good example of that). Nowadays a publisher is just a publisher. Also the internet has changed: a good webshop can save you the detour, no? (see VBS) Also CM is no longer what it used to be. Nowadays it is mainly present by means of budget titles and weird concept games (actually, OFP might fit into that niche too http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif )

[gonk]

What is the exact purpose of a Publisher? Because OFP got game of the year and most people I know have never even heard of the game but they have heard of Half Life.

SO when I show people the game (even now) they go out and buy it. I have been able to get 8 people to buy it this way. Are the publishers in charge of advertising?

Also who released the Classic version of the game to be OFP but not Resistance? That is annoying. Most people have to back order the product as the usual outlets stock the so called "Classic Version" of OFP ...but not the GOTY Resistance version.

This does not seem to be the most efficient way to maximise the return of a product.

Is it then possible for BIS to be the Publisher and sell the product only on-line? I.e. let you download it but not let you play it without a key/activation. This is one area I agree with activation is when you do not receive a disc and download the entire product from the net. Before everyone starts saying that it would be too much data for everyone. They should allow you to download it and burn it to DVD for other people to install (and backup) but then they have to buy the key/activation from off the net. Might be the way of the future and a way to stopping large companies syphoning off small programming companies hard earned cash. Maybe even get a PC mag to supply it as a cover disc for people with out a good connection (or friends) to the net.

It might speed up the process for the end-user....

Just a thought.

http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif

[WhoCares]

Maybe BIS distributes Armed Assault as a digital download version on their own, w/o boxes in the shelves. In this case they wouldn't need the big Codemasters overhead and could go with a smaller specilized partner instead.

And Codermasters is back on board for the big OFP2 distribution.

[shinRaiden]

This is how publishers 'normally' work...

A dev studio drafts an idea, maybe puts together a little tech demo, then takes it around to (supposedly) mega-corp's with buckets of money. "Rio Grande" and "Dawn of Flashpoint" are exhibits A and B respectively.

A business proposal is also included, involving who is going to make the product, how they are going to make it, and when they are going to have it done by, generally timed to meet a designated holiday market.

The publisher will then - if interested - present a counter-offer, demanding the first-born children of all the Dev Studio's people, 95% of the gross revenue, exclusive copyrights, trademarks, and IP ownership to the brand name and data, in exchange for the following minor considerations...

A) Multi-year financing.
B) Internatational marketing and spreading of FUD/Spam.
C) Packaging and disc pressing.
D) Technical writing of obtuse user manuals.
E) Product channel distribution.

BIS is in a rather unique situation where they already owned a lot of the dev and material from the aborted relationships prior to CM. Unfortunately they weren't able to hold on to the Operation Flashpoint name in the US in the deal brokering.

Online distribution systems like Steam are a novel way to reduce C and E, but they do not eliminate it. There's Standees to be made, shippers to be contracted, obscure legalese drafted in a multitude of languages, slaves to be pressed into stuffing boxes, beta testers abused, fanboys fed with non-commited vagurities, etc.

[kavoven]

I don't think online publishing is good for BIS, because OFP has disappered out of many minds anf in the actual situation, only members of the community would know AA and buy it... http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/sad_o.gif

Although I'm for this system, because pubisheners are in most cases toxic for the developers, and so they can decide when they release their game. The whole money goes back to them and they can maintain support for a long period of time. I guess that would make the games much betteer with less bugs http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif

[SpecOp9]

BIS should look into Ubisoft, or they could Publish their own games :P

[ebns72]

This is BS. According to the article at ofp.info (http://www.ofp.info), CM will publish a game called "Operation flashpoint 2" SEPARATE from the current BIS sequal. This angers me quite a bit...so basically it seems they have dumped BIS and are trying to profit off the name. This is going to cause a lot of problems and community division if it is true, and who knows what the game will turn out to be. If OFP2 is developed by a different studio, what changes will this sequel bring? Will it just be a prettier ofp or will it truly complete with BIS's title for the changes we have been looking for?

Discuss here. (http://www.flashpoint1985.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard311/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST&f=56&t=46578&st=&&#entry738032)

[Acecombat]

Operation Flashpoint fans are hardcore military fans....they are the people that love realism, decent core gameplay and an involving storyline....we know that. Now to make a BF42 clone for the Flashpoint community which has built up over the lat 5 years would be the most inappropriate thing a company could do, plus insulting to top it off. Flashpoint 2 will be a Flashpoint game for Flashpoint fans, period.

We want to bring the game on to the next generation of realism and immersiveness. We have alot of feedback from the community about what they want to see in the game and this has been incorporated in our Design and Development process and we will deliver on the promise.

I personally cannot comment on the BIS game and won't start a playground argument about it. I have a good relationship with Placebo and wish to maintain that.

http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/rock.gif

Yeah right who gave them feedback? We only give/post feedback here and the forum is BIS's not Codies. Who are they to steal this franchise and use the credibility built by BIS's workers. OFP was BIS's vision their work not yours , you just did the donkey work of publishing it.

I for one boycott this game or plaguirazied (sp) whatever it turns out to be for sure.

[twisted]

lol. if they can make a game as good as ofp2 is gonna be then i'll buy it. I'll also get BIS next-tactical-game-as-yet-to-be-named-but-we-all-know-its-the-real-ofp2 game.

its WIN-WIN for consumers. a bit maddeining for BIS im sure tho... imagine someone took your name and used it to make money. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/crazy_o.gif

[Silent N Deadly]

Codemaster pisses me off really bad, basiclly they will just create a new game, with new Dev. called OFP2. I have extreme doubts that I will EVER buy anything without BIS trademark (OFP related). Codemasters is using the name to fool people and get them to buy OFP2, they care shit about community and are just after money. This angers me, and I agree totally with what Lt. Hunter said. I can't believe they would do this. BIS should just ignore those assholes, and keep moving forward, some of the stuff they have planned is AMAZING, just read the articles published (I saw a really good one, ill get the link later). Im buying BIS stuff, and shame on Codemaster. They'll never get OFP fans...i rather die! :P http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/mad_o.gif

[colossus]

Yeah, people will get confused http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/sad_o.gif
I tried to explane this to a friend of my and he got confused when I told him that OFP2 isn't the OFP he knew about.
The positive thing about that talk is that he also hate Codi now. ***http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif

Anyway, I think BIS and/or the community could have bought the name if we had the money. I really don't want to lose the name now.

[Morbid Angel]

Well... first of all hi y'all and thx to placebo for sorting my activation problems http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif

Its not that I hate CM for splitting with BIS... I think we all have way too little insight on what went on behind the scenes.
And well... from a marketing point of view, it makes perfect sense for CM to keep the name OFP. At the end of the day, its an industry which wants to make money out of the games being released. So far... so good? NO!

SHAME on Codemasters for never telling the community what went on. That is actually bugging me to no end. We had to read an official press release by BIS to start GUESSING what happened. That is just outrageous.
If it hadn't been for the press release, we would all still think that over on the Codemasters forums, the game they talk about there is being developed by BIS still.
That is total disrespect towards a unique community that still keeps the initial game alive with utter passion and dedication, towards ppl like me and many others who to this very day talk ppl into buying a copy thus filling some pockets out there.

The info we got on OFP 2 was for the longest time only the odd new release date... then suddenly all hell breaks loose.
So to just add a little more to the ongoing conspiracy theories - maybe CM and BIS parted ways long ago already and the delays came from CM's new croonies having to start from scratch?
Who knows?

Funny thing is - while CM are only doing the talk atm, BIS does the walk with 2 games for PC and one for Xbox in the pipe. And first of all Armed Assault is gonna keep me entertained until "Game2" comes out for sure, and that new game looks and sounds so awesome that, had I only seen a features list for it without previews, I woulda been like: "Yah right, keep dreaming ^^!"
So once that game hits, until proven wrong, I believe that CM's OFP2 is gonna look like a sad excuse next to it.

So I hope the publisher situation clarifies soonish, which HOWEVER makes me think a little ...
CM hasn't said anything about WHO the devs for their game are ... neither has any BIS official clarified the Codie situation yet.
How about CM and BIS are currently negotiating a new deal? Its a possibility at least.

Then again, Zzzzz's post on the CM forums makes me believe its in deed over. Now ... it just doesn't make me believe in CM. Wouldn't be the first time that promises aren't being lived up to.
So to sum it up - this whole mess could have been avoided b4 it even started... just one side would have had to step out of their corner and say something about it.

So all in all - keep up the good work BIS and find yourself a decent partner, you deserve it.
As for CM - prove to me that any game labelled OFP without BIS being involved might be anything I would remotely consider buying.
But we'll see about that - if its good I am getting it for sure, and eventually will own both titles.

[gabgab]

I think it's time for a united artists in game publishing and developing. BIS and other independent developers should get together and publish their games without CM, EA, VU and all the other bigshots.

The time has come for a decent publisher that releases only the quality stuff leaving the creative decisions to developers and concentrating only on publishing (that and ONLY that is their job, nothing more, nothing less).

I'm really fed up with all this bad politics and missbehaviour coming from the big publishers lately.
What comes out in the end? Bad games, hundreds of cheap sequels and bankrupted developers.

I say - NO MORE !

[manhunter09]

I say lets all boycott the bladdy thing! Let codem see what we think of this whole mess.. I cannot believe this is really happening, ANOTHER dumb little kids, lets shoot everything up wargame in the making...

Battlefield Flashpoint http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/mad_o.gif http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/mad_o.gif Yaaay more l337 !1111!11!!!11!!!!! kiddies to keep happy! URRRGHHHH makes me sick!


LETS ALL BUY VBS SO BIS GOT MONEY TO OUT PERFORM CODEM! http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/biggrin_o.gif

[WargamingNor]

I think we all should restrain our comments and calm down a bit, at least until we have an official statement about CM and BIS.

We do not have enough information about what's going on yet. Thus, no point in getting worked up over specualtions and rumours is there?

I'm just hoping some kind of official statement is released from either CM or BIS in the near future... before things gets way out of hand. Threads and posts being made both on this forum and the OFP2 part at the CM forums is heating things up, and could potentially be very ugly if this draws out too long.

But now I've been the voice of reason long enough in this thread - you don't have to agree with me, just calm down a bit folks! http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif

[turms]

Any BIS stocks on sales? ;)

[MattXR]

who wants to come with me to cripple codemasters forever.. we will shut the evil company down....

Everyone whos tried to make an OFP style game has failed.. who says codemasters can make OFP2 the same as OFP..

BIS all the way!


Codemasters' Operation Flashpoint 2 vs BIS' 2006 Sequel - Round 1 (http://ofp.gamezone.cz/index.php?showthis=8416)


Quote[/b] ]The Codemasters' Community Liaison Officer has unoficially confirmed that they will use the Operation Flashpoint 2 name for an upcoming game published by them!

This upcoming game has nothing to do with BIS upcoming Sequels and is (or will be) developed by an unrevealed development studio.

That's not very surprising to see that Codemasters wants to make some profits using their "Operation Flashpoint" registered trademark, but we can sincerely wish them to find a very skilled development team, else there'll be some flamebaiting in the air soon...

You can read the Codemasters' Community Liaison Officer full post that he posted on the Codemasters forums in this thread.

Operation Flashpoint fans are hardcore military fans....they are the people that love realism, decent core gameplay and an involving storyline....we know that. Now to make a BF42 clone for the Flashpoint community which has built up over the lat 5 years would be the most inappropriate thing a company could do, plus insulting to top it off. Flashpoint 2 will be a Flashpoint game for Flashpoint fans, period.
We want to bring the game on to the next generation of realism and immersiveness. We have alot of feedback from the community about what they want to see in the game and this has been incorporated in our Design and Development process and we will deliver on the promise.

I personally cannot comment on the BIS game and won't start a playground argument about it. I have a good relationship with Placebo and wish to maintain that.

[[ASO] Farandir]

Quote[/b] ]unervealed development studio...

I really wonder what's going on behind the scenes...

What is CM thinking? While there have been some examples of other sequels being developed by different developers and having success anyway, I doubt this will happen when the original developer has an own sequel that seems to fully comply with what the community of that game wants and even exceeds all expectations. The only thing I can imagine at the moment is that CM copies somehow the concepts of BIS or tries to make something different which, because of their wich for money etc., could end up more arcadish, even though they keep repeating
Quote[/b] ]Now to make a BF42 clone for the Flashpoint community which has built up over the lat 5 years would be the most inappropriate thing a company could do, plus insulting to top it off. Flashpoint 2 will be a Flashpoint game for Flashpoint fans, period.


Until I SEE something by CM, that is just a very hallow statement.

[MattXR]

Quote[/b] ]Now to make a BF42 clone for the Flashpoint community which has built up over the lat 5 years would be the most inappropriate thing a company could do, plus insulting to top it off. Flashpoint 2 will be a Flashpoint game for Flashpoint fans, period.

when they say that.. i say to myself.. i dont want a flashpoint game from CM but from BIS... non of us will care if CM make a Flashpoint game, we want a BIS game! so how can it be for us.

Some poeple will be like, i heard OFP was a great game.. oh look OFP2 lets get it.. soon after.. this is crap.. so now BIS are going to have to work hard to find a real good publisher and make sure they put in big letters Creators of Operation Flashpoint

[kavoven]

*Searches his destruction-plans for the CM HQ*

Ah, that cannot be, that is just ridiculous, the most stupid thing CM could do, suche a waste of money and people...

OFP belongs to BIS and everything else is theft http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/mad_o.gif
Just because of one single stupid name... unbelievalbe http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/mad_o.gif

[shinRaiden]

Any BIS stocks on sales? ;)
BIS s.r.o. is a limited-liability corp.
BIS a.s. is a private-stock corp.

That means there's privately held stock representing ownership and investment. That doesn't mean that it's for sale or anything. That doesn't mean there can't be an IPO or such later on, but the dangers of that is becoming another EA where the stockholders demand the Sports 200x churn-and-burn. Google's got a bit of a free rein atm, but things will settle down in a few years, and once you set foot in that market you find out it's not you who controls your destiny, it's the Warren Buffett's and Kirk Kerkorian's. Although I'm sure BIS could find plenty of willing volunteers to spawn-camp their mansions to 'convince' them to not meddle with the stockholder's meeting.

[Morbid Angel]

Even IF CM fubar OFP 2 ... who cares? If they make it a good game even better ... but if they ruin it ... in all seriousness - its just the name of the franchise that gets a dent.
The BIS game is gonna get a fresh title totally unrelated to CM's game and anything that CM fails to accomplish is not gonna have any impact on the BIS game.

[TwentyFourSeven]

Is there an Offical BIS statement on what the split was or is it a case of none of my business http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif Which is no problem, was just curious. Codemasters have joined the ranks of EA with spaming sequel titles out one after another. I hope they do the name Operation Flashpoint justice.

[philcommando]

Not much info on what happened. Whatever it is,here's thanks to BIS and Codemasters for ofp1 - its been a great collaboration, but we all gotta move on. Operation flashpoint 2, flashpoint 2, or flash in the pan, heck!...i will buy it if it is an improved version of ofp1. I still cant find any present game that can measure up to ofp1 in terms of playerability. About time to upgrade ofp1 to keep in pace with newer tech developements. All the best to all that made ofp1 happened. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif

[Montignac Mayor]

U can read this at bis site:

Operation Flashpoint 2 a true sequel to the million-selling military simulator, is in design and development by Bohemia Interactive. Focussing on another theatre of modern-historical warfare, Operation Flashpoint 2 will introduce 2nd generation Flashpoint Engine for the ultimate military gaming experience with even more realism, freedom and immersion than the original Operation Flashpoint.

So the name of the ultimate war simulator from bis will be operation flashpoint 2

The new game from CM will have other name http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif

[Garcia]

U can read this at bis site:

Operation Flashpoint 2 a true sequel to the million-selling military simulator, is in design and development by Bohemia Interactive. Focussing on another theatre of modern-historical warfare, Operation Flashpoint 2 will introduce 2nd generation Flashpoint Engine for the ultimate military gaming experience with even more realism, freedom and immersion than the original Operation Flashpoint.

So the name of the ultimate war simulator from bis will be operation flashpoint 2

The new game from CM will have other name http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif
No, because CM owns the name "Operation Flashpoint", so BIS can't use the name unless CM allows it. And I don't think CM will allow BIS to use the name unless CM is the publisher, which they most likely won't be. So if BIS uses the name Operation Flashpoint without CMs approval, they will be in shitloads of problems http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif It's like, what you think would happen if Apple made a OS for Mac called Windows? I guess it says that because BIS don't really give a shit about changing it.

[Squelch]

I've followed the fortunes of CM and the Darling brothers since thier Spectrum days, and it might be fair to say Operation Flashpoint wouldn't be where it is today without them. It is sad to see this ongoing confusion about the future titles. On the one hand we have CM stating claim to the OFP title saying they will publish without BIS, and on the other, BIS are distancing themselves from CM altogether. CM, like many once excellent small time companies has turned into a behemoth populated by bean counters and law sharks. The heart seems to have been lost.

The disclaimer on the bottom of the page, and the official Flashpoint 2 (http://www.flashpoint2.com/) site (Hint: turn it on) led me here to find out what was going on. I'm still very confused, and as a long time fan of Operation Flashpoint (right from the very first demo) hope that this whole thing is resolved pretty soon. It will not do anybody any good, BIS, CM, or the loyal following, for the current lack of information and rumour mongering to continue.

If it is true that the split is final, then perhaps BIS could self publish. Valves Steam model might work, but this seems to have driven as many away as it attracted. Another method might be to use Live For Speed's (http://www.liveforspeed.net/) distribution policy. Wriiten by Scawen Roberts and Eric Bailey, both formerly of Lionheads Black & White fame, together with a third guy named Victor van Vlaardingen. They have a system where you can download the files, or purchase a CD at cost, and then buy a licence online to activate the full content fro Demo. It has a very loyal following, much like OFP with many buying licences ahead of the next release.

Whatever the outcome, a total split, renegotiation, new publishers, or self publishing, I hope that it will be for the better, and won't fracture the following Operation Flashpoint has grown.

[MFSP]

Some poeple will be like, i heard OFP was a great game.. oh look OFP2 lets get it.. soon after.. this is crap..
How do you know it will be crap? Seriously, no one has even played it and they are judging it... That's like saying a concept car will have bad fuel economy even before the design is unveiled.

I, personally, will buy both. If the CM one turns out to be awful, hey, at most it'll be $50, not exactly a substantial blow to the wallet.

[Bordoy]

Some poeple will be like, i heard OFP was a great game.. oh look OFP2 lets get it.. soon after.. this is crap..
How do you know it will be crap? Seriously, no one has even played it and they are judging it... That's like saying a concept car will have bad fuel economy even before the design is unveiled.

I, personally, will buy both. If the CM one turns out to be awful, hey, at most it'll be $50, not exactly a substantial blow to the wallet.
I might be getting both, get BIS 100% but 50% about CM's game

[Garcia]

Some poeple will be like, i heard OFP was a great game.. oh look OFP2 lets get it.. soon after.. this is crap..
How do you know it will be crap? Seriously, no one has even played it and they are judging it... That's like saying a concept car will have bad fuel economy even before the design is unveiled.

I, personally, will buy both. If the CM one turns out to be awful, hey, at most it'll be $50, not exactly a substantial blow to the wallet.
Because the chance of CM making a good game (compared with OFP and Game 2) is rather low, as they don't got too much experience. Yes they had some guys working with BIS on OFP, but BIS still got best experience. So, biggest chance BIS will make the best game. And think about it...BIS had probaly already worked a lot on game 2 before they broke with CM, so CMs OFP2 was probaly started long time after BIS started on game 2, if CMs OFP2 is under development yet. So most likely CM will push the release of OFP2 to get it out at the same time as BIS' game 2, and therefor it will be really shit (compared to BIS' game 2).

As an example, SI Games and Eidios broke, after years of SI Games developing Championship Manager, and Eidios publishing it. SI Games started making Football Manager, same game as before with new name and new publisher, while Eidios got a new developer for Championship Manager, same name, new game. Football Manager turned out to be really good, Championship Manager turned out to be really crap. Why? SI Games had the rights to the database and all that from older Championship Manager games and they had the experience. Eidios' new developer started from scratch without the same experience.

So, BIS got the best chance of a good game, CM got a good chance for their game being crap. Time will show, but I'll put my money on BIS. BIS have given us the best game ever, and I trust they will make the game that finally beats their old baby.

[Bikecop]

God fights on the side with more money... God fights with Codemasters... They after all got more partners than BIS. They will make a better game than BIS.

[MFSP]

Some poeple will be like, i heard OFP was a great game.. oh look OFP2 lets get it.. soon after.. this is crap..
How do you know it will be crap? Seriously, no one has even played it and they are judging it... That's like saying a concept car will have bad fuel economy even before the design is unveiled.

I, personally, will buy both. If the CM one turns out to be awful, hey, at most it'll be $50, not exactly a substantial blow to the wallet.
Because the chance of CM making a good game (compared with OFP and Game 2) is rather low, as they don't got too much experience. Yes they had some guys working with BIS on OFP, but BIS still got best experience. So, biggest chance BIS will make the best game. And think about it...BIS had probaly already worked a lot on game 2 before they broke with CM, so CMs OFP2 was probaly started long time after BIS started on game 2, if CMs OFP2 is under development yet. So most likely CM will push the release of OFP2 to get it out at the same time as BIS' game 2, and therefor it will be really shit (compared to BIS' game 2).

As an example, SI Games and Eidios broke, after years of SI Games developing Championship Manager, and Eidios publishing it. SI Games started making Football Manager, same game as before with new name and new publisher, while Eidios got a new developer for Championship Manager, same name, new game. Football Manager turned out to be really good, Championship Manager turned out to be really crap. Why? SI Games had the rights to the database and all that from older Championship Manager games and they had the experience. Eidios' new developer started from scratch without the same experience.

So, BIS got the best chance of a good game, CM got a good chance for their game being crap. Time will show, but I'll put my money on BIS. BIS have given us the best game ever, and I trust they will make the game that finally beats their old baby.
That didn't quite answer my question... Nor did it really adress the point of my post.

What I'm saying is this: No one is giving CM a chance. Without even seeing a screen or hearing about features, they are writing it off as garbage.

It doesn't matter if they don't have experience as a publisher. They may hire a top-notch development team that has some great Ideas, great workers, as well as talent and skill.

Now, I'll agree it is rather low for them to try and cash in on the Operation Flashpoint name, stealing it from BIS, but, really, no one here has enough information to judge their game.

I'll support the BIS game most definitely, as I know it'll be great. It may, and in all likelihood will, be better than the CM game.
But, I will not write off the CM game as crap, or as a BF1942 copy until I play a demo, read on features, and see screens.

And as to the last post by Bikecop:
I hope that was a sarcastic post... I'm rather tired right now, so forgive me if it was.

[Garcia]

it's was an answer to why there's a big chance that the CM game will be crap compared to the BIS one. Of course the game can be good, but I don't think it'll be as good at BIS' game. Don't think they'll manage to make a good game and keep it realistic. At least not as realistic as BIS can http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif

[MFSP]

it's was an answer to why there's a big chance that the CM game will be crap compared to the BIS one. Of course the game can be good, but I don't think it'll be as good at BIS' game. Don't think they'll manage to make a good game and keep it realistic. At least not as realistic as BIS can http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif
Well, what I was saying is that people are already labeling it as garbage... I'll agree with you, I'm not expecting it to be a great game. But I'm giving them a chance.

The only thing that bothers me is all these people saying that their game is trash when they haven't even layed eyes on anything related to it besides a post by their community liason officer in their forums.

[Bikecop]

Funny that no BIS fan has called apon a Holy war against Codemasters. Probably dont need to also. Dont you think ? http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/rock.gif

[shinRaiden]

Well the problem is that as I'm neither Catholic nor Muslim, I'm not certain of the proper verbage to make an appropiate Call for Crusades, or a Fatwa of Jihad. Otherwise I would have done so already. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif

[Bikecop]

Why not say it in Czech? (That way it dont seem sacrelige to BIS) http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/rock.gif

[Espectro]

Perhaps the CM game will be MUCH better than the BIS, who knows?

[Metal Heart]

Sure, there's always a chance. Like if you started tapping the keys on your keyboard randomly like a mad man right now, you might write a perfect replica of, say Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. You can't say that it's totally impossible.

[Postduifje]

Don't know if this was there all the time, but this line at the bottom of the Armed Assault page makes it seem that there is quite a lot of distance between BIS and CM, altough official statements imply a reunion is still a possibility. Furtermore it says BIS is distributing the game itself, so the quest for a new publisher might not be there.


Quote[/b] ]*OPERATION FLASHPOINT IS THE US REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF CODEMASTER SOFTWARE COMPANY LTD. ***THE ORIGINAL PRODUCTS ADVERTISED ON THIS WEBSITE ARE SOLD AND DISTRIBUTED BY BOHEMIA INTERACTIVE STUDIO S.R.O., WHICH IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH, AUTHORIZED BY OR RELATED TO THE TRADEMARK OWNER.

[Garcia]

That got nothing to do with BIS not liking CM or anything...it's just BIS making sure nobody misunderstands something and stuff like that, so CM can't give em hell cause CM own the OFP trademark. And the publisher question is mostly for Game 2, not Armed Assault...So maybe BIS is planning to publish Armed Assault themself, but most likely they'll still be looking for a publisher for game 2...

[Hannibal, I.]

That got nothing to do with BIS not liking CM or anything...
CM is somehow focussing anew on Online-Games .... they say ....:

"Codemasters gründet neue Online-Spiele-Abteilung
Casual-Gaming-Portal und verschiedene MMO-Abkommen geplant

Der britische Spielepublisher und -entwickler Codemasters will sich mit seiner neu gegründeten "Codemasters Online Group" nun auch Onlinespielen stärker widmen. Geplant sind ein Casual-Gaming-Portal und auch im Bereich Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) will Codemasters bald Ankündigungen machen."

Source: http://www.golem.de/0507/38986.html


By the by: I dont like CM pressing Bohemia with that brand "Operation Flashpoint". Their marketing performance was bad as bad can be. They should be ashamed to have OF now laying beneath the counter for a 15 Euros, whereelse bad - but new! - games (like BF2) cost a 50 Euros.

[Moving Target]

Quote[/b] ]
Operation Flashpoint 2 is now in design and development at Bohemia Interactive Studio, the Prague-based creators of the original, and will be published by Codemasters late in 2004 for PC.

Shoves down Codemasters throat.

[Cozza]

1 thought for the split.

Its all about money. Well Codemasters truned to BIS to make a competitor for EA's Battlefield and Half Life 2. Meaning take away alot of the realism and but in more FPS stuff, Like God like health and God Like stregnh. BIS said fuck you... We're not giving up our community we have and split. That one idea

Another would be CM got pissed with BIS for publishing VBS1 without CM help ***http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif

[Dallas]

I'll try to cut to the bone:

- BIS is creating a sequel.

- CM is creating a copy.

[hermano]

Hi!

I'll quote this (http://community.codemasters.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52283&page=1&pp=10&highlight=split+bohemia) thread (other snippets were already in older posts here).

If I got it right Zzzzz (now Zzeno) is in charge for OFP2 at codemasters, now have a look at this post:


Quote[/b] ]
I joined Codies during the development of Flashpoint and worked in the QA team throughout the development of the game. I also worked with teh Red Hammer team in testing their campaign.....btw we couldn't implement new islands et al as BIS were already doing that and it is their engine. It was also the story from the other side so new islands were'nt necessary to teh story.

Red Hammer did cost us money to make...staff costs, marketing, etc Expansion packs as a general rule are sold for cash by companies, but as you said, free community built campaigns are available. Agreed resistance was a good pack too, but was nails to the average gamer. Designed with the hrdcore players in mind that was (Yodaism )

A programmer codes as you know, but guidance is required so they code the right thing....we provided some of that guidance.

The politics of companies never gets publicised usually....go figure

Roguefreak....we will be releasing more news on this down the line.

Jie...Indeed Codemasters wishes to make money, what company doesn't? But consider that the game we release is actually awe-inspiring, fun and everything you wanted in a game....believe it or not, even BIS wish to make money too

Korax...Resistance was fully designed by BIS, we tested it and published it. You can actually see the differences in design styles by comparing the three campaigns.

We'll have to see how things pan out and discuss the potential of Flashpoint 2 once we release the screensots and videos....until then I'm sure there will be much speculation and tooing and froing. I sincerely believe you will like our offering as much as BIS's...until release though we will have to wait and see.

So they mainly did Red Hammer, I hated it, just too buggy and those are Codemasters QA guys?
A programmer is just a stupid sheep that can program but has to be guided otherwise? What a kind of ******* says something like that (esp. if you look at the quality of their own work http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/icon_rolleyes.gif )?
And yes, I could see a huge difference between red hammer and resistance.

What I have read and seen so far tells me that there is not much hope for a good ofp2 by codemasters, I am seriously interested to see their game, but I expect it to be a mediocre game2 ripoff at best.
h

[Garcia]

The experience I've had with developer and publisher breaking, and developer making sequel with another name while publisher finds new developer team for "sequel" with same name is baaad (for the publisher). Usually the developer comes up with a game that's of really good quality, while the publishers game is poo...good example is, for those who plays these games, Championship Manager/Football Manager. SI Games and Eidios made lots of Championship Manager games, then they broke last year. SI Games, who owned the core of the game and all that, made Football Manager 2005, which was a good game...Eidios got a new developer for Championship Manager 5, which was postponed several times, was released about 4-6 months later than it should have been, and it sucked...never played the last game, cause the reviews of it wasn't nice to read...the reason for this is that the developer owns about everything except the name...so they got a easier time making a new game, unless they decide to not use anything from the previous game...and they got the experience of making this game...even though Codies says they worked on OFP and all that, I don't think they're even close to having as much experience as BIS team...

[Ti0n3r]

Lets face the facts. The codemasters game known as Operation Flashpoint 2 is nothing more than a desperate atempt to get more money. It's a shame that Flashpoint will be drawn in the mud by them.

[Longjocks]

1 thought for the split.

Its all about money. Well Codemasters truned to BIS to make a competitor for EA's Battlefield and Half Life 2. Meaning take away alot of the realism and but in more FPS stuff, Like God like health and God Like stregnh. BIS said fuck you... We're not giving up our community we have and split. That one idea

Another would be CM got pissed with BIS for publishing VBS1 without CM help ***http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif
Ah, but you forgot the one where Codemasters built a spaceship to go to Venus where they discovered the fountain of youth that was planted there by flying moo-cows (that one was for you, Espectro http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif ). They brought it back to earth and decided that they no longer needed to publish BIS' OFP2 because they are going to live in underground caves until the next age of mankind where they will suck the blood of the innocent and rule with an iron fist.

Our stories are very similar in the most important respect... they are derived purely from our imaginations. I think I'm repeating myself here.

@Garcia... I understand your last argument completely, but unfortunately it only holds water when looking at it from one side. Forgetting for a moment that tastes are subjective, add up how many sequels by the same developer that have flopped or, while not being 'bad', have been uninspired and not pushed the boundaries of what its predecessor achieved. Maybe a study is in order?

I don't even care about the hostility at Codemasters, I just have to laugh each time some base-level comment is made about nothing at all. Loyalty to BIS or whomever is one thing, but since when has fandom been paid for in brain cells? Any help in understanding what is happening here would be appreciated.

[Garcia]

All I'm saying is that I belive that the BIS game will be better...not saying CMs game will be crap...it will maybe be better than BIS' game, though, if I was gonna place money on one of the games, it would be BIS' game...I'll most likely try the demo of CMs game, and if it's any good, but for now, I keep my money on BIS' game being the better of the 2...

[Acecombat]

Some poeple will be like, i heard OFP was a great game.. oh look OFP2 lets get it.. soon after.. this is crap..
How do you know it will be crap? Seriously, no one has even played it and they are judging it... That's like saying a concept car will have bad fuel economy even before the design is unveiled.

I, personally, will buy both. If the CM one turns out to be awful, hey, at most it'll be $50, not exactly a substantial blow to the wallet.
Dunno where you live at but 50$ wasted at a virtual entertainment thing will be quite a substantial loss for me. I'd rather save it for something else.

[Longjocks]

All I'm saying is that I belive that the BIS game will be better...not saying CMs game will be crap...it will maybe be better than BIS' game, though, if I was gonna place money on one of the games, it would be BIS' game...I'll most likely try the demo of CMs game, and if it's any good, but for now, I keep my money on BIS' game being the better of the 2...
I actually agree. My instinct, through respect for BIS and their product, is that they will make a game that will not likely be topped. But that's all we have, our instinct.

I will always be a cautious shopper and OFP2 and/or Game2 will receive strutiny before I throw my money around. So coming back to what some are saying about the US$50, I have no sympathy for those that spend money, especially what they consider a significant amount, on a whim.