Gearbox Now Owns the Homeworld Franchise [UPDATED: More THQ Sales Announced]

I love Homeworld and the idea of a 3D strategic space RTS, but I have no idea what in the hell Gearbox is going to do with it. Will be interesting if Darksiders or Red Faction ever see the light of day again.

Why did Gearbox ever go for that license, soon enough they'll be selling their shit off, looking at how only Borderlands is marginally successful and every other game they laid hands on is shit. After that Alien fiasco, they've made such a bad name for themselves it's unbelievable.

Maybe they can make a living by making Borderlands games, and fake game trailers for upcoming games, that's what they're good at.

I bet if they touch Homeworld, it will turn to shit like almost every license GearBox touches.

Gearbox sure knows how to find game series to resurrect for their old, curmudgeonly fanbases. Well, holding out hope they'll do right by this next one.

Eh, they would've just outsourced it to a Western dev and then been disappointed when it ONLY sold 4 million. AKA not nearly enough to get rid of the blemishes from the home offices.

@beeftothetaco: Ha, I was thinking the same thing. Homeworld on Facebook? heheehh

What will become of Red Faction and Darksiders?

Some of those games were all right.

UGH how disappointing.

Gearbox?
I am not excited, they have yet to prove themselves.

I just finished reading all of the comments that have been posted already, and I'm really amazed that the majority of people on this forum are really angry, or distressed about Gearbox acquiring the Homeworld Franchise. Granted, I have never played any of Gearbox's games, but I do know Homeworld 1 and 2, are two of the most critically acclaimed Science-Fiction strategy games on the PC.

I too, am unsure of this deal, because I know of Gearbox's reputation among gamers right now, which isn't good. However, if Gearbox handles this correctly, and does a new Homeworld Game, I can actually see this becoming a success story like X-Com Enemy Unknown was last year: a Strategy series that was re-booted last year by Firaxis Studios, and it was critically acclaimed by many game critics, and on a lot of Game of the year lists.

I urge everyone to calm down, and see how this plays out. If and when the new game gets made, and it's a success both critically and commercially, I'll have a big smile on my face.

@rahvar: Half-life: Opposing Force was pretty good.

@ildon said:

Fuck yeah it was.

Just release Homeworld HD.

Ignore 2, even though it wasn't nearly as bad as a lot of people try to say.

Oh, Nordic Games? Aren't they running the Swedish part of PlayStation Network?

(EDIT: It isn't, the similarly named Nordisk Film are apparently running PSN in Sweden, Nordic Games seems to be the new owners of JoWood)

Yeah .. they've made some decent FPS games, but, really, their best stuff have been the Half-life expansions, their own, stand-alone games have been hit and miss, and poor AI has been consistent in all of them. And I don't know if anyone at the studio has experience with RTS games, which is a very different thing than shooters.

You can't calm down, when a mediocre FPS developer bids on an award winning RTS license and wins it, while both 2nd and 3rd bid were Stardock and Paradox, this just equals to the worst possible outcome in the history of game franchises.

Firaxis really only ever worked with and on RTS and TBS games, Gearbox never ever saw a strategy game up close, let alone made one, well maybe lying to fans, false advertisement and selling a turd for millions could be classified as strategy..

Just release the homeworlds on steam and i will be satisfied.

Because it's an article about video games on the internet.

I'd like to cite Bioware, here. Dragon Age II comes out, they're suddenly the worst RPG developer of all time.

Well when you put it that way then I can understand why people would be upset. My perspective comes from really enjoying borderlands 1 and 2. I was aware of the controversy surrounding Aliens and skimmed a few articles that touched upon what you mention, so your arguments are completely valid. I will stay cautiously optimistic purely because I believe there is some talent at that studio. I just hope they give this franchise the respect it deserves and reel back on the shady business techniques that they showed with Aliens.

Thanks for providing some clarity. Though I will say that it is unfair to say they didn't have credibility to begin with. As I said, they have made some respectable, well reviewed and good selling games. They obviously never had the esteem of a studio like Valve, but I remember when Aliens was first announced to be developed by gearbox, I was actually excited purely because of their pedigree from borderlands. Regardless, what matters is their current reputation, which as we have agree upon, is in a poor state.

I'm surprised no one is talking about Darksiders and Red Faction going to some random Swedish publisher.

Oh man. I am not sure what to feel about any of these sales.

Seems like middle of the road developers bought everything.

I mean I have no hate for Gearbox, but they've never made anything amazing to me (Borderlands was alright but it was more of a revolution for console coop then FPS-RPG hybrid(ing?) which ultimately never really caught my fancy. Homeworld was an amazing RTS, and bare in mind I am no RTS nut by any means, and have a hard time enjoying them. There are only a few RTS games I love: Red Alert, Command and Conquer, Warcraft 3, and Homeworld.

Gearbox has never made an RTS that I've had interest in. I don't know if that's good or bad. If they maintain the amazing 3d spatial awareness (it was the only RTS I know that you move units in a 3d space and that was amazing to me- still kind of is for some reason), and the feel of how Homeworld played I'll be fine with it. For me it was one of the coolest RTS's ever made. I'm not sure how that will work for the inevitable console focused version they will make.

I don't know, it could be fine. I just don't have a lot of faith in Gearbox for that franchise.

I have no idea who Nordic Games publishing is so for all I know they could be another mafia run video game publisher looking to churn out some shit for cash. I have no way to know yet what their deal is.

I don't much care about Homeworld or Darksiders, but Red Faction to Nordic Games? Fuck, that's not good.

I could go for some new Homeworld...as long as it's good!

@greggd:

Difference is that prior to Dragon Age II, Bioware made Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, and more.

Whereas prior to Colonial Marines, Gearbox made Duke Nukem Forever (albeit only partially), Borderlands, Borderlands 2, PC ports of Tony Hawk 3, Halo and 007 Nightfire, Counter-Strike Condition Zero, a bunch of Brothers in Arms games, a PS2 port of Half-Life, a Wii port of Samba de Amigo and so on.

So you know, I don't know that it's a fair comparison. I'm not sure that this is either but here's my analogy: Bioware is Pixar. Gearbox is Dreamworks Animation.

I am legitimately happy that the IP will at least have something done to it rather than sitting unused forever.

Ideally someone with strategy experience would have gotten it, but at least now we have a decent chance of getting versions of HW1 and 2 that run without issue on modern systems. I haven't been able to run my copy of 2 without trouble for some time now.

Weird that there's a dearth of Brothers in Arms fans in the GB community (at least if these comments are any indication). I for one adored Hell's Highway and before that really enjoyed both Road to Hill 30 and Earned in Blood. As for Borderlands, hey 1 was a hell of a game and I really look forward to playing 2.

Ironically Gearbox is not really the big story here because Homeworld is a nice but obscure out of nowhere pick. Nordic games though? That's nuts! Scooping up all those franchises might be one of the most notable acquisitions during this whole THQ thing yet.

Nordic also bought 'Titans quest'... so, new 'titans quest' then?

Ok, Nords, do well with those franchises.

If this means Homeworld is coming to steam or gog, I'm all smiles.

https://twitter.com/DuvalMagic/status/326440522891816961

Confirmed re-release of H1 & H2

No mention of Homeworld Cataclysm, which was the only Homeworld instalment I enjoyed. And I can't think of a single Gearbox product that I've played that I've enjoyed. Colour me meh on this news.

You are correct in that you do seem to be having a very difficult time remaining calm.

@ssully: To be honest my own concern isn't with the variable quality of their past games, it's more due to their lack of experience with the genre, and that tonally I just don't think they're the right studio for the game. Gearbox makes bombastic games and they have a bombastic studio head - that in and of itself is not bad, but that is not Homeworld. Homeworld is serious, serene, and classy. I mean, it opens with the song below. Even if Gearbox can make a good space RTS, I don't feel like they can make a good Homeworld - unless they get some of the original key staff involved, which is extremely unlikely since they're basically off working for their own indie studio.

It'll be funny if Gearbox outsourced the next Homeworld game to Relic.

One last chance to not fuck it up Gearbox!

Gearbox! Fuck it, why didn't Sega pick this up and give it to Relic? Gearbox may be the worst studio to give it to. No RTS experience and a proven track record for making bad games. I just hope they don't do anything with it.

This has ruined my day.

@subjugation: My exact thoughts when going over the comments. I loved the first Darksiders game and the second one wasn't too bad either. I assume this news means the original crew who got picked up by Crytek can't make a new one now :(

So how long until Gearbox announces Homeworld 3 and hypes it up as much as they possibly can, then hand the actual development off to some other studio and want a finished game in like 3 months time?

Also, the surprisingly small amount of money involved makes my soul vomit a bit..

Just bring Homeworld:cataclysm to GoG.com and they will have done justice to the series

The saddest news is that Nordic also has the rights to Stacking and Costume Quest, as Double Fine wasn't able to buy the rights back for whatever reason.

Homeworld 1 & 2 on GOG.com Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaassssssee!!

@cheesebob: also... Pizza Tycoon...

@icaria: Really? Well, enjoy your sub-par Homeworld products then, I assume Cataclysm would be rolled into the HW rights, as it was basically released as a stand-alone expansion.

But, seriously, that's some bad taste on display there. Cataclysm was a mess, with its abuse of micromanagement added on top a bunch of the pacing issues from the first HW.

Nothing but doom and gloom here.

"to preserve and assemble the purest form of the original acclaimed and beloved games, [...] with the intent of making them accessible on today's leading digital platforms." well, goodbye Homeworld.

Destroy All Humans lives!

Don't screw this up like Duke Nukem and Aliens, Gearbox. I really, really loved the Homeworld series

Just -- Just don't fuck this up..

@noelveiga: Cataclysm's story and campaign was far more interesting and the overall reduction in scale worked in the game's favour. With the original Homeworld's cumbersome 3D engine, it really needed to be a bit smaller.

There is way to much boo-hoo-ing at the head of all of these comments. I'm excited to see the Homeworld license going to Gearbox. I want to see a re-release of Homeworld and Homeworld 2 on Steam or GOG.com. If Gearbox can take the first step and bring the games to modern distribution platforms, they will have already done a great service to Homeworld.

I don't know what Gearbox will do next with it, but this time Homeworld and Homeworld 2 are not half-finished games with no hope like Aliens: Colonial Marines and Duke Nukem Forever.