Kerbal Space Program 2 Was Murdered.

[@thomasboys7216]

There's a bitter irony that KSP2 crashed and burned while it was being launched.

[@shieldphaser]

Ironic indeed.

[@OtherDalfite]

Never even got off the ground. KSP2 was basically just a ksp1 reskin with extra bugs

[@WasatchWind]

​@@OtherDalfiteIt was hardly even a reskin. It's woefully lacking compared to even stock ksp with no mods.

[@HaganeNoGijutsushi]

Other games crash and burn. KSP2 lithobraked explosively.

[@Mr_Dancy_Pants]

KSP2 needed more boosters and struts.

[@DeadBaron]

The fact Harvester, the original creator, had no idea it was being created and they never worked with any of the original creators were major red flags

[@nrran6835]

I mean. They couldn’t do that if it hadn’t been sold to them. Dude can’t sell it AND keep control of it. Either sell OR maintain ownership, but once you sell I don’t care about your opinion going forward. You got your bag, sit down and shut up

[@ecyor0]

​@@nrran6835 I'm sorry, are all game devs supposed to work for charity in your world?

[@JohnRNewAccountNumber3]

​@@ecyor0 selling your company ≠ making money off of selling the game itself

[@ItsFresnel]

@@nrran6835 HarvesteR never owned the IP, he worked for a marketing company who owned the IP and sold it.

[@nrran6835]

@ItsFresnel even worse then. Dude is no one they could possibly owe anything to. He’s a worker. That’d be like expecting a company that buys my job to consult with me 5 years later because I used to do some shit at the old place.

[@Giantwaspface]

I'm damn sure a bunch of clueless executives at Take Two saw the Kerbals, thought "They look like Minions!", and the rest is history.

[@sebast-u9q]

As a son of an experienced game dev, you have no idea how stupid the people on top really are. oh so many "we made an rpg!! why is our player count so low?" "we didn't do adverts" "i thought video game advertised themselves?" "our game is terrible" "its better that SWOTOR!!!" "no its not, and we aren't star wars". mom never stopped ****talking lol.

[@joegumbo1905]

Kernana!

[@tomsterbg8130]

Sometimes i grief over that i have no indie buddy to dev with, but more often than that i'm happy i'm not bound to someone else's utterly disasterous stupidity.

[@slickdiggler1197]

Probably in the corner chanting "Gen Z boss in a mini!!"

[@boraonline7036]

They are nit clueless they now exactly what they are doing. What they don't do is showing love for the games! PC and Video games started with beeing something that the people who developed them loved, the money was "just" the thank you for the good job, when the game sold. Today you have decision maker who couldn't care less if they sell video games or toilet paper as long as the $ run in big!

[@ethanblanke6873]

The fact that they wanted KSP2 to be some flashy merch-selling AAA game goes to show just how out of touch the corporate overlords were with the original fanbase.

[@tin2001]

To be fair, you don't have to play the game to think a Kerbal plushie would be cute. Or Kerbal Lego. Or watch a humorous Kerbal TV series. I can understand their desire. Just not sure why they needed to destroy the game to achieve it.

[@ANeMzero]

It wasn't even necessarily that they wanted it to be flashy. They wanted on that Simulator with Infinite DLC bandwagon, but they couldn't have that since they were contractually obligated to give anyone who bought into KSP1 early every DLC for free. So they came up with the same solution as Overwatch to force people to pay for stuff that was previously free: a very thin new coat of paint on the original and slap a 2 on it. That is all Take Two ever wanted or budgeted for, just take KSP1, pretty it up a little and call it a sequel so we don't have to give out expansion packs anymore. Star Theory and Intercept pretty reasonably didn't want to do a quick and dirty cashgrab but Take Two never wanted to give them money for anything more than that.

[@Grizabeebles]

I mean, there are still "alpha-level" supporters out there who bought Mojang accounts when Notch guaranteed every future 'Minecraft'-branded game forever. I'm part of the million or so "beta-level" customers who were guaranteed support for Java Edition. No promises were ever made about merch, as far as I remember.

[@SunnySalasar]

several developer teams offered their sales pitch, among them the original developers who now do KSA instead they were told they won't be going with them, because they didn't show any concept art or animation so they went with one of the teams that had too many artists and too few developers as well as forcing them to use unity, which the KSA devs did not want for very obvious reasons (to them and a lot KSP modders/addicts)

[@KepleroGT]

@@tin2001 When you put it like that these ideas sound great. The series has potential beyond just the games, but if the game sucks well...

[@wade3350]

This is part of the reason steam wants to change how early access works, they are going to force companies to put out a road map and if they are not on date for their roadmap then all customers are eligible for refunds. Would fix game companies that do shit like this.

[@memiix]

@@wade3350 would also screw over indie devs but im sure some middle ground can be worked out

[@cane870]

@@memiixeven if you’re an indie dev, if you have a product you’re willing to sell and make a bunch of promises on that you can’t deliver, you should be forced to offer refunds. A guarantee is a guarantee, that is a legally binding contract offered by the dev that the buyer of the game accepts when they purchase a game. Otherwise it’s false advertising, and refunds should be made available.

[@massgunner4152]

​@@memiix indie devs would have no excuse to be lousy, most early access ones have competent update showcases and the ones that not usually do thrash like this

[@BGraves]

Steam doesn't want to manage that

[@SiveenO]

Source on this?

[@Creslin321]

It's insane to me that Take Two would look at Kerbal Space Program and think "here's an IP we can use to sell toys and micro transactions to the drooling masses!" KSP is like the most technical, in the weeds, super niche game I've ever played. It's a game for math nerds and wannabe astrophysicists. There is no way that KSP would ever be a mass appeal game and it's so telling that TTWO was clueless enough to think it could be.

[@WardyLion]

Proof money doesn’t equate to talent or intelligence.

[@SimuLord]

@@WardyLion More to the point, a talent or intelligence for money does not equate to a talent for creativity and art. Sometimes you can be both-I'm a published writer with an accounting degree-but generally, suits and creatives are as different as cats and dogs...nah, that's still talking order Carnivora. It's more like "different as cats and mushrooms."

[@walternelson2687]

I'm neither of those things, I'm just a Space Exploration/Travel enthusiast. Granted the farthest I ever got was *almost* landing on Duna but still, I think it has wider appeal than you might realize.

[@Creslin321]

@@walternelson2687 yeah I was exaggerating. Overall point is that KSP is a game with niche "enthusiast" appeal. It's closer to something like building and flying model airplanes than it is to call of duty.

[@metazoxan2]

they saw the mute little green guys that almost look like despicable Me minions and thought they could replicate that. I guarantee you the only part of Kerbal they cared about was the aliens.

[@nekogod]

Charging $50 for an early access release with almost no content (beyond a slightly higher res copy of the first part of the first game) was a huge red flag, so glad my BS meter was buzzing and I decided to hold out and see what happened.

[@annocraft]

But the Game has Content. Every Planet and most OG Parts that KSP1 had with some extra are in KSP2, more than you need for a Rocked Simulater in the start of EA. The far more worst things are the Bugs and the Technical stade of the game. They announced hardware requirements that are just too high, the first Version of the game also did not run good on even the most high end PC. KSP1 could run on a toaster. Then were the Bugs. With this you could not play it.

[@jamestaylor9887]

I bought the game, but refunded it pretty quickly. Wasn't worth it to me.

[@feral_fenrir]

And the rabid fans were so toxic against anyone who spoke about this. It was crazy.

[@Cooperal]

A big question mark always comes up when a publisher with resources on the scale of Take-Two use early access. I don't think it should be off-limits to already successful companies, just look how BG3 made use of it. However most big companies are also not Larian Studios and just see it as another way to rip you off.

[@FifinatorKlon]

@@annocraft Copy-pasting an entire game and adding 2-3 things which any modder could do does not seem like a reasonable investment.

[@ScytheNoire]

Steam needs to take the game off the store, refund everyone, and charge back Take-Two.

[@henryj5054]

@@ScytheNoire I'd love a refund. Paid full price on release day

[@danzstuff]

But I don't want to be refunded! I still want to mod the game!

[@Zettern96]

That's why the early access label exists so they don't have too. It is the risk of buying early access. Should take it off the store though.

[@Lord_zeel]

Idk about refunding everyone, considering that that would basically have to come out of Steam's pocket. But they should refund any purchases that took place after the studio closed, because at that point I 100% blame Steam for having the game still listed and for sale.

[@SimuLord]

@@Zettern96 "Why didn't we think of that?" - The Day Before devs

[@caseygoddard]

Calling KSP2 "abandonware" would be more accurate than calling it "early access".

[@wowsnav]

Abandonware implies it's a fully finished software product that was once for sale but is no longer, so it's actually less accurate.

[@kactusman6194]

abandonware from the oxford dictionary "abandonware /əˈbandənwɛː/ noun computer software that is no longer distributed or supported by the developer or copyright holder. "those who illegally distribute abandonware on the Web see themselves as archivists who are helping save old computer programs for posterity""

[@tmuney8870]

@@wowsnav abandonware implies that it was being worked on and people bought into the promise that it was going to be great, just for the devs to give up and abandon it. This word never implies a finished product

[@jeanlasalle2351]

@@tmuney8870 Not really, abandonware is usually used for software that is no longer sold or used by it's IP owners. Most abandonware is basically lost media since it's not sold but would still be piracy for it to be distributed. Most abandonware products are finished and even polished, it's just not commercially (and non commercially) available anymore.

[@tmuney8870]

@ you’re correct. I was thinking of Vaporware

[@mintythreetwentysix4629]

No publicly known copyright holder? Ok, start selling copies without a liscence and see who comes forward to sue.

[@SirLanceQuiteABit]

Interesting idea honestly

[@JarthenGreenmeadow]

Genuinely a worthwhile video idea for some KZbinr.

[@daddust]

@@JarthenGreenmeadow if they want to be sued to oblivion and go to jail.

[@Katchi_]

@@daddust Somebody doesn't understand copyright...

[@OutsiderLabs]

@@daddust lol

[@xraze6906]

So basically, we find out who actually owns KSP 2 by blatantly violating its copyright in some way and see who sends documents?

[@lucas.garreb2451]

Worst part... It's not a bad idea

[@doctorviper2061]

why is it a actual solid plan

[@DingleFlop]

It's actually a solid plan because the laws in the US are outdated by a century when it comes to protecting consumers. Don't worry though, we'll bail out a thousand more companies that are too big to fail though, all while shafting the little guy and covering our ears when it comes to anything that actually helps the common person in the slightest. I think the guy who clipped the Executive Officer of that other company expressed his dissatisfaction in the only way available to US citizens.

[@CoperliteConsumer]

​@@DingleFlopAmerica be ame an Oligharchy in 2008 when they socialized banks and occupy Wall Street failed to dethrone all the politicians involved with the power transfer. It's over, nothing left to save.

[@Akkbar21]

@@DingleFlopsome silly Reddit “expert” proving he doesn’t know what he’s talking about with complete confidence. God damn it gets old.

[@stormtempterf8058]

The moment the publisher killed the original studio because they didn't want to have a fair contract, knowing that they could then swoop in and rehire most of the team to work in their scab studio replacement was the moment I walked away from ever being interested in KSP2. The publisher killed the studio to save a buck, and now they have a failed product. I wish they faced consequences for that corporate malfeasance but I know they'll just get a tax write off and find some other studio to gut and plunder.

[@benfubbs2432]

This is untrue, the studio made zero progress on development year after year all while sucking up money from take 2. Eventually T2 got pissed with the total mismanagement of the studio and pulled the plug to bring it closer to home, then rehired staff from the original studio. If T2 hadn't done that then the game would have just failed sooner. This sentiment that the game would have been a total success if T2 had left the original studio to their own devices is ludicrous. The only mistake that T2 made was that they kept funding it for way longer than they should have because, for those of us following along from the beginning, we all knew the devs were totally incompetent and incapable.

[@numberyellow]

@@benfubbs2432 utter nonsense. Star Theory (Formerly Uber Entertainment) had plenty of successful titles to their credit, at the time they got the contract for KSP2. TTI screwed them from the word go.

[@gaborcsuzi3671]

I don't know man.. All of these seem like a waste of time. KSP1 needed a lot of time to get to a great place. If you bought KSP2... you had to be an "extreme fan" or something, because it was evident even before peoples knew about KSP2 that a new game will be borderline broken for a while(kraken KHMM)... Guessing what happened, or condemning anyone is useless and pointless. The only lesson we can take from the current situation is that the devs gave us the game, and the publisher had no hands in it at all. Just follow the devs to the new game, and let KSP2 and Take-Two be forgotten for good.

[@benfubbs2432]

@@numberyellow I think they had three crap games they scammed players into paying for on kickstarter and that is it. Uber/Star Theory screwed players long before T2 ever came along and they didn't break the habit of using a crowdfunding strategy to make money before people learned how bad and buggy their product was.

[@richardwickens2923]

Agreed. KSP2 just had a rank smell about it from start to finish.

[@LordSesshaku]

Take Two somehow managed to completely destroy an entire franchise. I'll never forgive them for that. I just hope that KSA is a sucess and that somehow, they'll eventually get the KSP license. Because Kerbals deserve better than oblivion.

[@ruy7164]

What does KSA stand for? I can't find it.

[@LordSesshaku]

@@ruy7164 The video says it. Kitten Space Agency. It's not the real name, it's just the placeholder they made for the project. They were still seeing if the project is viable, the project wasn't written in stone. I think the project is now confirmed, they're gonna develop it. They might change the name, they might not. But for now, it's KSA.

[@memethief4113]

@@LordSesshakuI hope that the KSA developers acquired KSP 2 and are keeping it secret for now, if they actually stuck with kittens as being the in game species I just can’t imagine it being as iconic as KSP

[@kotzpenner]

Hey, Oblivion is pretty cool

[@JTCF]

That's big publishing for ya. It's not just KSP.

[@cristi724]

I am a firm believer that "Early Access" should not be allowed once publishers are involved. Early Access is a benefit that should be reserved for real indie studios. If you have the resources of a publisher behind you, you don't need Early Access, just finish your fucking games before launching them.

[@efu707]

I don't necessarily agree, there are some great indie publishers. Look into kitfox games, love what they do

[@mateusvmv]

6:30 1000% management decision thinking "if it exists, just re-use it" every single person who has programmed knows that it is often easier to write than to read

[@ABoringTool]

@@mateusvmv am engineer. Reuse is almost always better, but take two prevented devs from talking to anyone who wrote the old code, so that's just straight up not an option.

[@telzamahel]

That's funny, I always thought it was the other way around.

[@ABoringTool]

@@telzamahel software is counter intuitive. The first 90% takes 90% of the time. The last 10% also takes 90% of the time.

[@TheCrazyCapMaster]

Take Two aiming for a flashy shiny game over a complex technical one really feels like they didn’t bother to understand what they had with KSP… hidden under the hilariously bouncy Kerbals is a very robust, surprisingly realistic space simulator. It IS a technical game, so a pitch that wants to focus on that aspect is one that will be more likely to satisfy and grow the existing playerbase. At the very least, it shows that the folks behind that pitch understand the players and the game, which is the most important step forward. EDIT: changed “what they’d made with KSP” to “what they had with KSP”, I wasn’t aware they were latecomers who only bought KSP, didn’t really make it.

[@wrongthinker843]

All they had to do was grab KSP1, polish the graphics a bit, put it into a more powerful physics engine, and bam, instant classic.

[@xraze6906]

Well they didn't make KSP, so there's your answer. They merely bought it after it was mostly complete.

[@SomeOrdinaryJanitor]

they didn't do much with the original, all they did was buy it out and make a shitty launcher for the first game (which i don't think is even used anymore.)

[@kristiandevil]

I'm glad they didn't get the job back then actually. Probably would've gotten shut down as well because of corpo greed and a game with much more potential would get wasted. At least they get to develop KSA on their own terms now.

[@TheCrazyCapMaster]

@@SomeOrdinaryJanitor duly noted, both you and Xraze… edited slightly, I wasn’t aware of how late Take Two was getting their hands on KSP.

[@ZexMaxwell]

This explains SO MUCH on why there was push back from the devs to the community on fixing the "kraken" and noodle ships. they reused old code and no one knew how to fix it.

[@cgoodwin256]

"Slaying the Kraken" was what Ksp 2 was built around, what you on about?

[@ZexMaxwell]

​@@cgoodwin256 I present you a video one year ago on @MattLowne channel called "Wobbly Rockets Still Haunt KSP2: Developers Face Uphill Battle." Don't confuse what you heard from the devs and what actually happened.

[@ZexMaxwell]

@@cgoodwin256 I present you "Wobbly Rockets Still Haunt KSP2: Developers Face Uphill Battle"

[@cgoodwin256]

@@ZexMaxwell Then why did they advertise it as a cornerstone of KSP 2?

[@ZexMaxwell]

​@@cgoodwin256 Gaming marketing 101: Sell the player the idea of something getting fixed. Launch the game in AE without fixing said idea. Then walk back said promise and absorb the priceless backlash. Walk away with AE money. cuz its AE you should have known better. Edit: Not all AE games does this. many actually put in good faith efforts to implement their promise. satisfactory is one of them. but it's also up to the player as the consumer to never buy on promises and buy products based on what's already in the game.

[@jijonbreaker]

I've legit been thinking I've just been insane for years because nobody ever remembers the complete fuckery that was the forced bankruptcy of Star Theory. And any time I've brought it up as the game having been doomed from the start, people look at me like I'm crazy.

[@JonBrase]

@@jijonbreaker I mean, even before that whole bit of shenaniganery, that the game was in trouble, if not doomed, was obvious from the initial announcement. The announced feature set and announced schedule were incompatible. If the initial announcement had been for release in 2024, or for a much narrower scope, it would have been believable.

[@rainbowkrampus]

The really scuffed bit was all the KSP "fans" foaming at the mouth to blame Nate Simpson for all of this when ultimate responsibility was always at T2's feet.

[@JonBrase]

@@rainbowkrampus From ShadowZone's coverage, Star Theory does appear to have gotten the contract by promising T2 that they could do impossible things with the time and budget T2 was willing to offer, and Nate seems to have been a driving force in that (as he had a vision for the game that was simply unrealistic given the resources T2 was willing to commit). So I wouldn't say that Nate was blameless or that *all* the blame attaches to T2, but T2 was certainly too timid and bad at managing their contractors to deliver a project the community would accept.

[@ErgoProdigy]

People are slow.

[@Bretaxy]

I think there's a different reason

[@WasatchWind]

It's terrible how difficult it is to accomplish legal action because Take 2 deserves to get sued for this. This is blatant false advertising.

[@some-replies]

Wow, I really like how you delivered the information. Not a fan of the whole "talk directly into the camera" thing, but going to watch a few more and might even sub. You stuck to the topic, didn't try and sell me garbage, and talked to the audience like they're competent adults.

[@Cheater5445]

KSP2 was murdered KSP had murders commited in it Clear messaging on which game is better

[@jankington216]

I've done a lot of things to jeb but he's never died

[@commscan314]

No no, the KSP murders weren't murders, they were industrial accidents.

[@abhijeetpoudel5919]

Straus Zelnik is one of the greediest short term earnings loving snake that the Gaming industry has. Laying off all those devs and killing games while giving life and business advice on interviews online. He pisses me off.

[@JackFoxtrotEDM]

Yet people will still go head over heels for him when GTA VI comes out... Whatever happened to critical thinking?

[@airplanemaniacgaming7877]

something something ask Luigi for help idk? make bigwigs shit bricks whenever the common man says "get your shit together or get it rocked"?

[@spaman7716]

Out of all the greedy people in the entertainment industry, he is by far objectively the most evil

[@Distophic]

Strauss zelnick is why i'm not buying gta vi

[@Nemo7The7Pirate7]

Truly a final boss

[@forgetispageti]

I can’t believe how badly this has all been handled by Take Two, KSP 2 had so much potential.

[@Duckfisher0222]

It actually had allot of potential! :)

[@forgetispageti]

@@Duckfisher0222 true, I worded it pretty badly😔

[@Sunbro413]

Been a minute since I've seen a company fumble the field goal this hard...

[@cgoodwin256]

It was handled badly by Nate Simpson. Don't fall for this retcon. Ksp 2s failure can be laid completely at his feet. Nobody else.

[@IamCoalfoot]

I can. I mean, _it's Take Two._ There are plenty of publishers that could ruin KSP 2, Take Two was just the one that did it. Imagine _Konami_ trying their hand at it. We'd end up with Japan-exlusive Pachinko machines that drop pieces on the floor.

[@storminmormin14]

Estes Model Rockets is currently selling a KSP themed model rockets. There is no branding for anything other than “Kerbal Space Program” and Estes Rockets. The parts don’t have manufacture dates except for the printed body tube that has a date in September embossed in it in very small numbers. This is a KSP unique part so this deal was struck likely before the company was sold. The rocket is also KSP 2 themed not KSP 1 themed, despite “Kerbal Space Program 2” not being mentioned anywhere on the packaging. So it’s quite possible even Estes doesn’t know where their licensing fees are going. But they did know enough to sanitize as much of the product of post-KSP 1 stuff as they could manage.

[@oldgoat381]

The whimsy of the first KSP can easily be exemplified by the fact that someone I used to know once said something like "If [the Kerbals] gave me one useful individual I wouldn't have started systematically launching their entire species into the sun"

[@Zogger568]

8:13 I'm sorry, are you saying a more in depth sequel to a game known for its technical depth was rejected because they WANTED BETTER MERCHANDISING OPPORTUNITIES? Are publishers required to be lobotomized before getting the job?????

[@zacharythomas8617]

Multi-level marketing at work. Just saying.

[@gord163]

And the fact that Dean hall''s team RocketWerks's flagship game is an atmospherics station building simulator, that is set to eventually have space station and moving between planets( tbh not sure if that last part is still in the works or not) I think they have coding things for how they work in space down quite well. Again they have a working atmos system that tracks chemicals in the air to a mole in a 3d building game

[@DrRussian]

@@gord163 Stationeers has mining rockets, but I don't think moving between worlds is in the plans anytime soon. Too many other things are being worked on currently.

[@gord163]

@DrRussian yeah I figured, I knew we didn't have interplanetary, I just wasn't sure if they canceled/backburner or if they never really had plans for it couldn't remember tbf

[@WasatchWind]

Just another reason to be very wary of anyone in business. Very few of them care about the products and services they sell, they only love their own, internal game, of climbing a corporate ladder and the benefits that provides.

[@BoredPodcaster]

Nonsense like this REALLY needs to stop in the industry. At no point should you be charging people full price for an unfinished build of a game, and certainly not when the rights holder is UNKNOWN.

[@zacharythomas8617]

Steam would shrink if it were enforced...

[@rustyneedles3743]

You're kidding right bro? everyone paid into this, even the KSP content creators talked it up ... almost everyone ignored the red flags and paid full price, it wasn't till months after they slowed the "update cadence" that everyone started clicking on to what was happening and hell, actually, it wasn't even then, most gamers were still excusing them ... they only started crying when the team got fired and reality sunk in. The gaming community are to blame here, they fully paid for this, at full price, they got exactly what they paid for! it's not like their were warning signs years prior to release, hell, they delayed the release 14 f*cking times! and that still wasn't enough to wake gamers up, nope, they handed their money over so quickly and so did the KSP content creators, they talked it up like it was the next best thing, but now look at what they're saying ... lmfao

[@ImSimmin]

@@rustyneedles3743 so if you buy a TV from walmart and it doesnt work as advertised its your fault for not knowing the technical specs of the TV??? blaming customers for when a company does something shitty just lets the companies off the hook

[@rustyneedles3743]

@@ImSimmin Bro, you acting like the community didn't know what features the game released with and what features they were promised! ... hahahahaha, nice try bro, sorry you wasted your money ... oh and by all means, I'm not letting the company off, I've been outspoken well before the games launch, blocked even from both their twitter and Instagram for calling them out on their bullshit! but the community needs to stop playing dumb, they delayed this game 14 times and left the community in almost absolute silence for most if not all of the development cycle and gamers left right and center made excuses "this company" they were letting the company off the hook and worse, whilst handing them their money

[@unblessedcoffee1457]

Said at the time, before release, that the game had all the worst red flags of an early access disaster. Strange noises from the developers, bizarre video blogs, and endless delays and dramas. The only reason it got any traction was the kerbal name attached to it.

[@twitchy.mp3]

@@unblessedcoffee1457 i got it for that reason alone pretty much I saw ksp2 and no matter what I wanted to give to the devs to push that development bc I know ksp isn’t the kinda game that pulls a big crowd like fps games In hind sight I should have waited and probably wont buy anything EA ever again

[@SirButtz]

Also an early access game sold for full price from people who could fund the full production

[@OtherDalfite]

That and the fact the KSP fan base is made of a bunch of idiots. I'm not even joking when I say this, the KSP fan base is full of some of the most gullible self righteous idiots that will smugly defend the devs until something like this happens. Complete red flag ignorers.

[@halxen]

@@SirButtz Steam Early Access isn't meant to be for "teams who couldn't fund the full production".

[@Bretaxy]

​@@SirButtzLet the experts talk about this 'sir'. 😂

[@KibaSnowpaw]

The story of *Kerbal Space Program 2* (KSP2) is a prime example of how poor management, unrealistic expectations, and corporate greed can derail even the most beloved franchises. The video highlights several key points that deserve further scrutiny: 1. Mismanagement and Unrealistic Scope: * Initially, the project under Star Theory was pitched with a modest budget of $10 million and a two-year development cycle to iterate on Kerbal Space Program 1. However, the vision for KSP2 expanded significantly to include features like interstellar travel and colonies-without increasing the budget or timeline accordingly. * Take-Two’s acquisition of the project exacerbated these issues. Instead of supporting a larger vision with proper resources, the company restricted hiring and enforced the reuse of KSP1’s codebase, likely carrying over significant technical debt. Rebuilding the code could have laid a stronger foundation for the ambitious goals of KSP2, but short-term cost-saving measures prevailed. 2. Corporate Maneuvering: * Take-Two’s handling of Star Theory was, frankly, predatory. Instead of acquiring the studio outright, Take-Two hired away a third of its staff and moved development to their newly formed studio, The Intercept. This move effectively killed Star Theory in 2020. * Even after shifting development to The Intercept, Take-Two imposed tight deadlines, culminating in the 2023 Early Access release. This version of the game was far from feature-complete and failed to meet even the baseline expectations set by *KSP1*, alienating fans and leading to abysmal review scores. 3. Always-Online and Ownership Issues: * The case of KSP2 also touches on broader concerns in gaming, such as ownership and access. Games increasingly rely on always-online features or server-side operations, even for single-player experiences. When support for these systems ends, players lose access, regardless of their legal ownership of the game. While workarounds like creating local servers or emulating server behavior exist, they require immense technical effort and are often infeasible for most players. * Compounding this, KSP2 remains available on Steam at a premium price, even though its ownership is unclear following Take-Two’s sale of Private Division. The revenue from these sales is going to an unknown entity, leaving both players and the broader community in the dark. 4. Impact on Developers and Fans: * The closure of The Intercept in 2024 left its developers, including creative director Nate Simpson, out of work and emotionally devastated. Simpson’s video demonstrates the human toll of these corporate decisions, as he visibly struggles with the collapse of his dream project. * Fans, meanwhile, were sold an incomplete game at a high price, with little transparency about the state of development or future plans. Early Access is often justified as a way to fund ongoing development, but KSP2’s situation demonstrates how this model can be abused. 5. Lessons from Other Studios: * It’s worth noting the contrasting approach taken by RocketWerkz, founded by DayZ creator Dean Hall. Their project, *Kitten Space Agency* (KSA), prioritizes technical performance and scalability before adding "gamey" features. By focusing on a solid foundation first, they are taking a more measured and sustainable approach to development-something that KSP2 sorely lacked. In conclusion, KSP2’s development and release are a cautionary tale for both developers and players. It highlights the dangers of corporate overreach, the misuse of Early Access, and the consequences of prioritizing short-term profits over long-term vision and quality. Take-Two’s mishandling of the project not only hurt the developers and fans but also tarnished the legacy of a beloved franchise. The gaming community deserves better transparency, accountability, and respect from publishers.

[@efu707]

why are you posting a chat gpt summary

[@rafaelcruzs2]

I won’t lie: I’m not even upset about that. This kind of situation is exactly why I never pay full price for unfinished sequel games, specially when they’re closer to a tech demo than an actual game. Something tells (aka bullshit-o-meter) me a studio willing to make a sequel to a beloved game should release at least something playable from the start. Ksp 1 works just fine enough and have a great modding community. We’ll be fine for some time

[@Beef1188]

Those of us who used to enjoy AAA gaming already knew a decade ago about the insufferable gluttony of large game publishing houses, and how you do not, under any circumstance, sell your ass off to one of them!

[@steel5897]

At the same time, large publishers do keep things in check by enforcing deadlines and proper budgets. Without them, you can get something like Star Citizen, where the development never ends and the developers can spin their wheels and collect paychecks from their fans directly indefinitely, with no real need or incentive to ship a finished product.

[@nonotorious1467]

As soon as that happened i uninstalled KSP.

[@danilooliveira6580]

the fact that Steam still allows the game to be sold as early access is a crime. if the development studio doesn't exist anymore, then it shouldn't be allowed to be an Early Access game, because it implies the game is in development.

[@d4rks1gm39]

It is literally a crime in Texas, they should 100% have to divulge whether a game is no longer in development. I don't think Valve should initially take 100% of the blame for this that should go to the publisher/developer, nor do I think the Early Access banner is enough. However after some point Valve should 100% be held liable for continuing to sell the product when it is public knowledge it's dead.

[@VerGiLL1]

I fail to see how the early acess state matter when Steam explicitly tells you to only buy an early acess game if you like the state the game is in already.

[@SimuLord]

People should know better than to buy Early Access games. We as consumers enable this sort of behavior. Oh well, eventually you get burned one too many times and that's when you wise up, there's just always a sucker born every minute.

[@gidedin]

@@d4rks1gm39 I dont believe Valve should have any blame here. Imagine having to know the exact stituation of every single game that they allow on their store. The blame is entirely on Take2 (Private Division now). Valve doesnt have a cristal ball to know if a game is still in development of no or the update is just taking time. They should (and must) allow every refund request now.

[@jamestaylor9887]

​@@SimuLordthe problem isn't early access. Early Access is incredibly beneficial for both players and development studios. However, the first failure was the pricing. The perfect price for early access is between $20-$40. The benefit for the player is that they get to be apart of the development over the years as well as assist in finding bugs. The benefit for the developers is immediately funding, they can gauge interest, they also get to see how the game functions on a very wide range of hardware. It also allows them to find bugs and exploits that they wouldn't otherwise find in a timely manner.

[@Raz0rking]

The whole story behind the game is a perfect picture how corporate greed destroyed something (potentially) great.

[@pa_alia]

Yep, during the whole video I kept thinking this sounds exactly like something that'd happen in my company if we were game developers..

[@Raz0rking]

@pa_alia The one I work for too. 3 Years (or so) ago the Children took over from their dad and now they try to play big shot CEOs with cost reduction, profit maximising and so on.

[@alextupa5573]

KSP was so formative in my youth, I built a gaming PC just to play it back when it was on version .17 and logged over 1k hours over the years. KSP 2 being a victim of management abuse and turned into a scam is probably one of the most painful gaming tragedies I've experienced.

[@aLfRemArShMeLlOw]

I very much appreciate you for linking all sources. Great video as usual!

[@d4rks1gm39]

It violates Texas consumer protections, as Take Two explicitly told customers months ago that they were NOT shutting down the studios, when they did. Under Texas law it's illegal to withhold information from consumers that may influence their decision to buy the product. Valve hides behind the Early Access banner; that's not enough IMO. There are plenty of great EA titles that go many months between even a comment from developers. Kerbal 2 should absolutely be removed and refund everyone that has purchased since private division was shuttered. Edit: Thought I'd put the relevant article. Of course this implies malice, which would need to be proven in court. Texas DTPA Section 17.46B (9) advertising goods or services with intent not to sell them as advertised; - bit of a stretch I admit; I'd make the argument that leaving the roadmap on the page would mislead the average consumer. At this point someone involved knows full well the product will never get to that point. (24) failing to disclose information concerning goods or services which was known at the time of the transaction if such failure to disclose such information was intended to induce the consumer into a transaction into which the consumer would not have entered had the information been disclosed;

[@No_True_Scotsman]

@@d4rks1gm39 it can't be that simple, if it was, companies would be forced to reveal private business deals all the time

[@SkorjOlafsen]

Officially the studio has not been shut down, it just happens to have no employees at the moment. Take2 has studios with no employees for 20 years that have never been shut down. Since Take2 never admitted the studio was shut down, it's all perfectly fine. That's the world we live in. The lesson here is: never pre-order anything, and refund a game after 90 minutes of play if it's not fully cooked. Never give any studio any benefit of any doubt, because there's always corpos lurking somewhere.

[@zerotimeleft]

@@SkorjOlafsen before 90 mins*

[@jimby812]

@@SkorjOlafsen legally they might have covered their butts, but gaming journalists need to always pin shit like this on Take Two and hold them accountable.

[@dancingferret6654]

@@No_True_Scotsman Companies are forced to reveal sensitive info all the time in civil court. It's called discovery.

[@michaelmonstar4276]

0:33 *Take-Two should be ashamed. - Period. - Just in general.

[@drwhave]

all day, every day

[@thenegromancer4695]

After cancelling brutal legend 2 they been downhill

[@AnotherAustin-z7b]

More like "tank 2 games then close the studio"

[@Keatosis_Quohotos]

Pretty sure "the intercept" is a press outlet and the studio was called "intercept games"

[@lltoon]

@@Keatosis_Quohotos Bellular is concerned with shovelling out content and prolonging videos for the sake of views. I doubt they care about accuracy.

[@e2rqey]

​@@lltoonthis. I'm pretty sure he just gets a bunch of outlines written by someone else and then uses them to speak on these topics and look like he has a clue what he's actually talking about.

[@KarazolaX]

@@lltoon it's really not that big a deal, stuff like this gets through the cracks sometimes

[@kmurphy0620]

@@KarazolaX I was just thinking about how short and sweet the video actually was. Just another internet cynic telling us how the mistake was made because it's all about the money.

[@2crzy4uall]

It kept throwing me every time he said it.

[@jamesfloyd6693]

Gabe knows who it is - 10:06

[@Keksemann666]

@@jamesfloyd6693 i doubt that, steam probably just got a new bank account they deposit to.

[@Marconius6]

As any programmer can tell you, management deciding what code to use is *always* a good sign...

[@DMBLaan]

It's so sad that Take Two keeps getting away with bull shit like this because they own 2K and Rockstar. There's this, there's all the bull shit they pulled on SupMatto back when Borderlands 3 was about to come out. But unfortunately, the vast majority of people playing games don't care or even know all this is happening.

[@archmagemc3561]

Take two has always been like this. Remember Evolve?

[@DMBLaan]

@archmagemc3561 Exactly, but the general gaming public only see GTA6 and aren't aware of all this other stuff

[@Vildjur]

It hurts me deeply, but I ain't buying the new Civilization game, just because money goes to Take2, not one cent from my pocket will ever go to Take2

[@DMBLaan]

@Vildjur well, all the GTA6 purchase will make up for you skipping. I say if you REALLY want the game, might as well get it. But it's your call.

[@Vildjur]

@@DMBLaan I mean, it is true that a single person skipping a single game will make no difference, I am still stubborn and feel scammed by them :D

[@Captain_Razor_88]

"Take Two Give None" should be the real name.

[@DrRussian]

Funny thing is, In it's current state KSP2 isn't even worth setting sail for.

[@oswaldjh]

Doesn't steam have a rule that early access is temporary and must be followed up with a proper release within a set timeline?

[@benpeters-brown5317]

@oswaldjh that was a result i suspect of games like ksp 2, wether they will apply it retroactively to such games is unclear

[@Lord_zeel]

@@benpeters-brown5317 At the very least, they need to stop selling it.

[@Inojin67]

Apparently not, cogmind has been in early access for more than a decade lol

[@xraze6906]

That's Valve's new rules on Season Passes you're thinking of.

[@SomeOrdinaryJanitor]

see, idk if they really should, i remember seeing somewhere that the Early Access is what it is because developers need ways to test things, develop things further, test public reception for their game and additions, as well as seeing what works and what doesn't, because something that might work for a time, may not work so well later down the line. A summary is pretty much it was intended as a sort of "trust system" for testing and trying new things with a sample size of the player base with the caveat that it's not a complete game, rather than an excuse for shitty game development.

[@wasdnc4132]

Thanks for the video. I was just looking at the game in my library yesterday, wondering why there hadn't been any updates.

[@Norrikan]

8:00 Making their initial pitch about tech? To execs and/or managers? Are they mad? I don't work in the same field, but I have clients whose eyes start glossing over when a presentation slide contains more than maybe three word or any number that isn't related to profit or growth.

[@SimuLord]

A Seattle business actually admitted to the city that their mass firing was an actual layoff? This city's kinda notorious for employers skirting city and state labor laws by manufacturing the flimsiest possible reasons to fire someone for cause (I can't confirm this directly but I bet the folks at Employment Security for the state of Washington don't take any claim of fired-for-cause at face value anymore.) Got caught up in it myself in 2020, when a COVID layoff turned into a four-month fight with the state because the employer tried to duck its responsibilities for unemployment. Things must be really dire for KSP2.

[@SkorjOlafsen]

Yup, the studio was just too small for Take2 to even bother screwing them. The first the player base knew the game was dead was the WARN act notice.

[@Avendesora]

I was fired one county south of Seattle back in June and the process of being approved for unemployment was a little bit drawn out, but it didn’t take much at all to convince whoever was processing my information that I hadn’t been fired for reasons related to my job and I got approved.

[@Takovacs]

Every time I hear you say "The Intercept" it's really jarring. It was Intercept Games, not "the intercept". Understand that's unlikely to be changed now.

[@evilotis01]

yeah. The Intercept is a website.

[@stykytte]

It's Bellular news, it's a guy repeating tech articles without fully understanding them or having any knowledge of the subject at hand. What did you expect?

[@Takovacs]

@stykytte Better, I expected better. I've not come across this channel before, and the lack of fact checking just means I probably won't want to watch any more of their videos. Thanks for the confirmation.

[@AzoreanProud]

It's free publicity

[@Bruh-zx2mc]

I only just came across this channel as well. Looking at the rest of it, it seems fairly obvious now that it exists to produce slop.

[@alaeriia01]

Kitten Space Agency feels like a Planet Coaster or Cities Skylines 1 moment.

[@EntakarA]

Wait, there's a cities skylines 2???

[@alaeriia01]

@EntakarA apparently, it's not very good.

[@jackhames3874]

@@alaeriia01 eh it’s ok, not really an improvement on the first at all. I’ve played it for a few days and it’s got some slight changes but overall it’s not really worth it imo

[@elitely6748]

Take Two at this point deserves to be boycotted. I feel bad for some of the devs, trying to work hard on a beloved project only to be screwed by Take Two the entire way and then be forced to say nothing. You did a great job putting everything together in this video, the fact that Take Two has probably done even more scummy things we don't know about plus this is why they 100% deserve to be boycotted. Steam should refund every single player too

[@gamersbarbershop]

As a retired 2k player, (over 15 years of straight day one 2k purchases) i could’ve told you take two interactive was a shit can company

[@WasatchWind]

Sadly some people like me had no idea about their reputation. I totally fell for it and now they're laughing as they drive away with a truck load of our money.

[@TheNightquaker]

The fact that KSP2 is still being sold for full price even during the Steam Winter Sale is insane

[@Koldatt]

Gotta squeeze that wallet. Some poor idiot (like me ) will buy it

[@littlevaquero5516]

@@Koldatt you can refund it

[@Koldatt]

@@littlevaquero5516 not after 2 hours of gameplay

[@lizzy2edgy]

@@littlevaquero5516 Please tell me a method that works with more than 2 hours ran, i have 52 denyed requests now because it ran overnight in my PCS background cause i got it early enough on it legitimately couldnt even function on my machine

[@tbird-z1r]

Don't buy it. If you keep paying for something, people will keep selling it.

[@firefox5926]

3:44 what happened? it got bought up by a AAA publisher and from there well its fate was sealed it was only ever a matter of time

[@Endless_Jaguar]

@@firefox5926 AAA is the worst thing to happen to any artform since religion was invented.

[@NielsGx]

It was doomed since they choose to stay on Unity game engine

[@BunkerAnon]

Take 2 doesn't deserve support. GTAVI will be more greased to digital markets than be even V.

[@TheBusinessMindset_]

As soon as you said take two interactive, it became pretty clear what the issue was

[@MarkStockman-b4j]

There is a theory going around the Internet that says when a business is run by technical people, it has the potential to thrive, because the focus is on providing a quality product at a price the market will support. But once the "bean counters" take over, the focus shifts to squeezing as much money out of customers as possible while providing them with as little as possible in return. This results in disaster. So many examples- General Electric, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Boeing- the list goes on and on.

[@darwinism8181]

Take Two is an arm of private equity at this point. The biggest thing private equity does is gambling on big wins and then if those wins don't instantly happen stripping the company for parts and then selling it off when it invariably starts to fail because every supporting pillar has been trimmed away so that the loss of capital is the least for those who actually matter. It's been pretty obvious from the start that KSP2 was the result of this. They saw a niche but popular IP as a potential big win, but since these types never care to understand the businesses they invest in beyond, "Sometimes these things make lots of money, and I want lots of money," they made a ton of idiotic decisions. But they don't care, because that's what making money is to these people - individual businesses do not matter if they don't produce a ROI and it doesn't matter that they are the reason there's no ROI because they've already moved on to stripping the wire out of the walls at another business. The people doing this are never penalized and they are effectively rewarded because one successful bet is enough to keep them going after they ruin a dozen companies that could've succeeded just not as quickly and as much as private equity demanded.

[@rhaeven]

Mmmmmm, capitalism

[@0x0404]

KSP requires actual physics simulations. Bugs of which can take months to figure out. They had no chance.

[@SBBurzmali]

Not really, KSP fakes it every chance it can get. Gravity, air resistance, stress loading on components, all use substantial shortcuts to speed up the game. KSP 2 was trying to "improve" on those as I understand it, but that wasn't a great idea.

[@Bretaxy]

Yeah... I don't think you know what you are talking about.

[@SBBurzmali]

@@Bretaxy Not sure what you are getting at. Are you suggesting that KSP is running 3+ body simulations for gravity? Finite element analysis for stress loading? Calculating thermal transfer rates from atmospheric heating to check if cryogenic fuels have been overheated and ruptured their tanks?

[@Bretaxy]

@@SBBurzmali What? I didn't reply to you.

[@chefffs]

take two needs to be held accountable by steam.

[@joeking3181]

"The scale of those projects was, candidly, on the smaller side, and we're in the business of making great big hits." This statement alone is such a slap in the face to both the developers of the amazing first game that stands as one of the best space based sims of all time, the developers of the second game who were clearly eager and excited to be making a game that could live up to and improve upon that first game, and all the fans who loved the first game and eager anticipated the second. Take Two is digging it's own grave and I'll be here eating popcorn and watching them crash and burn like a kerbal rocket.

[@GrowlingBearMedia]

The second i learned of "take 2" took ownership of the KSP franchise,... I immediately mentally abandoned the idea of ever playing it. Fuck take 2, after GTA online, never trust these people ever again.

[@BillyWinnJr]

Man it is sad every time I see a video with KSP2. I remember going to the Star Theory studio and even the ESA Amsterdam event and I tell you, the people made me have faith even though we could see issues. I sincerely hope that the old team is doing well. Yes, the game was priced poorly. T2 definitely mishandled things and ghosted people and outright ignored us when we requested any info. The fact that someone is holding the IP and the game is STILL for sale and everything is gone dark has bummed me out. I haven't bothered doing a video on KSP2, it feels so personal now.

[@drancon101]

One of the rumors about the mystery buyer, is that they're a private equity firm (or something like that), and that KSP and the rest of private divisions assets are now lost to the treasure horde. But thats just one of the many rumors. Even when this was all still fresh and people were going to steam for refunds, when everyone found out about the studio shutdown, there was just not enough outrage to push steam to issue refunds, and is also why it will never be removed from the store. Only reason why helldiver players to exceeded the set refund time go their refunds, during the sony fiasco, was because there was so much outrage and push.

[@samuelpaik]

One further note about the new publicly unknown owner: Estes Industries (model rockets) got a licensing deal at the beginning of December. Currently they have a Kerbal themed model rocket, Jeb and Val figures, and rocket ornaments.

[@tjasra]

@@samuelpaik Well, December is when the public learned about the deal. Given that orders for the new merch went live at the same time, the deal was likely in the works for awhile. Given that Estes is a private company and the new owner of Private Division and all its assets is unknown, we'll likely never learn when that deal was signed.

[@GruntoSkunko]

Private equity should be illegal.

[@TheSpoonyCroy]

@@drancon101 This is incorrect about the helldiver's things. It was allowed because what Sony did was break EU law. So it was in valves best interest to give refunds before they get slapped again like they did in Australia leading to the current refund policy they have. So HD2 is in limbo in many countries where it shouldn't have been sold there but will no longer sell there. So you can keep playing if you want but no neighbors to join you

[@etepeteseat7424]

Regardless of what ultimately happens with KSP, what Take Two did ought to be grounds for a fraud suit. They were actively lying in public press releases about the state of the game and its dev team for months before the sale of those assets while continuing to allow buyers to purchase the game in good faith that it was still being actively developed.

[@japhy4]

So I am a long time KSP fan and player. Newest News in this saga is that people are no longer able to log into Private division accounts. this means that all games purchased directly from Private division or in the case of KSP from SQUAD are no longer avaliabe to the people who purchased them. This has been the case for almost a week now.

[@Phil31er]

What mic do u use ? it sounds amazing

[@moonasha]

forcing them to use old code is just ... insane. I can't even imagine that. Especially since KSP was made by inexperienced devs.

[@benfubbs2432]

This is a lie, the devs were very proud to tell everyone that the game was so delayed because they were not using any code from the original game.

[@snuffeldjuret]

@@benfubbs2432 two things can be true at the same time

[@galvendorondo]

I bought KSP2 when the science mode update was released. I didn’t play much of KSP1 because the UI put me off, but my first ever successful Mun landing with that dynamic music system gave me so much joy, I don’t think there’s a game out there that can recreate it. I have since then shifted to KSP1, but man am I not bummed out about TakeTwo’s handling of this game. It had SO much potential.

[@havelockvetinari9395]

You can mod KSP1 to look better than KSP2 with all the features that were promised by T2 and more. I believe that there is also a mod to make the UI to look like KSP2. There is a mod that even adds a wormhole and a supermassive black hole so you can recreate the movie Interstellar.

[@galvendorondo]

@ oh yeah I’m aware of the extent to which the mods can improve the game. But some of the modders are straight up charging money for mods and that I cannot and will not support, especially the graphics mods.

[@havelockvetinari9395]

@galvendorondo to get the very latest version of Blackracks volumetric clouds and Parallax they ask you to pay about the cost of a cup of coffee to help support them. You only have to pay once. There are free versions of both these mods which are amazing anyway if you object to paying a few dollars. I personally have no problem bunging both of them a few dollars so they can keep doing what they are doing. I've been playing KSP since 2013 and I must have spent several thousand hours in KSP. I still haven't landed on every body.

[@hyacinthdavidson3123]

@@galvendorondo why wont you support people making money off their own work? wild opinion to have.

[@galvendorondo]

@@hyacinthdavidson3123 Because it's a mod, mods are a community driven effort to better and augment the video games you like, and adding a price tag to a mod adds a barrier to entry that should never be there. Plus, making mods cost money is profiting off of the product of someone else (the game). It sets an absolutely horrible precedent and I don't think you understand that it's beyond just "people making money off their own work".

[@CybrSlydr]

I've tried numerous times to get a refund from Steam. I've sent them at least 6 requests for a refund, telling them I was sold a promise that was not delivered upon and the game is dead. I have 54 minutes of play time as a day one buyer and Steam always denies my request because I'm past the two week deadline, despite having played the game for less than an hour.

[@jesusramirezromo2037]

Legally, You're not entitled to get a refund, They gave you a product, That's all they need to cover their ass

[@dancingferret6654]

Check to see your State's laws involving fraud. In Texas, for example, its illegal for a seller to withhold information that would cause a buyer to change their mind. It's pretty clear at this point Take Two had no expectation of KSP2 making it to full release, but then released into Early Access anyways.

[@ItsJustDoctor]

Get an Australian friend, use their billing address, use a vpn, ect ect. Steam is very willing to given Australians a refund

[@bepamungkas]

​@dancingferret6654 he's a day one buyer. Between his purchase and "at this point," there are already multiple updates released.

[@xynces.L]

why left it to rot for 2 weeks when u only have 1 hr of playtime

[@Euruzilys]

I have a rule when I consider early access game, or any games that promise future updates. I see if I’m content with the current price and game content or not? If I am, then I buy that game and never assume any good update is gonna come. Works so far to avoid feeling scammed.

[@Kisoithe]

KSA was such a breath of fresh air to hear announced, with HarvestR (i think thats his username?) and many other important people on the team, i have really high hopes. Apparently dean hall made KSP mods before he made the the original DayZ mod, so he knows what he's doing imo

[@fertileplanet7756]

We'll know that Take-Two did this on purpose when we find out space travel is a feature in GTA 6. Right now, it sure seems like they did it on purpose.

[@therocinante3443]

...space travel in GTA? No thanks, never gonna buy that.

[@snuffeldjuret]

@@therocinante3443 it would be cool though, it is from florida, so a trip around the moon would just be a fun thing

[@napalmballwipes]

@@therocinante3443 maybe as an alien abduction easter egg, or peyote esq trip but ye not as any sort of regular mechanic

[@GloriousSwordHorse]

Ruined by managers who knows nothing about coding who thinks they know better than the devs about coding. A classic and tragic tale.

[@zachbryant8405]

The parasitic cycle of sales people getting promoted: sell an already great product, get promoted, think they know how to make great products, kill the product, jump ship and repeat

[@nodesais]

Its amazing they had the rights and source code of the first game and couldn't even do feature parity. They didn't have to make any new features just reach parity. This shows how much of a better developer the original company was.

[@simonnachreiner8380]

Honestly I'm quite happy that AAA publishing is a dying industry. A small well made game by a small and enthusiastic team is far better than any AAA slop fest. Take two basically became a microcosm of the entire industry.

[@Sgt_SealCluber]

I don't remember if this was part of the recent Steam changes, but "Early Access" needs some legal controls put on it. Like you have to set clear milestones for development and if you don't meet those milestones your customers can get a full refund. And if they are no updates in a certain timeframe the game gets pulled from the store and all purchases refunded. This and digital ownership rights need to get legally hammered out as well.

[@SankoshSaha_01]

KSP 2 was redundant, graphics werent everything, companies need to understand that

[@triplehelix3207]

KSP 2 needed to happen because of the jank and spaghetti code of the original putting a cap on what was physically possible within the game without invoking the kraken. KSP 2 had a good reason to exist was never given it deserved

[@XBluDiamondX]

If it was done right, building a KSP 2 from the ground up could have opened up potential that the code from the original made impossible. It was just horrendously botched.

[@TJPrime99]

As others have said, KSP2 was an opportunity to remake the whole game without as much spaghetti code - something easier to work on and add more features. We never got to see it, but it would have added large scale player built colonies, multiple star systems to explore with the parts to allow for it, and a dedicated multiplayer system. These have been done via mods in KSP1, but with better code to build off and a more experienced team (the original studio was a marketing company), these features could have been much more polished. It would've been great to see it - we weren't far from colonies apparently. It'd be so cool for the KSP 2 Unity file to "accidentally" become open source

[@TheKianykin]

I would happily take ksp 1 graphics, if it meant we got a better physics engine and interstellar

[@RC386spectre]

I feel like a sequel was justified to exist, there were 2 main appeals for KSP2 for me beyond the graphics: - interstellar travel - colony development Some other aspects sounded cool (better graphics, multiplayer, more parts, better mission structure), but as someone with 2,000+ hours, I know those wouldn't be tremendously sustaining in the long term

[@Glowie-Umbreon]

"We're in the business of making big hits" is a disgusting phrase to me. The idea that the only games of value are the ones that you pour tons of money into and rake in millions of dollars

[@BitterBlack]

@@Glowie-Umbreon Yeah. A statement like that is basically the death of art. And sadly they get to get away with it because of all their sports games, GTA 6, etc making sure they rake in the money year over year.

[@krisradowski]

That's why I don't trust Zelnick, when he's talking about GTA VI; if he sabotaged Star Theory to please shareholders, he could sabotage R* as well

[@jimskywaker4345]

Yea, I'm a big Planetary Annihilation fan, so I never liked them for the death of Star Theory.

[@TheSpoonyCroy]

I mean why would they screw over GTA6. GTA 5 was their cash cow. We will likely see a repeat of 5, a great single player where we are promised expressions but they never happen because shark cards were too profitable and they need devs to feed the multiplayer with junk to buy.

[@krisradowski]

@@TheSpoonyCroy because their shareholders care more about the messaging, and Dan Houser was from old generation of writers?

[@JarthenGreenmeadow]

Most people now a days dont know this but KSP was one of the first early access games. It literally spearheaded the Steam Greenlight system which has essentially become an industry standard. KSP is a giant upon whose shoulders MANY games stand. The entire community should take note of this fact. I'm not saying Early Access is always good, god known when Greenlight first came out it was full of scams. But as a KSP Alpha adopter: When it works there is no replacement. I pirated the game at 0.16 and bought it at .17 Easily the best purchase of my gaming career. I've put hundreds of hours into it. I never really go further than the Mun/Minimus but there is so much content where you can spend ages there before even moving to Eve/Gilly especially with contracts. I like rescuing Kerbals, doing Tourism and constructing bases/stations. So much has been added now. It's cool af to be able to do repairs, build in EVA or mine ore. I remember when those were all Mods you had to install...

[@kemi242]

It would be pretty cool if they'd open source it, and let the community finish it.

[@LilaHikes]

The only people Take-Two answers to are shareholders. The sooner gamers realize this is how all publicly traded companies operate, the better off the gaming community will be. _"But I got to have GTA VI"_ Chit is never gonna change until we do as consumers.

[@GruntoSkunko]

It will never change until capitalism is overthrown.

[@snuffeldjuret]

@@GruntoSkunko and then you have nothing :P

[@Bomberman66Hell]

@@LilaHikes GTA VI will suck but fanboys get rabid whenever i point out the obvious

[@EladarImm]

In my experience with this, when you change the publisher on Steam it goes through approval and takes time before it's updated; and the money from sales is held back for some time when ownership changes (Believe it's 3 months, if I remember right).

[@Zilego]

As a customer, Kerbal Space Program 2 also looked like a mess on release. More expensive, less complete, more bugs, and every new major feature to justify the "2" wasn't even in the game and instead a promise. It really felt like a cash grab, and it really was. All the new features on their steam page weren't real.

[@rustyneedles3743]

are you one of the losers who actually bought the game? hehe ...

[@whuzzzup]

I looked at the links in the description where that guy talks about KSA (never heard of it before) and literally one of the first things I read is "Dealing with Floating Point precision loss". This alone sold me - those guys seem like the real deal.

[@moverandashaker1996]

As of right now, the Recent Reviews rating is 9%. Looks like your vid had an impact.

[@Wiimeiser]

Hopefully that becomes the all time average, not just recent.

[@archmagemc3561]

Take two was like this 10 years ago as well. Remember Evolve?

[@Pandaxtor]

That was more on turtlerock but then people didnt learn and bought the back4blood hype.

[@archmagemc3561]

@@Pandaxtor It was a bit of both TBH. Take two didn't read the room and turtlerock promised the moon. Granted Evolve came out today it'd be way more popular as people are fine with MTX now.

[@wills.5762]

@@Pandaxtor Definitely more on take two. Turtlerock had some problems of their own, but take two is what killed the game.

[@thenickseditious]

They shouldn't be ashamed, they should be sued into oblivion by the customers and trade commissions. They clearly knew they were firing that dev team and wanted to still make back the money so they pushed it out.

[@rodrigo_dm]

Watch as people are still hopeful with GTA6 even though everything wrong with the franchise in the last 10 years was Take-Two's doings. I will never give money to anything remotely related to take-two, fuck that company.

[@benr.4238]

When TakeTwo pulled the plug, Intercept was basically days to weeks away from releasing the next major update to KSP2 that would have added resource gathering and resource management into the game. They never released that update, but it must be sitting around somewhere, they were basically done with the update and ready for it to go live. I really wish they had been allowed to release that last update first before killing the game. Also how is this not a false advertising case? They marketed and sold the game just like any other product. People(including myself) bought this game expecting certain features to be available at some future date. Colony building, interstellar gameplay, etc. I was promised an engine powered by nuclear bombs. I would not have purchased this game if I had known it would end up being KSP1 but with better graphics and less features.

[@Texas240]

People need to read the fine print. You bought a license (not the game) to use the software (aka game) as it CURRENTLY is. You are not, per the purchase agreement, buying ANYTHING that the devs promised might happen at some point. "Bought this game expecting certain features at some point, " is entirely on the consumer...until either Steam starts better policing early access promises or laws are put in place to do so.

[@gonzotw]

Why does he keep calling Intercept Games "The Intercept"? The proper name is right there in the video.

[@Lil_Schlonky213]

The fact the game is still on sale is a real issue

[@jasongrundy1717]

They should have never hired those dogs.

[@maxmach4361]

Take-Two, aren't those the people who release same WWE game every year?

[@quantumkn1ght314]

When KSP2 got announced originally (before I knew anything about it) I was so excited. Updated graphics, new parts, new planets, it was a dream come true. Then I had to watch as it all came crashing down, and suddenly I knew I’d never get a proper sequel to one of my favorite games.

[@Foostini]

Blows my mind how Take-Two seems to fly under the radar of super evil gaming companies. Constant trademark bullshit including trying to bully It Takes Two into changing their name, blocking mods for GTA including SENDING THUGS TO A GUY'S HOUSE, the list is almost as long as what we'd expect from EA or Ubisoft but somehow people haven't caught on.

[@pedrojustice]

you make your bed with the devil You take it's boon and believe it's sweet words Don't come crying when the devil tricks you and all is lost including your soul It happens every. single. time.

[@ericneo2]

This is one of those cases where valve should have stepped in and forcibly refunded the customers to send a message to publishers that this will not be accepted. You could argue it's fraud because it's being sold as early access but it's not in development anymore.

[@R4780Y]

You're never garunteed a finished game with early access

[@LoneWolf0648]

remember Take 2 being the parental beast behind gta leads me to think gta6 is just going to be a cash grab

[@zacharythomas8617]

...not gonna lie haven't bothered with GTA, since San Andreas. Nothing noteworthy to be seen.

[@dgh6g33gf]

@@zacharythomas8617 Gta IV main story was incredible, you missed out big time.

[@mrdewes]

@@LoneWolf0648 they are milking gta5 for a decade. GTA6 will be even worse.

[@starhammer5247]

@@zacharythomas8617 You should try GTA IV, probably one of the best stories in the series.

[@punking488]

You mean to say that the devs with integrity got fired? What a shocker..... I'm so surprised.... Not

[@Isaard]

As soon as I learned they were reusing KSP1 code, I knew it was going to be a disaster. Never thought it would be this bad though...

[@P4INKiller]

Why? Code gets reused. That's how it's supposed to work.

[@OctagonalSquare]

@@P4INKillerbecause the old code wasn’t ever going to be compatible with multiplayer. The way it does time warps alone would break all multiplayer interactions.

[@the-answer-is-42]

​​​@@P4INKiller Code reuse itself isn't a bad thing, it's actually a very good thing overall. However, if you're going from version 1 to version 2, you should be allowed to rework things with the lessons you learned from making version 1. So mandating code reuse might not be the best in that situation (but it's also hard to know given the provided information). Either way, I don't think it alone is what broke KSP 2.

[@alexsiemers7898]

@@P4INKillerbut code that’s been left unoptimized at the bottom of the game engine for a decade needs to be rewritten if you plan on doing anything more substantial with it.