Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Inside Annapurna Interactive's Mass Walkout

ign.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 79 posts

Re: Inside Annapurna Interactive's Mass Walkout

#51

Post by Wowfunhappy »

orlp wrote: post #29
seanhunter wrote: post #14

For reference, Annapurna Interactive are not a mainstream publisher churning out franchise type games, but tend to publish unique games, some of them considered classics: - Outer Wilds - Stray - Lorelei and the laser eyes - Cocoon - Neon White ...and others. https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/annapurnainteractiv... This is a real shame for anyone who cares about really distinctive, original games.

> This is a real shame for anyone who cares about really distinctive, original games. Is it though? Annapurna is a publisher, they didn't make those games. The games you listed were made by: - Outer Wilds: Mobius Digital - Stray: BlueTwelve Studio - Lorelei and the laser eyes: Simogo - Cocoon: Geometric Interactive - Neon White: Angel Matrix I'm confident that creators of distinctive, original games will be able to f…

Simogo is fully owned by Annapurna.

Edit: Oops, no they're not, see below. But it sounds like they're contractually prevented from working with a different publisher.

Re: Inside Annapurna Interactive's Mass Walkout

#52

Post by karlgkk »

ekianjo wrote: post #35
karlgkk wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm confident that creators of distinctive, original games will be able to find other publishers. That confidence is (partially) misplaced. It's a really rough world out there for indie devs, and if you do find a publisher, many times they are not interested in paying as much attention to your title as you are.

they can self publish then. thats always an option.

That’s definitely one of those easier said than done things, that someone who’s never tried to do will think.

Publishers have benefits, there’s a reason some game, developers, and other type of media creators will eagerly sign away a big chunk of their revenue. Not true for every media or genre, but there’s a reason these companies exist.

Re: Inside Annapurna Interactive's Mass Walkout

#53

Post by seanhunter »

karlgkk wrote: post #31
orlp wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is a real shame for anyone who cares about really distinctive, original games. Is it though? Annapurna is a publisher, they didn't make those games. The games you listed were made by: - Outer Wilds: Mobius Digital - Stray: BlueTwelve Studio - Lorelei and the laser eyes: Simogo - Cocoon: Geometric Interactive - Neon White: Angel Matrix I'm confident that creators of distinctive, original games will be able to f…

> I'm confident that creators of distinctive, original games will be able to find other publishers. That confidence is (partially) misplaced. It's a really rough world out there for indie devs, and if you do find a publisher, many times they are not interested in paying as much attention to your title as you are.

Exactly, and if you take stray or Neon White as examples, part of the reason they got so much attention was the reputation that Annapurna Interactive had gained by publishing a game as excellent as Outer Wilds. So people took much more notice of those games than they might have done coming from some random indie publisher with no track record. As excellent as those games are, this might have made a very big diference to the traction they got at the start.

Re: Inside Annapurna Interactive's Mass Walkout

#54

Post by ekianjo »

delusional wrote: post #45
ekianjo wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

most publishers dont give money without seeing a fairly elaborate demo. And making games is something that can be done with zero budget unlike endeavors in many other industries.

Outer Wilds was in production for 7 years. Practically nobody can fund years of full time work without some external funding. I don't have any proof, but I am confident that Annapurna poured some amount of money into that venture during those 7 years.

most games dont take 7 years to make so making a point with outliers is not a very good argument.

Re: Inside Annapurna Interactive's Mass Walkout

#55

Post by ekianjo »

karlgkk wrote: post #52
ekianjo wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they can self publish then. thats always an option.

That’s definitely one of those easier said than done things, that someone who’s never tried to do will think. Publishers have benefits, there’s a reason some game, developers, and other type of media creators will eagerly sign away a big chunk of their revenue. Not true for every media or genre, but there’s a reason these companies exist.

of course publishers bring benefits. but lets not pretend self publishing is not a thing in the games industry.

Re: Inside Annapurna Interactive's Mass Walkout

#56

Post by thoroughburro »

titanomachy wrote: post #50
penguin_booze wrote: post #48

I'm wondering what the genesis of the name Annapurna is. Clearly, it has some Indian grains to it. Pun intended? Maybe.

It’s the name of a famous mountain in Nepal which is a popular tourism and climbing destination.

This is the often given answer, but is wrong. The company, the mountain, and many other things are named after a Hindu god of food and nourishment. Don’t just mimic the first search result (check its etymology section, instead).

Re: Inside Annapurna Interactive's Mass Walkout

#57

Post by jccalhoun »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #51
orlp wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is a real shame for anyone who cares about really distinctive, original games. Is it though? Annapurna is a publisher, they didn't make those games. The games you listed were made by: - Outer Wilds: Mobius Digital - Stray: BlueTwelve Studio - Lorelei and the laser eyes: Simogo - Cocoon: Geometric Interactive - Neon White: Angel Matrix I'm confident that creators of distinctive, original games will be able to f…

Simogo is fully owned by Annapurna. Edit: Oops, no they're not, see below. But it sounds like they're contractually prevented from working with a different publisher.

It looks like they just have an exclusive publishing agreement with them not owned by them? At least that's what wikipedia says? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simogo

Re: Inside Annapurna Interactive's Mass Walkout

#58

Post by jccalhoun »

orlp wrote: post #29
seanhunter wrote: post #14

For reference, Annapurna Interactive are not a mainstream publisher churning out franchise type games, but tend to publish unique games, some of them considered classics: - Outer Wilds - Stray - Lorelei and the laser eyes - Cocoon - Neon White ...and others. https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/annapurnainteractiv... This is a real shame for anyone who cares about really distinctive, original games.

> This is a real shame for anyone who cares about really distinctive, original games. Is it though? Annapurna is a publisher, they didn't make those games. The games you listed were made by: - Outer Wilds: Mobius Digital - Stray: BlueTwelve Studio - Lorelei and the laser eyes: Simogo - Cocoon: Geometric Interactive - Neon White: Angel Matrix I'm confident that creators of distinctive, original games will be able to f…

I didn't know that. I was wondering how a team of only 25 people could make so many games. This makes it less of a big deal in my mind. Sure the publisher can be important in providing funding for games and which games get a marketing budget but they still aren't making them.

Re: Inside Annapurna Interactive's Mass Walkout

#59

Post by Wowfunhappy »

jccalhoun wrote: post #57
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simogo is fully owned by Annapurna. Edit: Oops, no they're not, see below. But it sounds like they're contractually prevented from working with a different publisher.

It looks like they just have an exclusive publishing agreement with them not owned by them? At least that's what wikipedia says? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simogo

Oh, you know what, I'm completely wrong. I was remembering this blog post from years ago:

https://simogo.com/2020/03/10/simogo-annapurna-interactive-t...

In my memory, this post said "we're now owned by Annapurna." But I read it again and it literally says the opposite.

But yeah, it sounds like they can't just switch publishers.

Re: Inside Annapurna Interactive's Mass Walkout

#60

Post by karaterobot »

kelnos wrote: post #44
shakow wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why GP used brackets to denote the adaptation of the quote by changin the first name.

That's not how I read it. Often square braces are used to denote a -- factual -- addition to a quote, in order to add information that would otherwise make the quote incomplete or confusing to the reader. Square braces around "Megan" doesn't mean "it was actually someone else and I'm taking creative license with the quote".

True, but they did link to the exact timestamp of the original quote, so it's not like they were hiding anything. The only people apt to be tricked are people who make firm conclusions without checking the sources first.
Post reply on HN