21 replies to this topic

[Bombast]

HBS is being sold to Paradox, lock, stock, and barrel. FASA 2.0, I suppose.

https://www.paradoxi...rained-schemes/

paradoxinteractive.com said:

Paradox Interactive, a global publisher and developer of interactive entertainment, today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in Harebrained Holdings Inc, sole owner of Harebrained Schemes, LLC, from Harebrained Bag of Holding Inc. Paradox pays a fixed purchase price of US$7,500,000 at the time of acquisition plus an additional purchase price corresponding to 25% of the acquired business’ earnings before publishing costs over the next 5 years to the extent such earnings exceed the fixed purchase price. The deal is expected to close by Thursday, June 7, 2018.

Edited by Bombast, 05 June 2018 - 02:41 PM.

[MechaBattler]

Wowwwww....That doesn't fill me with much hope for future of the franchise. GG.

Guess Jordan is looking to retire.

Edited by MechaBattler, 05 June 2018 - 02:47 PM.

[MeiSooHaityu]

An indie developer as small as HBS (that carries an actual staff and an office) is always one bad title away from no longer being an indie game studio. I was actually a bit worried about the development of BattleTech when Necropolis seemed to tank.

It is easy for a small studio to get lost out there, and exposure is hard to come by. Heck, look how Steam Greenlight has accepted massive amounts of Asset Flips and shovelware. Being a legit indie developer with a legit game is hard, especially if it can't get the exposure it needs (and the income it needs to keep operating). Heck, people even complain MWO doesn't get the marketing exposure it needs.

Overall I think the sale to Paradox is a good thing. I may not like their DLC model for their games, however I do like that they have given HBS some financial security (no more need for Kickstarters I would think), some good marketing power, and a bit more breathing room to deliver some good BattleTech content and potential sequels.

Of course time will tell how this all pans out in the future, but I think it is premature to jump on the gloom train right away. This sale should allow for more BattleTech in the future. I also would think that Jordan has learned a bit from his dealings in the past and that he isn't making the same mistakes again. Again, time will tell.

Edited by MeiSooHaityu, 06 June 2018 - 03:11 AM.

[Adridos]

MechaBattler, on 05 June 2018 - 02:39 PM, said:

Wowwwww....That doesn't fill me with much hope for future of the franchise. GG.

Guess Jordan is looking to retire.

He's sold what? 5 companies by now?
No really, gotta count them: FASA, Virtual World Entertainment Group, FASA Interactive, WizKids, HBS.

He's more of an investor than anything, really. Funded like 3 other companies as well, though those got closed down instead of being bought out.

[MustrumRidcully]

According to a kickstarter video about the sale, the same people that are in charge now will remain in charge. But they will probably have some more money available which of course Paradox is hoping to turn into profit. I think that could be working.

[MeiSooHaityu]

From the horse's mouth...The BattleTech Forum hosted by Paradox...
https://forum.parado...es-faq.1103665/

"Greetings everyone,
We just wanted to answer some of the (probably) most likely questions you may have so please read this entire post before asking your questions

What will this mean for Paradox and HBS?
Harebrained Schemes will continue to operate with its own internal management and creative teams, designing and developing the games that have earned them their outstanding reputation. HBS and Paradox have a shared vision for where to take narrative rich tactical games. Of course each title will be greenlit via Paradox's publishing process. HBS will continue to have the freedom to creative direct our games and build our player experiences.

In their new role as a division of Paradox Interactive, Harebrained Schemes will gain access to an expert publisher with a strong reputation and a global audience. Paradox will handle finances, marketing, PR, and distribution, and leave the development to HBS. Paradox is bringing HBS on board because they like what the studio is doing, so nobody wants to change that. Fans of Harebrained Schemes can continue to count on the community involvement and visibility that the studio has always provided.

This arrangement came about due to the excellent experience both companies have had while working together on BATTLETECH. Everybody believes this is a great fit.

Is Paradox removing any of the executive team at HBS? Will they be installing new studio managers from their side? Will there be other staffing changes?
All the executives of HBS are remaining at the company in their current roles. There are no plans to install new studio management from Sweden in the HBS offices. The only anticipated staffing changes is that we at HBS are currently hiring for the studio!

Will PDS make games using the HBS IP? Will there be Mechwarriors in Stellaris?
There are no plans for “crossing the streams” at this point.

Will HBS make games using Paradox IP? Could we get a CK2 RPG? Victoria 3 when?
HBS will continue to focus on what it does best which are tactical games with rich stories.

Is HBS going to shift its focus to developing tons of DLC?
We will be supporting BATTLETECH with updates and additional content and we are starting concept development for a new title." - TinyWiking (Forum and Support Manager: Paradox)

[MechaBattler]

I dunno. We hear that often. "Nothing will change" and then slowly things start to take a different direction. Let's hope their claim about HBS not being interfered with will stay true.

[Leone]

Nice! More great news!

Things're looking up. Thanks for the heads up on this. Made my day.

~Leone.

[MeiSooHaityu]

MechaBattler, on 06 June 2018 - 10:26 AM, said:

I dunno. We hear that often. "Nothing will change" and then slowly things start to take a different direction. Let's hope their claim about HBS not being interfered with will stay true.

You never really know since Press Releases can pretty much say anything.

Still, I think HBS is FAR more valuable to Paradox as they are now, so I don't think they want to mess that up. I think Paradox is impressed with BattleTech (and maybe the Shadow Run games as well), so I would think they would want HBS to make more of that for them than try and mess with the formula too much.

Paradox seems to be essentially disliked (or at least people are weary of them) due to some of their more piece-meal DLC practices from their direct developer studios more than anything else. I don't know if some of that might influence HBS eventually, however I do have hope that any DLC will be within reason.

I'm not aware of Paradox messing with the developer studios themselves (management and developers), so I don't think that behavior coming from them is a concern. If the publishing company was EA or Activision for instance instead, then I would have had WAY more concern for HBS's studio. With Paradox, I am just more nervous about DLC content than anything else. After all, as MWO has shown, treating mechs like Pokémon can be lucrative.

I don't think this is a route HBS would go. I met several of them at GenCon and have been following them with the development of BattleTech, and my impression has always been that they value their fans and would want to deliver the best content they can. I think that has come through in the past. As long as HBS maintains a strong control over the direction of the franchise, I think we can count on some value orientated DLC practices.

Again, time will tell and we will have to find out. Ultimately I think the move was a good one for both HBS and Paradox. HBS gets some good financial security and valuable marketing exposure, and Paradox as the publisher will make money off of helping HBS be successful. Lastly, us as fans will win because we get more BattleTech . Heck, even PGI probably wins because they can license out more mech designs .

[Magnus Santini]

There was a video announcement from HBS.

https://www.kickstar...h/posts/2202501

[TWIAFU]

HBS on it's own or with Paradox, no plans to end my support of HBS.

I'm excited about the future and what HBS/Paradox brings.

[meteorol]

That purchase price though.

If they didn't flush the BT money out of the company via payout of dividendes or something similar that price is basically coins (yes, i saw the 25% over 4 years). Which says alot about how much (read: little) money there is to be made with the IP nowadays. If you are selling a company for this little shortly after releasing the long awaited (mediocre) BT game every mechdad around the globe is ******* on, it's not really suprising no AAA Publishe/Studio touched the IP with a 20ft pole for a decade.

Could be wrong though, since i don't know any details about the deal. Somewhat unlikely though.

[Koniving]

Global recognition. Before HBS BT... I never heard of Paradox.

Far as I can tell they have like...11 games in their store, and a quackton of DLC.

Edit: I expected a censor, didn't get it. Did my own.

Edited by Koniving, 07 June 2018 - 06:40 AM.

[Bombast]

Koniving, on 07 June 2018 - 06:38 AM, said:

Global recognition. Before HBS BT... I never heard of Paradox.

You think Paradox bought HBS for recognition?

[Koniving]

Bombast, on 07 June 2018 - 06:43 AM, said:

You think Paradox bought HBS for recognition?

Probably. All I know is in the quote above about HBS and Paradox, that HBS would benefit from Paradox's global recognition...

I'm a bit baffled here.

[MeiSooHaityu]

Koniving, on 07 June 2018 - 09:27 AM, said:

Probably. All I know is in the quote above about HBS and Paradox, that HBS would benefit from Paradox's global recognition...

I'm a bit baffled here.

Paradox is clearly not as big or well known as EA, Activision, or Ubisoft, but they are still a fairly decently sized publisher. They specialize in strategy titles so if you aren't into those sorts of games, that is probably why they have flown under your radar.

[MechaBattler]

I think it's more that Paradox sees HBS can turn out decent games on a budget. So they probably want to capitalize on that.

[Jonathan8883]

I've probably got as many games made by Paradox over the last 15 years as by any other (larger) publisher.

From what (little) I know, company purchases are often normally valued at something like 5x the expected annual profit from the company, unless strategic IPs/patents/real estate is involved. If you use that metric, then HBS is expected to produce $1.5M profit annually over the next 5 years.

If they're turning $7.5M/year in annual revenue, that's a healthy 20% profit margin.

Paradox is also located overseas (Sweden), so I am not worried that they'll try to pull all BT development from HBS and leave it a ghost like EA and MS did to Westwood and Ensemble.

[Nothing Whatsoever]

I know Paradox through Stellaris and Europa Universalis. So they seem big with a variety of Strategy games and leaning on DLC content.

Curious to see how things go for BattleTech.

[Sleepyboy14]

Nothing Whatsoever, on 07 June 2018 - 03:24 PM, said:

I know Paradox through Stellaris and Europa Universalis. So they seem big with a variety of Strategy games and leaning on DLC content.

Curious to see how things go for BattleTech.

Ten bucks say this happens