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May 09, 2008 - In 2005, respected industry veterans Gary Gattis, Anthony L. Sommers, Cinco Barnes and Jake Rodgers co-founded an independent game development company, Spacetime Studios, locating it in Austin, TX. The quartet’s combined backgrounds included lead roles on such noted properties as Privateer and Wing Commander. In addition, all four had worked on Star Wars Galaxies. Accordingly, when we found out about the team’s formation, it was pretty easy and perhaps even natural to speculate that the principals’ goal was to create a space-themed massively multiplayer title. NCsoft signed on as publisher. The deal was announced in March of 2006. Early this year, before the project was ever announced, the partnership was dissolved. We know some downsizing followed, but also that most of the developers were retained. Of course, our innate curiosity did lead us to wonder what they were up to.

Yesterday, we received at least a partial answer. Spacetime issued a press release stating that it has acquired the IP. Called Blackstar, it’s said to be “a highly stylized science-fantasy universe” in which we’ll experience appealing elements like “wildly original space fighters, horrifying demonic enemies and epic drama.” The nature of such announcements is that they can be relatively non-specific about the actual titles. In this instance, we were told it’s “a space fantasy combat game based on the single-player traditions of ‘Wing Commander’ and the multiplayer feel of ‘Descent.’” Upon seeing this, it took only the slightest scintilla of time for our curiosity to be aroused. Our luck was clearly in, witness the fact that it required only a little longer for us to connect with Executive Producer Gary Gattis, and for him to answer a series of questions.

Jonric: As an introduction to the IP and your game, The Blackstar Chronicles, what are they about? What will make them stand out and succeed?

Blackstar is a science-fantasy game, meaning that there are strong sci-fi themes, but also epic storylines, plenty of magical elements, and a deep sense of self and purpose. And absolutely kick-ass space combat. We have the old-school folks here from Wing Commander days, who know how to make space flight accessible and FUN. This is combined with exhilarating ground combat for a completely unique experience. And it’s all wrapped up in the visual stylings of David Levy, who brings the universe to light in a way that has never been seen before. It’s the game we have all been dreaming of making for a long time.

Jonric: What kinds of players do you regard as the core target audience that will love the game, and what aspects will they find most appealing?

Anyone who enjoyed Wing Commander, Privateer or the original Descent games will be blown away by The Blackstar Chronicles, especially the PvP battles. The sense of speed and freedom is unmatched. The combat strategy is deep, visceral and rewarding.

And we expended a huge amount of effort to make the game universally accessible. We allow players to focus only on those things that are fun and challenging. After years of development, the game experience is wickedly simple to play, challenging to master and epic in its scope… you do battle from both inside the cockpit and on foot in unique ‘hybrid’ warzones that simply don’t exist in any other game of this type.

Jonric: Please tell us about Spacetime Studios. Who are the principals, and what led to the formation of the company? When did that happen? How large is your team at this time?

Spacetime Studios is located in lovely Austin, Texas. It was formed in late 2005 by Cinco Barnes, Anthony Sommers, Jake Rodgers and me. We had all worked together before - some as long as 15 years ago! - and we just felt it was time for us to strike out on our own. It was a terrifying and exhilarating experience, and although we have collectively aged a couple of decades, we would do it again in a heartbeat. We are currently 34 folks with very diverse backgrounds from such classics as Wing Commander, Star Wars Galaxies and Privateer.

Jonric: When did development of the game begin? What was the status of the project when NCsoft decided to pull out?

We began development of the IP, engine and tool set in 2005. We were formed to compete with the largest of AAA MMOs, so we knew we needed a very deep and rich universe, as well as the most powerful content creation tools and a rock-solid foundation.

NCsoft decided to discontinue its involvement in January of ‘08. Our team was on the verge of production, which, for us, meant that all pre-production risks had been mitigated. This includes fast and fun gameplay, completed (and flushed) art production pipelines (in-house and out), and a full suite of content facing tools.

Jonric: What has happened in the time since then? To what degree have you been able to continue moving forward?

When NCsoft canceled, we knew we were not going to be going into production for some time, so we had to let about a third of the team go… 15 folks. It was a painful decision because we really have built a powerhouse team, an amazing roster of who’s who from game development history. But we still managed to maintain a strong group of core individuals while we negotiated to get the IP.

The funny thing is that we have jumped right back into development, and since we have such a strong tool set and well-defined IP, we are able to make great progress towards a finished product while we find our next publishing partner.

Jonric: At what point did you decide you wanted to acquire the IP? What hurdles arose, if any? Why do you think NCsoft was willing to sell it?

We always knew we wanted the IP back… we poured out hearts and souls into it. There were no real hurdles in reacquiring it. I think NCsoft was willing to sell it to us because, ultimately, we are the best ones to pull it off. The visual direction of this product is like nothing ever seen before. We have the best space combat and MMOG designers out there, as well as our programming and production art teams; we are completely geared towards making this product. So of course, it was a natural fit… it was like our baby came back home.

Jonric: To what extent is the game playable? Where do you stand with respect to developing systems versus content? What’s your funding status? How far are you from launch?

Oh man, we have been playing this game since early 2006 - and it has been fun since then! Not just single-player either… we have been doing good ol’ PvP and killing the hell out of each other. Well, Cinco kills the hell out of me. I can dog a few of our younger guys, but Cinco and Anthony beat the snot out of everyone.

I would say that 90 percent of the systems are complete, and we have already developed substantial amounts of content. We have plenty of cash on-hand to maintain development while we find our next partner. As far as when it will launch, that ultimately depends on the scope of the product, which will be largely influenced by our partner.

Jonric: What are your plans in regard to looking for another publishing deal? Are you willing to consider other options?

First and foremost, we want to make a kick-ass game, a revolutionary game… and we strongly feel we are solidly on that path. Now that we own the IP, we are interested in meeting with publishers and seeing if our philosophies align. We are looking forward to finding the right partner, but in the meantime, we are cruising on with making the game.

We have the team, we have an amazing engine and tool set, and now we have the IP. All pre-production risks have been mitigated. The game is fun and we know exactly how to make the assets… so it makes perfect sense for us to make the game. Other funding options are always available, but we would prefer finding the right developer / publisher deal if possible.

Jonric: To finish up, is there anything else that you’d like to tell our readers at this moment?

Nope - just thank you very much for opportunity to talk about our product with you!

Since we’ve been curious for the better part of three years what Gary Gattis and his colleagues at Spacetime Studios have been up to, we owe him a debt of thanks for the information he was willing to disclose in this interview. Obviously, we’d like to know much more about the Blackstar IP, the game itself and the various elements he mentioned. We hope the time to learn about them in greater detail isn’t far off. We’ll certainly be waiting.

– Richard Aihoshi - ‘Jonric’

This entry was posted on Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 3:45 pm and is filed under Press. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.