3D Realms Will Die Free
I’m trying to put this in a positive light but I’m having trouble lighting the candle.
As is well known, Embracer Group put it all on the wrong horse..
The Embracer bought up everything under the sun with the intention of selling itself to Amazon for well over a billion dollars.
Except that Amazon sobered up, took a horrified look at the “sweeper” they had woken up next to, stole back the engagement ring on the nightstand, and jumped out of the nearest window, leaving poor Embracer in a “delicate condition.” Embracer has piled up way too much debt during their buying spree which means that they are now restructuring. Meaning they are shitcanning everyone they can to make their properties look attractive for a quick sale.
“Baker McKenzie represents Embracer Group, a global gaming group, in its divestiture of certain assets from Saber Interactive for USD 247 million, with additional consideration of up to USD 94 million. Through this divestment, which includes 38 ongoing development projects, Embracer ceases all operations in Russia while immediately improving cash flow, reducing capex, net debt and future liabilities.”
Saber, is the owner of the legendary 3D Realms. This likely means we will have the joy of seeing the publisher that gave us Wolfenstein 3D, Duke Nukem, Shadow Warrior, Rise of the Triad, Max Payne, Prey, and most recently Ion Fury is going to die again.
You can already see the writing on the walls from the last Realms Deep demo releases. Ion Fury was a great Boomer Shooter. The Phantom Fury demo on the other hand was not something that should have been put out into the wild. It was a beta test, that looked like it was still in alpha. Graven and Wrath are already out and just not meeting the admittedly minimal expectations people had developed during their own early access releases. 3D Realms is going out of business.
This seems to be the tragic state of any and all franchises from the 80s and 90s. It would be nice if they were picked up by someone who loved them but that is absolutely not how Clown World works.
My best-considered advice is, look around for something original that you like and support that because in this age of the internet, I guarantee it’s out there if you just go looking.
Okay, I’m done here.
