Looking past the recent Gearbox disaster that was Aliens: Colonial Marines, their last acquired IP was Duke Nukem Forever.
Before that they were dubiously known for creating the first Brothers in Arms game (which was excellent), and subsequently flying that straight into the ground with an endless series of ever-worsening sequels.
If you look at their previous games, they almost all fall somewhere between "mediocre" and "just bad".
The only diamond in their track record is the Borderlands series. I'm not sure how Gearbox lost its reputation for strict mediocrity via Borderlands alone, I'm still very skeptical about their game development prowess - and certainly very skeptical about any claims Randy Pitchford makes about the quality of their games, after his breathless demos of both Duke Forever and Aliens.
Honestly, I'm glad they're repackaging Homeworld/2 for Steam and such, but I'd rather have no Homeworld 3 than let Gearbox helm it.
I honestly didn't enjoy Diablo II the FPS with lulz maymays very much. (I'm exaggerating, but doing so to illustrate my beefs with the Borderlands series.)
Interesting repercussions for the Teampixel Kickstarter / Indiegogo campaign for "Homeworld Touch" and "Homeworld 3." They were successfully funded but lost the rights auction, and are now legally prevented from delivering on their Kickstarter promises.
Teampixel has done a fantastic job of handling refunds for their contributors. I'm looking forward to the release of their space strategy game, even if it won't be using Homeworld's intellectual property.
Relic is owned by Sega, which is in crappy relationship with GB because of colonial marines. So the Homeworld team cannot be brought even as consultants. Zero experience in strategy games in GB. I think I will just play Hardware when it comes out.
I love homeworld 1&2 but doubt they will get the XCOM treatment when Gearbox decide to cash on their IP.
Also - expect Ultra Mega DLC season pass and premium DLCs not included in the season pass. And 35 different preorder bonuses.
It seems that at least for the moment GB will be repackaging the existing Homeworld games (2, maybe 1) so that they can be purchased over Steam/another platform. There don't seem to be plans for another game yet.
Anyone looking for a modern Homeworld-esque experience might want to check out StarDrive (currently in beta, available on Steam). It's a 4X RTS which shares some design elements with HW and mixes in some of Civ's colony management and sci-fi themes from EVE Online.
Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with the developers; I simply tried the beta on Steam and found it pretty intriguing.
It owes much more to Master of Orion and its sequel, with its races and customizable ship design. Homeworld's main innovation was the fully 3D battlefield, Stardrive is entirely 2D (not even psuedo 3D).
Not that that's a bad thing. The art is gorgeous and it has a great sense of humour. Worth a punt if you're even remotely a 4x fan IMO.
StarDrive doesn't have the 3D RTS elements of Homeworld (which made that game), it's more of a standard top-down affair. They have some fun ideas though, and a new 4X is always fun to learn.
One of Homeworld's strengths was having actual 3D space combat rather than the fake-3D-in-a-2D plane that almost everyone else has. I'm surprised more people didn't take heed of their relatively smooth control system for handling 3D movement.
Homeworld still has a chance. Gearbox are a great developer, I'm glad it was them who decided to purchase the IP not Electronic Arts who would have turned it into a micro-transaction orgy. I have fond memories of the Homeworld franchise, so I hope they don't taint those memories.
With a handful of great games under their belt, I reckon Gearbox can do it. Aside: I am really looking forward to Brothers in Arms: Furious 4 coming out sometime this year hopefully from the guys as well.
Although I think the project that builds on it has been dormant for many years, the original Homeworld's code was released as a part of the Relic Developers Network. I wonder if that license grant is still valid now that ownership has changed hands.
I've been a fan of Gearbox since Opposing Force was released. I'm damned excited about this, I hope they handle it well.
Although what happened to Teampixel sucks, I wouldn't be surprised if you see Gearbox have a chat to them to see if they want to come on board... We'll see, anyway!
EDIT: Just as a random thought, imagine Homeworld with Occulus Rift. Floating around the universe like a god...
I have many fond memories as a kid playing through all three Homeworld games. I'm glad Gearbox plans on revamping both one and two, so I can finally play online [0]! I'll also be looking forward to what they can do with modern graphics engines. HW was an incredibly beautiful game even back in 1999.
[0] We had dial up back then. Those were the days....
[+] [-] potatolicious|13 years ago|reply
Looking past the recent Gearbox disaster that was Aliens: Colonial Marines, their last acquired IP was Duke Nukem Forever.
Before that they were dubiously known for creating the first Brothers in Arms game (which was excellent), and subsequently flying that straight into the ground with an endless series of ever-worsening sequels.
If you look at their previous games, they almost all fall somewhere between "mediocre" and "just bad".
The only diamond in their track record is the Borderlands series. I'm not sure how Gearbox lost its reputation for strict mediocrity via Borderlands alone, I'm still very skeptical about their game development prowess - and certainly very skeptical about any claims Randy Pitchford makes about the quality of their games, after his breathless demos of both Duke Forever and Aliens.
Honestly, I'm glad they're repackaging Homeworld/2 for Steam and such, but I'd rather have no Homeworld 3 than let Gearbox helm it.
[+] [-] lotyrin|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xsmasher|13 years ago|reply
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/teampix/homeworld-touch-...
[+] [-] sciurus|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hipsters_unite|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] samstave|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] venomsnake|13 years ago|reply
I love homeworld 1&2 but doubt they will get the XCOM treatment when Gearbox decide to cash on their IP.
Also - expect Ultra Mega DLC season pass and premium DLCs not included in the season pass. And 35 different preorder bonuses.
[+] [-] spartango|13 years ago|reply
http://www.gearboxsoftware.com/community/articles/1029/homew...
[+] [-] unknown|13 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] cadetzero|13 years ago|reply
Borderlands was great, but given they've done almost exclusively first person shooters, I'm definitely concerned for the Homeworld IP.
Edit* Let me rephrase, I'm terrified for the Homeworld IP.
[+] [-] wmf|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] iharris|13 years ago|reply
Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with the developers; I simply tried the beta on Steam and found it pretty intriguing.
[+] [-] lutze|13 years ago|reply
Not that that's a bad thing. The art is gorgeous and it has a great sense of humour. Worth a punt if you're even remotely a 4x fan IMO.
[+] [-] r00fus|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] louhike|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] vacri|13 years ago|reply
One of Homeworld's strengths was having actual 3D space combat rather than the fake-3D-in-a-2D plane that almost everyone else has. I'm surprised more people didn't take heed of their relatively smooth control system for handling 3D movement.
[+] [-] DigitalSea|13 years ago|reply
With a handful of great games under their belt, I reckon Gearbox can do it. Aside: I am really looking forward to Brothers in Arms: Furious 4 coming out sometime this year hopefully from the guys as well.
[+] [-] SG-|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sciurus|13 years ago|reply
http://www.homeworldsdl.org/
https://github.com/timdetering/HomeworldSDL/blob/master/LICE...
EDIT: It looks like there were already serious problems with the license which mean no one can distribute the code http://homesource.nekomimicon.net/sourceforum/viewtopic.php?...
[+] [-] vingt-2|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] girvo|13 years ago|reply
I've been a fan of Gearbox since Opposing Force was released. I'm damned excited about this, I hope they handle it well.
Although what happened to Teampixel sucks, I wouldn't be surprised if you see Gearbox have a chat to them to see if they want to come on board... We'll see, anyway!
EDIT: Just as a random thought, imagine Homeworld with Occulus Rift. Floating around the universe like a god...
[+] [-] DannoHung|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] RKoutnik|13 years ago|reply
[0] We had dial up back then. Those were the days....
[+] [-] mmanfrin|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gailees|13 years ago|reply