EA sold Dungeon Keeper license

[Kalmah]

Some unknown Chinese company is making an MMO out of it. I can't imagine this turning out anything like the originals.

I think I've lost all hope for DK3.

Text

EA licenses Dungeon Keeper for Chinese MMO

China-based NetDragon Websoft has announced that it has acquired the Dungeon Keeper license from Electronic Arts with a view to developing an MMO based on the franchise.

The game, to be called Dungeon Keeper Online, will be operated by NetDragon throughout China, including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, but may also make the leap to other regions as well, according to the company's chairman Liu Dejian.

"We are delighted to enter into an agreement with EA in the development of our first 3D MMOG," he said. "Our partnership with this internationally renowned game developer is proof of our capabilities in game operations and development as well as a reflection of our market reputation.

"Capitalising our strength to create a strong gaming experience, powerful operating platform and unmatched expertise within China's online game market, we are confident that Dungeon Keeper Online will not only become successful in the Greater China region but also achieve remarkable results overseas."

And EA Asia Pacific president Jon Niermann - interviewed recently by GamesIndustry.biz - added: "The partnership marks a significant milestone for EA as it will enhance our intellectual property and extend our product reach throughout the Greater China region. It will also further enhance our intellectual property with differentiated, high-quality games, particularly in the field of MMOGs."

No predicted launch date for the game, for which the original was an RTS designed by Peter Molyneux's Bullfrog back in 1999, was released.

 

[datalink7]

Damn you EA. Damn you all to hell!

 

[Kalmah]

Originally posted by: datalink7
Damn you EA. Damn you all to hell!

The IP is gone forever now..

Maybe there is one tiny tiny tiny chance this will end up good and make it to the US though?

 

[styrafoam]

fffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudddddddddddddggggggggggggeeeeeeeeee...................

 

[shortylickens]

Well, I admit, EA suprised me. I figured with their insane hatred of all things good they would keep the Dungeon Keeper franchise and never do anything with it.
I have no fucking idea why all you guys are whining. This at least has the possibility of being made into a new game. There was no hope at all before today. Now there is hope.

You guys voted for McCain didnt you?

 

[psihog]

Chinese are known to make things exactly the same as original.
I'm optimistic.

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: psihog
Chinese are known to make things exactly the same as original.
I'm optimistic.

I lost my original copy of Dungeon Keeper years ago. I still have DK2, but it many ways the game play is inferior.

I heard they made a Gold Edition of DK1 that used 3D acceleration in the monster first-person view. I'd love to get my hands on that.
But if not, I'd be happy for a remade DK1, just so long as they kept all the game play elements the same. Aside from that, they could improve or fix whatever they wanted.

Come to think of it, thats what I want for KOTOR 1 and 2. Reissue them, fix the missing story elements in number 2, and release enhanced versions. They dont even need the new Crytek engine or anything. Just games that are more compatible with a wide variety of OS's and hardware.

 

[darkrisen2003]

There are many questions I have but my first one will be are they planning to keep the game in RTS format but making it a monthly fee based game?

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

When I think Chinese developed and Online, I think it'll resemble Ragnarok Online (I know it's Korean)

 

[skace]

Um, from what I read it doesn't look like EA lost the license, they just have a developer working with their Asia branch to make a game based off of the license. As for the game itself, I have no idea what to think, seems like an odd license to use for an MMO....

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: skace
Um, from what I read it doesn't look like EA lost the license, they just have a developer working with their Asia branch to make a game based off of the license. As for the game itself, I have no idea what to think, seems like an odd license to use for an MMO....

Actually it makes a lot of sense. When you create your account you choose Good or Evil.

Evil - quest & build up resources until you have enough cash to buy a dank cave somewhere and then design a slew of nasty surprises for all those Goodies coming in trying to steal your treasure and/or rescue that tasty maiden you kidnapped as bait.

Good - quest & gather great gear until you are strong enough to start tackling some of the Evils' custom-designed dungeons. With great loot & etc if you can survive the experience.

 

[Kalmah]

Originally posted by: Denithor

Originally posted by: skace
Um, from what I read it doesn't look like EA lost the license, they just have a developer working with their Asia branch to make a game based off of the license. As for the game itself, I have no idea what to think, seems like an odd license to use for an MMO....

Actually it makes a lot of sense. When you create your account you choose Good or Evil.

Evil - quest & build up resources until you have enough cash to buy a dank cave somewhere and then design a slew of nasty surprises for all those Goodies coming in trying to steal your treasure and/or rescue that tasty maiden you kidnapped as bait.

Good - quest & gather great gear until you are strong enough to start tackling some of the Evils' custom-designed dungeons. With great loot & etc if you can survive the experience.

That's what I was thinking. You could have to purchase new lair options with in-game money, have trap competitions.. maybe your dungeon is always running when you're offline.. so you gotta make sure you're good to defend off intruders while you aren't playing?

I'm looking at the webpage for NetDragon and they seem to have a decent list of games. They look pretty good... the style seems typical anime-ish though. They also seem to have scattered pictures of hot women all over their game sites. There is nothing wrong with that..

But, I have never heard anything about these games that they made. And I don't think I could play an mmo where 99% of the player base is speaking in a font that my computer doesn't even recognize.

 

[Modelworks]

sigh.
R.I.P. Dungeon Keeper.

 

[BladeVenom]

They couldn't do worse than EA has done with it. Which has been nothing for the last ten years. If you miss Dungeon Keeper, you could always try Evil Genuis. http://gog.com/en/gamecard/evil_genius

 

[zerogear]

W T F EA?

 

[andylawcc]

Originally posted by: psihog
Chinese are known to make things exactly the same as original.
I'm optimistic.

LMAO!!!!!

 

[Koudelka]

1st off.. i dont know how you could turn DK into an MMO.. unless the MMO is absolutely nothing like DK in the first place.

2nd.. Korean MMO's are bad enough.. but a Chinese MMO?

FU EA. Chances are we'll never see this product anyways. Any chance of another DK game in the US was in fact just raised from .01% to .02% though, but also just guaranteed to be utter shit.

 

[Kalmah]

Originally posted by: Koudelka
1st off.. i dont know how you could turn DK into an MMO.. unless the MMO is absolutely nothing like DK in the first place.

2nd.. Korean MMO's are bad enough.. but a Chinese MMO?

FU EA. Chances are we'll never see this product anyways. Any chance of another DK game in the US was in fact just raised from .01% to .02% though, but also just guaranteed to be utter shit.

Yeah, it sucks. EA knew people where waiting on dk3 when they originally canned it. It is on the top 10 greatest games of all time lists all over the internet.
EA also has developers that probably could have done something amazing with it. (possibly Bioware?)

It's more than likely going to turn out looking like an amature flash game like all that company's other games.


AAARGHHHHH

They could have mixed some Evil Genius in with the new DK. Allow you to 'tag' creatures. Improved the traps so you could have trap combos.
Instead of the game being on a single plane they could have made multi-level dungeons possible. (stairs going up and down).. which would allow for some cool new traps. Man, maybe even let you leave the dungeon and go on town raids.
Change the workshop a little bit so you can actually upgrade weapons and armor of creatures.. add a few new resources besides gold such as metals or something.

And definatly improve the AI. I've been making custom maps for DK2 lately and if you don't strategically plan the AI areas the AI will 'break' and they stop building and just stand around for the rest of the game. They will have access to gold but they wont dig it if they purposely want that part to be a wall... things like that..


Ok, So going by the article, like somebody mentioned earlier in this thread, it actually looks like EA might not have 'sold' the IP... it might just be a license to allow them to make a game with it. Which would mean EA still owns it. The developers even stated that they are looking forward to 'working with EA' on the project would kind of suggests that EA still has control over it in a way.

 

[darkrisen2003]

You know im begining to wonder if EA just really doesnt know how big of a fan base they have of the DK series.

 

[sactoking]

Originally posted by: Denithor
Actually it makes a lot of sense. When you create your account you choose Good or Evil.

Evil - quest & build up resources until you have enough cash to buy a dank cave somewhere and then design a slew of nasty surprises for all those Goodies coming in trying to steal your treasure and/or rescue that tasty maiden you kidnapped as bait.

Good - quest & gather great gear until you are strong enough to start tackling some of the Evils' custom-designed dungeons. With great loot & etc if you can survive the experience.

IF that's the route they go, that would make it almost identical to the original Dungeon Keeper concept.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
sigh.
R.I.P. Dungeon Keeper.

It isn't resting in peace. It's corpse is being dug up and made to parade around in horrific fashion. EA cannot resist adding insult to injury.