SimBin: 'Don't worry about bankruptcy rumours'

[Howard]

Various websites have posted news regarding potential bankruptcy of SimBin Studios AB, here's a little substantiated clarification.

RaceDepartment understands that the current SimBin Studios AB company is undergoing a large restructuring. Current projects, such as R3E, are expected to be continued under the new banner of the new studio.

It is understood that there have been a handful of job losses at SimBin, however the majority of the development team is expected to remain at the 'new' studio. We'd like to wish those who have lost their jobs all the best in finding a new position.

We're confident that the information we're providing to you is up-to-date and correct, and is not based on speculation from social media.

SimBin's own @Jay Ekkel said, on RaceDepartment's forums:

Ill keep it short and sweet for now.

New Studio, new (tbd) name, new location, (almost) the same team. And most importantly we will continue the development of the project(s).

More (good) news will follow soon (tm)

Don't worry about it, services and development will continue as planned.

There's nothing to worry about in regards to support of current games, or the release of future games. Content that has already been purchased will still function as normal.

Image: SimBin Studios AB​

 

[James Cook]

It's all cool, we're all allowed our own opinions. I came from Gran Turismo where online racing was really the only option. Part of why I bought a PC was for the better offline modes and I love racing the AI in R3E, but I may tire of it eventually.

Very similar story here.

 

[Andy_J]

Many different means to an end. Some games are online, some are not.

You don't say.

 

[CDwyer]

Online only is not for our convenience, any consumer can be expected to object to it and I dont really understand why anyone should be surprised that some voice those objections. Having objections does not mean that the benefits are not outweighed by the negatives. As a consumer, the online only is to me detriment, But I've still invested $100,00 in it. I am never going to say it is OK or acceptable to provide a product in this way, but that will not stop me buying more tracks and cars as they come out, until a similar level of quality games comes along that does provide offline too. That may be never.

 

[SnappyDEe]

I like R3E. I will continue to support their efforts towards improving R3E. I have spent money and time on it. Voluntarily. It has been worth it. I am also excited to see what comes next and I don't complain about waiting. R3E has awesome potential and I hope it gets realized because it is, simply put, very very immersive. Mainly because of the sounds. The sounds are incredible!

I will say this however: I totally agree with Andy J's sentiments against having to be on-line all the time to play any game or race in any SIM. When the new consoles were coming out and Microsoft was moving towards this model (DRM) the outrage across many gaming communities (shooters/racers/MMOs) was strong. Rightfully so. It had an impact and changed things (or maybe just delayed them). I don't like it. It sucks. I will deal with it if I believe that the respective game is worth it. But, quite honestly, I hope that Sector 3 Studios moves away from this. I understand that developers want control over their content but it just leaves a bad taste knowing you can not use something you paid for.

BTW, a lot of the value I have experienced in R3E has come about thanks to this community. And I haven't even been here for very long. Thank you all.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

Your loss, that's sad. You obviously weren't around when PC gaming started. Just don't think everyone is like you. The AI is quite good and the DTM championship is really good. See you on the track on some of the RD race servers eh?

Mind telling me why that's sad? And you'd do well not telling people what they "obviously" are and aren't because you could not be more wrong. I started gaming on a ZX81, my first gaming on a pc was on a XT (pre 286 generation) and I've been gaming on pc ever since. I just don't take pleasure in beating AI any longer, in any game.

 

[Andy_J]

Mind telling me why that's sad? And you'd do well not telling people what they "obviously" are and aren't because you could not be more wrong. I started gaming on a ZX81, my first gaming on a pc was on a XT (pre 286 generation) and I've been gaming on pc ever since. I just don't take pleasure in beating AI any longer, in any game.

Yes I do mind. And it was just a guess. Have a nice day Kjell.

 

[Andy_J]

Online only is not for our convenience, any consumer can be expected to object to it and I dont really understand why anyone should be surprised that some voice those objections. Having objections does not mean that the benefits are not outweighed by the negatives. As a consumer, the online only is to me detriment, But I've still invested $100,00 in it. I am never going to say it is OK or acceptable to provide a product in this way, but that will not stop me buying more tracks and cars as they come out, until a similar level of quality games comes along that does provide offline too. That may be never.

This ^^^^^^^

 

[Brandon Wright]

Please guys, you're both allowed to have your own opinion and you're never going to convince the other to change his opinion. Just carry on and enjoy the game in your own way.

 

[Sean Kenney]

You don't say.

I do say.

 

[William Wester]

I'm not against an offline mode in R3E, in fact if you check my post history you will see I've called for it on a number of occasions.

R3E has been 'always online' from the beginning and Simbin/Sector3 have never definitively stated (to my knowledge) that this will change. Perhaps it will, as R3E doesn't kick the player out mid-race if an internet connection is lost. The point is, why invest so much money in a product that clearly doesn't offer what you need with no promise of ever doing so?

Always-online DRM is not popular - I get it - I'm not a massive fan either but developers use it to attempt to have full control over their product i.e. anti-hacking/piracy/modding. Whether it prevents this is questionable. As we head towards cloud gaming and streaming services, in future I think it's pretty likely that playing games without an always-on connection will become a thing of the past.

I agree.
An Internet connection and cloud based computing is becoming the norm for much of what we do today... it's the world we live in if we like it or not. I'm from the baby boomer age, before the "Internet" as we know it today, and I have to admit I've had reservations with the movement to cloud based services. Not directly related to gaming, but during the early design stages of my current software development project (manager not developer) a completely web-based software suite was not my preference. I was more comfortable with client/server solutions which didn't require an Internet connection (if single site). But, I could see the benefits, benefits that outweighed the negatives. Once our software is deployed to production (phase one this month) our internal workforce and external clients will "depend" on a reliable Internet connection/s and internal redundant systems. If our systems go down, and Internet connection is lost on the client or source side, or we go out of business the clients lose access to our software suite.
Today, some of my gaming depends on a reliable Internet connection and cloud service dependability. My guess is Sector3's model will become more of the norm than an exception, I can fight it or accept it and move on.

 

[SnappyDEe]

The model sucks. It may be necessary for other types of services (that's questionable) but certainly not for gaming. Give me the product I paid for then I can decide whether I want to update it later...or not. In the case of a hobby like sim racing it's not anything sinister, so to speak. It allowed S3S to put out an unfinished product, get some attention/support and continue to survive. Not so bad. I support them. But why can't I race without having to be connected to the server? To make sure the product hasn't been tampered with?

 

[James Cook]

But with all due respect you paid for an always online product.

 

[Andi Goodwin]

its an MMO and at present thats the way it is , maybe at somepoint they will find a way to have it so you can do otherwise but at present its that .....

Andi

 

[SnappyDEe]

But with all due respect you paid for an always online product.

Yes, that's true. But as someone pointed out: pretty soon this will be the norm. The consumer won't have a choice. I know I had the choice.

 

[SnappyDEe]

its an MMO and at present thats the way it is , maybe at somepoint they will find a way to have it so you can do otherwise but at present its that .....

Andi

That would be nice.

 

[James Cook]

Yes, that's true. But as someone pointed out: pretty soon this will be the norm. The consumer won't have a choice. I know I had the choice.

...and just to be clear, I'm not a supporter of always online or F2P. Not at all. I'd much rather have the old model as per RACE 07. Just trying to be reasonable about R3E. It is what it is - 'free to play' and always online - and by purchasing content you are accepting and/or supporting this form of sales model. In reality the model has proved to be nothing more than a minor inconvenience to me, something that's worth tolerating to enjoy the good things R3E has to offer.

 

[SnappyDEe]

I tolerate it too. R3E is a fantastic product. As a matter of fact, I just picked up another fantastic product which has been getting lots of attention lately. An "extreme" product which I downloaded and have been trying out. It is equally as good, IMHO. The funny thing about it is that the creators mention that once I download it "it will be yours forever". I thought that was interesting.

 

[CDwyer]

...... The funny thing about it is that the creators mention that once I download it "it will be yours forever".

That "game" will be yours forever only as long as the creators are still operating, which is pretty much the same really. You get 3 activations and can ask for more, if they are there to ask.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

I tolerate it too. R3E is a fantastic product. As a matter of fact, I just picked up another fantastic product which has been getting lots of attention lately. An "extreme" product which I downloaded and have been trying out. It is equally as good, IMHO. The funny thing about it is that the creators mention that once I download it "it will be yours forever". I thought that was interesting.

?

 

[CDwyer]

Storm last night, no internet this morning. No post-breakfast R3E session. Me hating on internet only system right now, though the internet is back now.
I think this hits US users more than European, as more cables are overhead in America than in Europe, so the system goes down more. (Though my experience is really limited to one European country, and one US State)