Managing Director Marcel Offermans Leaves Studio 397

Massive thanks for your hard work on Rfactor2 Marcel!!
Very much appreciated and the best for the future.
Groeten, Eric

kart1 said:

I don't play against AIs since online racing exists, I don't enjoy playing solo, I play iracing, AC/ACC, AMS1 & 2 and rF2 exclusively online with humans (try it out it's much more fun and rewarding) so AI is of no use to me and never will be!

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You know that evading the premises isn't an argument, right?

@ Marcel Offermans - hats off to you sir, we salut you.

Your unequivocally passion to make the game the best out there will be hard shoes to follow.

Wishing you the best for your future.

Ps when's @Paul Jeffrey coming back?

Austin Ogonoski said:

Horrible argument.

If I wake up and decide that IndyCar at Norisring sounds funny, an online racer would have to...

- Find a league in R3E (slightly difficult, not the most popular sim)
- Find a league that likes IndyCar (kind of hard in a Euro-centric game)
- Find a league that runs at an American timeslot (even more difficult in a Euro centric game)
- Find a league that put Norisring on the schedule (nobody is going to)
- Hope the league has competent drivers
- Hope the league has a good turnout.

The chances of the stars aligning for this in a game with 800 concurrent players who race almost exclusively GT3 and TCR... precisely zero.

And yes, some sims do have great AI. Grand Prix 4, and NR2003, accomplished on vastly inferior hardware.

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Play ACC GT3 yes, but plenty of tracks to choose in the lobbies

I guess my previous post didn't drive the point home.
Can we not regurgitate another round of sim vs sim.
We can't know the reason he's leaving so I suppose speculation is inevitable but can we at least try not engage in unnecessary sim wars.

Travis Stille said:

... Maybe some folks think there are tons of outfits out there clamoring to buy a small operation like Studio 397 and pick-up all the burdens there-in as things currently stand, but I don't personally see it.

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If S397 and rF2 is operating at a profit then I don't any see the reason why not. If there is money to be made some one will pick it up. The Banks will make sure if it ever comes to that you can be sure. If anything the May content drop paints a very positive pictures for rF2.

Hope he cashed lots... Just living the good life, and perhaps make other simulators/games.

Meet your new CEO, S397 - you know, he has prior management experience in motorsport, being a CEO of a world famous racetrack
He did manage to secure the British GP from Silverstone to credit
I think you'll be in better hands with him

Marcel made a huge impact to rF2. VR, DX11, great content, UI and CS, Audio Improvements.
Wish him the best.

ì

rF2 has really improved over the past year. I'm rooting for S397 and hope that rF2 lives forever. The GT500 cars are incredible.

Thanks to everyone who made it so far in reading comments! I know they're useless but still I'm curious to know what is going to happen next.

melanieuk said:

#Austin Ogonoski, was right.

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I watched that yesterday and it was pretty interesting stuff. Seems like it's proper 80s style business shenanigans.

None of us knows if Marcel Offermans did abandon ship because of comming shipwreck or what.
But thanks for your effort Marcel you did allways sound like a rather humble and honest guy.

boxer said:

If S397 and rF2 is operating at a profit then I don't any see the reason why not. If there is money to be made some one will pick it up. The Banks will make sure if it ever comes to that you can be sure. If anything the May content drop paints a very positive pictures for rF2.

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The new content drops definitely help shed a positive light on things. I think it's just too bad they came along at the same time this MSG drama is unfolding. So now you got all kinds of "reads" going into it. The simulation sector is driven by a very fickle group.

I've always respected what RF2 has to offer because of what I consider a good physics and FFB model, but it's never been a sim that remains installed or regularly used for many of the same reasons others have. I'm not an individual averse to tinkering with things to get a proper setup working either. Progress has been tediously slow even for my taste, but it remains progress nonetheless. Credit where it's due I suppose.

Despite all this, I don't like what I see right now with the business side. Banks don't care about our interests, just shareholders. When 397 accepted MSG's offer they signed up for the associated fiduciary obligations to MSG shareholders. I'm here because this past week I was actually considering installing it again and digging in a bit. Then I saw today's headlines after all the MSG drama. Not even gonna bother at this point, but that's just my prerogative. Too many other viable options (RE: way less risk). Others should judge for themselves.

I do question why Studio 397 got into bed with MSG in the first place. That is not some decision key stakeholders take lightly and you can bet they knew any potential reputation risks at stake going in (unless MSG took them for a ride, but I'd hope they did proper diligence on capital injection). Seems to me this business relationship was a decision made out of necessity. Despite the associated red flags with MSG as an entity, bills need to be paid and the PUBLIC side of the operation was likely at risk IMO. RF2 has always been a niche platform, it's not a secret. Accessibility is high on the list with the attention spans most gamers have today and RF2 is demanding. They've made great strides there, but it's still got a long way to go from where I stand. Perhaps leagues can carry a small and profitable market share, but it probably leads to the kind of development timelines we've come to know with RF2.

Always good to remember two sides of the business exist in this case too. They weigh how much revenue the PRO facet of the business carries (against operational burdens) vs cash generation coming from the PUBLIC facing unit (RF2, DLC's, etc). I bet the former carries a lot, further contributing to the necessity of the current relationship with MSG.

Depending on how MSG unloads their "baggage", along with prospective interests in 397 assets, that will dictate the viability of the PUBLIC facing piece of the business and it's future relevance. IF 397 can take the current situation and exit profitably and stronger for it with a more successful and active title, wonderful, we all win! I'm just being realistic about those odds. I'll watch from the sidelines for now. GL to 397.

I see you're hovering around this comment section, Mr. Offermans Best wishes to you in your future endeavours! Thanks for the hard work on rF2. Hopefully we see you pop up in the sim racing landscape again in the future if it tickles your fancy.

In light of all the other recent concerning news about Motorsport Games, it's hard to not see this as another worrying development connected to the developing MSG mess where Studio 397 is seemingly caught in the crossfire. But I won't say anything linking this news to that until we know something concrete about why Marcel chose to leave and the broader circumstances that led to his choice. Cause I'm not in his head, after all. Sooner or later we might learn more (or maybe not) but until then there's not much (other than 100% speculation) to talk about IMO.

Heads of studios mainly leave when someone above wants things to go in a radically different direction, or the paychecks have stopped. I would expect a mass exodus of devs in the next week or two.

sad to see, hopefully this isn't end of RF2 , although moving to RF3 might not be bad idea anyhow, keep the physics but upgrade visuals on new / more modern engine

I think that Mr. Offermans will wait quietly to recover rF2

Marcel did great corse correcting RF2 that was heading for an early grave before his arrival.
Now let's see how Motorsport Games does when in charge.