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​

 

[museumsteve]

I love DTM and R3E. As soon as single player is unleashed in R3E I imagine plenty more customers for plenty more content

 

[Robert vd Heide]

Simbin should have sticked to their core buisness , developing GOOD racesims .

they could be competing with Kunos,Reiza and others

but NO ,,Simbin wanted to experiment with shady ways to milk their sims
and got the lit on their nose

i hope they decide to go GT 3 ,and pick things up from GTR/Race series where they still where succesful (THE Gamer is most important ,they want to have the feeling they race,,so create a sim that delivers and you guys should be fine )

until then i enjoy Reiza and Kunos sims ,and a bit of Rf2

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Its so easy to judge from the sideline without knowing any facts or figures eh? Where are you getting your information from that this is all caused by a wrong business model? Do you know how much (or little) they have made compared to their previous racing titles earnings?

I am not a fan of the free to play model either, but if that model pays their bills at the end of the month and brings food on the table: excellent way to go.

Apart from that DTM Experience can be bought as a standalone series containing all cars and tracks, similar to the much praised GTR2 and WTCC but I don't hear anybody talking about that.

 

[Boby Kim]

"Don't worry". Well, im worried as R3E is in beta for one and a half year now. There is no communication. All the Q&A's were pre defined answered setup by Raceroom. And now we have to wait for what... something new? Simbin, you have lost my credibility a long time ago. A while ago you published a story about holidays, and how Simbin thought about what went wrong in the last couple of month. Instead of working on R3E..."poof"...suddenly there was a kind of DTM game. Creating the Ultimate DTM experience without tires, pitstops and weather...there is something wrong when I look back at previous titles. Same R3E **** different name. And now this "bankruptcy" story. Exactly the same as what happened with GTR3...just vanished, nobody knows what happenend. And the most stupid thing I do is...still hoping that you have a joker card in your pocket. That one day you fool all of us with a full blown hardcorde simracing dedicated GTR3...men...I have got to keep dreaming.

 

[museumsteve]

It is very easy to 'guess' at what had happened when we hear these kind of stories. The truth is we don't know the hiearchy within the business, we just know the dev guys that do the work we love. They're the reason we have the racers we want but they're also the guys on the front line when things go wrong because they are the only point of communication we have to the brand.

 

[AndrewBo]

Thanks for the *inside* update SimBin.
As always: Rumours' can/will kill reality.

So I will stick with reality, and all will be good.

Cheers
Andrew

Have FUN out there.​

 

[DrGrog]

As to why they went bandrupt, I really don't care. What I am concerned and know is that R3E was launched on Steam more than a year ago with promises for single and multiplayer racing 'soon' after their initial release but they are not implanted even now.

Instead of working on Single player AIs or Multiplayer functions what we got was standalone DTM add-on with no pit stop, no weather, no multiplayer (which was added in later date as "Alpha" state with no dedicated server, which I belive is crucial to a sim racing game), and no cross functionality between former R3E game and contents.

As an old Simbin fan, I bought every single content they released for R3E including all skins. I have been defending, or accepting rather, their business model beliving what they promised us for R3E would soon be implemented. What I have now is a "racing simulator" without race, multiplayer, pit-stop or any functions a sim racing game should have.

Simbin or what used to Simbin really should really get their things together fast and listen to their customers. I really enjoy driving R3E cars as their distinct Simbin feeling are still wonderful and mostly fun, but expansive contents mixed with no sim racing functions? I almost feel it's been for good they got bankrupt as they might now change their appoach on marketting and more importantly development plans for R3E in the future.

 

[Peter Johnson]

Well, I think we all here at a minimum need/deserve a full explanation of what exactly happened to cause these current events. Why should we further support this company? I certainly do not just want to hear, "Oh, we still have great plans!. Stayed tuned! Don't put your wallet away just yet!" Honestly, I feel like were being sold down the river. What percentage of these alpha release games ever make it to a state of completion that we were led to believe? Does anyone know?

 

[Peter]

I'm curious and looking forward to the new name.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

I'm curious about the new location, here's me hoping it is Stockholm and that they will be hiring someone with my skillset (which is none related to making sim racing games xD).

 

[Bryan O'Connor]

Can't say i'm surprised to be honest. Shame though. Make good games, or at least they did haha.
I personally feel a many small (wrong) decisions were made that have now had a big impact.
Ditching GTR3, Pay 2 Play model, expensive RRRE content, delaying any form of racing be it Multi or Single player (for a racing game that's a no-no) and virtually no communication as to what is happening in either regard, putting all their eggs in the DTM-E basket and again not a finalised and rushed product.... It all adds up and gives people jitters about investing money.

Don't get me wrong, i find DTM-E multiplayer excellent (best netcode by miles) - but why has this taken so long and why not for RRRE as well? Where are the single player components to RRRE?
Fundamental errors not giving us rough time-scales and/or even confirming they will actually be in the game!

Poor communication mainly.

But best of luck to those laid off (send your CV's to iRacing, they need some help in the graphics/physics department haha) and best of luck to the new company, whoever they may be.

Now....... do i spend my remaining vRP's?

 

[Peter Johnson]

Just a possibility. But I think multiplayer for the actual game itself turned out to be too computer dependent. Namely, you'd probably need a current super fast gaming system to get the 60fps. Most people don't own cutting edge computers.
Just a thought...

 

[Peter Johnson]

I still play all their old titles, absolutely love them! There the only games where my video card is like a God to the game...lol..hd7850
I think theres a guys on ebay selling a bunch of the old simbin titles still for 1.49 U.S. I bought all of them. Steam games.

 

[Bryan O'Connor]

Just a possibility. But I think multiplayer for the actual game itself turned out to be too computer dependent. Namely, you'd probably need a current super fast gaming system to get the 60fps. Most people don't own cutting edge computers.
Just a thought...

Seriously doubt that as DTM multiplayer runs just as good as the singleplayer, if not better sometimes.
I just think they were spinning too many plates and rather than finish one thing they didn't finish anything. And not being open with us paying customers leads to us keeping our wallets shut or in most cases, buying other, finished games.

 

[Craig Stevenson]

They said a while back that they were going to be more open and communicative but I have seen very little evidence of that since then.

Just a possibility. But I think multiplayer for the actual game itself turned out to be too computer dependent. Namely, you'd probably need a current super fast gaming system to get the 60fps. Most people don't own cutting edge computers.
Just a thought...

They can't be expected to develop for last gen kit for ever, but my mate is running it fine on quite old kit.

 

[yusupov]

ive been following them for a few months now & they seem as 'open' as any other devs...ive seen jay post frequently & occasionally a couple other guys. i have a (vague) idea of where they (say) they are heading, or intend to, which is more than i can say for any other sim save game stock car...to be honest i was shocked & figured id been suckered in because the recent sale did convince me to invest in R3E. but one of the devs said pretty directly not too long ago that there would be a change in direction (for the better imo, toward to sim-side) for the game, basically said the powers that be have changed their minds about earlier decisions or something. so, without meaning to sound callous, i take this as good news, & news that the devs saw coming.

it is easy to read jay's take as typical spin but its in-line with things id heard prior to this unfortunate news. ofc my sympathies for those laid off but, without meaning to be callous, i actually do take this as a positive sign as a customer...R3E needed a kick in the ass & maybe its gotten one. looking fwd to ADAC GT Masters in the meantime.

 

[Tony Gentile]

SimBin rocks

 

[Deleted member 161052]

GTR2 is my absolutely favourite game

 

[Botond Nagy]

okay guys, very sad story, but any chance to get refund? or anyone can give us any kind of release date, plus-minus 1 year???

 

[Robert vd Heide]

Its so easy to judge from the sideline without knowing any facts or figures eh? Where are you getting your information from that this is all caused by a wrong business model? Do you know how much (or little) they have made compared to their previous racing titles earnings?

I am not a fan of the free to play model either, but if that model pays their bills at the end of the month and brings food on the table: excellent way to go.

Apart from that DTM Experience can be bought as a standalone series containing all cars and tracks, similar to the much praised GTR2 and WTCC but I don't hear anybody talking about that.

not judging them from the sideline
merely sharing what turned me off regarding Simbin.

same turn off but lesser in strength towards Gran turismo 5 and 6

i was there since the first granturismo on ps1,and metropolis streetracer on dreamcast/xbox
so i kind of know exactly where developers started to piss me off

DLC should be optional,not mandatory . at least to my liking.
ruining the game to sell gamecredits for money ,left me with a bad taste

gtr,gtr2,evo,race on,legends ,all briliant

it seems that smaller develloping teams like simbin was ,reiza and now with Assettocorsa many new young people ,,do a great job making golden stuff

i even suspect the ones beeing fired at Simbin,,will be those real programmers who made the whole thing possible,,leaving some office bozos who have no clou .
a bit like how Google is dismanteling Youtube for the last 3 years,taking away all functionality,and communication options in the proces

so yes Simbin is not the only ,,its a broader thing ,,that started with stealing credits from kids mobile phones,,after this was generally accepted and not dismissed as theft(wich it clearly is)
now kids are targeted with DLC and extra costs.,(for their income?or for their age ?)
i dont mind being targeted ,,but i dont like kids under 16 being asked for money they dont yet earn.

and im not against DLC ,,i bought the dtm dlc for rf2 ,but it was voluntary and my choice
anyone who hasnt still can play rf2 and enjoy to the max

i have dtm 13/14 from raceroom ,,but i usually like a dtm race in GSE or rf2 much better
no matter what politics or statements does it just give a nicer race experience