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Darkfall not Aventurines main project
miasmafx
Member UncommonPosts: 15
Source: http://www.internetq.com/company-news/investment-aventurine
2 Feb 12
InternetQ is pleased to announce its investment in Aventurine, an award-winning independent digital game development company
Aventurine is active in the highly profitable online games business for eight years now and has been focusing on the online massive multiplayer niche, among the most challenging segments of the gaming market. Most importantly, the Company has developed a technologically innovative, reusable software platform, with asynchronous and real-time distribution capabilities and the capacity to interconnect millions of users in highly engaging interactive environments. Its proof of concept product, called Darkfall Online, is an award-winning online massive multiplayer game of fantasy, where thousands of players from around the globe can interact, cooperate or compete with each other. With the Darkfall's sequel launch later this year, Aventurine will have the opportunity to become a successful franchise.
The Company also develops casual games for online and mobile use and is in the process of designing a cross-platform (online, console, mobile) social game code-named AV-1.0. Furthermore, Aventurine is poised to break into Asia through a co-development agreement with one of Korea's major publishing companies, ensuring that the Company's products have a steady foothold in the rapidly growing Asian markets.
Aventurine's strategy is to develop large communities of players that share common characteristics and interests and spend significant time engaging in gaming activities. Through its extended network of billing gateways with mobile network operators, InternetQ can deliver these games to millions of mobile subscribers around the world; thus benefit from the significant m-commerce opportunities as well as the steady subscription revenue generated by this activity.
The Directors consider this investment to be in line with InternetQ's strategy, as also stated in the most recent annual report and in which the company signalled its intention to invest in developing both content and development capabilities. Furthermore, the Directors believe that the particular investment has both compelling business and financial rationale as Aventurine's engaging technology will also extend the value of InternetQ's existing core products, by providing the Group with an attractive opportunity to enhance the AKAZOO mobile platform, accelerate subscription revenue growth, as well as further expand the interactive software development capabilities for mobile marketing.
More specifically, the investment in Aventurine will:
Broaden InternetQ's capabilities to offer its AKAZOO subscribers more complete entertainment services and therefore improve engagement, further accelerating revenue growth;
Dramatically improve InternetQ's software development capabilities, a key function for the continuous development of the Group's mobile engagement platforms;
Allow for the immediate distribution of games (mostly casual) to mobile subscribers, the demand of which is increasing rapidly around the world;
Allow for significant cross-sell opportunities and delivery of mobile marketing campaigns to the gaming community; and
Exploit the significant m-commerce potential of games that are increasingly being delivered on mobile devices.
The investment in Aventurine amounts to € 2.6 million and will be effected by subscription to a convertible bond issue (the "Issue"). The Issue is linked to Aventurine's performance and will mature in March of 2015, while InternetQ will have the option to convert the bonds into equity at any time. Assuming the conversion takes place within seven months from the launch of Darkfall's sequel (code-named Darkfall 2.0), InternetQ will own c.40% of the Company's share capital. Following such conversion, InternetQ will also have the option to buy additional Company shares in order to control the majority of its share capital.
The investment will be funded by InternetQ's cash reserves, in line with management's commitment to invest the proceeds from the most recent secondary offering to expand the business in what the Directors believe it will be an accretive fashion. More specifically, the investment is expected to be earnings enhancing for 2012 through the receipt of a 6% bond coupon and has the potential to be earnings accretive in the years to follow assuming the successful launch of Darkfall 2.0.
The Issue proceeds will be used for:
The launch of Darkfall 2.0 in the US and Europe;
The co-development of the Asian Darkfall 2.0, which is to be a free-to-play version of the original game;
The development of premium gaming entertainment content for InternetQ's AKAZOO platform.
Konstantinos Korletis, Chief Executive of InternetQ plc, commented:
"This investment is at the heart of our previously announced plans to develop leading edge content for the converging space of mobile marketing with social media and entertainment services, which are all directed to enhance subscription loyalty. Expanding our product portfolio and being able to both cross and up-sell services to our subscribers will be critical for our future success. Moreover, with the successful launch of Darkfall 2.0 and the development of Aventurine's other titles, we will be able to drive more focused mobile marketing campaigns to an even more affluent pool of subscribers."
Panagiotis Dimitropoulos, Founder & President of InternetQ plc also commented:
"The investment in Aventurine is a very exciting moment for us. Combining InternetQ's leading role in mobile value added services with the innovating social entertainment experience of Aventurine, will enable us to enrich the experiences of our loyal subscriber base, further strengthen our well-established R&D capabilities, and give us a strong platform for continued expansion in the global marketplace. "
For further details
InternetQ
Konstantinos Korletis, Chief Executive Officer
Veronica Nocetti, CFO
Tel: +30 (211) 101 1101
Tel: +30 (693) 260 0128
Tel: +30 (694) 420 5275
Buchanan
Jeremy Garcia / Gabriella Clinkard
Tel: +44 (0)20 7466 5000
Grant Thornton Corporate Finance
Philip Secrett / David Hignell
Tel: +44 (0)20 7383 5100
RBC Capital Markets
Stephen Foss / Pierre Schreuder / Daniel Conti
Tel: +44 (0)20 7653 4000
About InternetQ plc:
InternetQ is a trusted global leader in mobile marketing and digital entertainment solutions. Through its proprietary technology platforms, InternetQ enables mobile network operators, brands, and media companies to conduct targeted, interactive and measurable mobile communications and pushes the frontiers in digital mobile entertainment.
InternetQ is a publicly traded company listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM, under the symbol INTQ.
For more information, please visit http://www.internetq.com
In conclusion, Aventurine's team of 60 programmers are not focused merely on Darkfall Unholy Wars, they are spread thin and work gets done at a snails pace.
Comments
I'm not going to break NDA, so I will let you think that.
I was just going from what you posted.
Did you see this?
That was your random forum user bit, I paid more attention to the business press release bit.
See what exactly?
How does this article indicate that Darkfall is not Aventurine's main project?
What are you even talking about?
That Guild Wars 2 login screen knocked up my wife. Must be the second coming!
Because you dont buy 40% of a company with the option to take over the majority share, then let them do whatever they want. Anyone that has played the beta of UW knows theres not 60 programmers worith of work there on top of what they started with.
edit: And there's not 60 programmers worith of patching going on, not even close.
^ This!
Post of the week for me, not being sarcastic either!
It has always struck me as funny that AV seems to treat DF as a hobby, rather than a primary revenue generating project. My understanding is that AV has their hands in quite a few other projects, including stuff related to Greece's DOD. If that's the case, it doesn't surprise me that their approach with DF seems less focused.
I liked DF okay and I'm not sure if I'll play UW as I haven't followed it much.
If this is supposed to be an excuse for the poor quality Darkfall games, then it's a bad one. I'm afraid AV has big ambitions, but no skill set, resources neither work culture to pull it off. Even if DF:UW would be the only project they worked on.
PS. That paper is mostly marketing bable, nothing new there. Addionally the amount of investment in AV is laugable even if compared to the size of the investment AV started with few years ago.
The original Darkfall was the best PvP game on the market HANDS DOWN. They got super lucky and the shit worked and it worked beautifully. Granted there were MANY problems wrong with the game, the grind, UI not friendly, use of AHK for scripts to be competitive for most but not all, the list goes on and the fact the Devs claim they couldn't change their coding to fix stuff easily which is why they ended up making DFUW.
I am making no excuses, simply telling others if you buy into this game be cautious as you might say "Oh it's in Closed Beta, by release it'll be super fun!" but in reality they've missed two release dates and Darkfall is known as Vaporware because of how slow stuff gets done and how little is told to the public.
The quote of InternetQ was posted to show what Aventurine as a small indie company has their hands in WITH Darkfall Unholy Wars in production and already missing two launch dates. Working with the asians to make a F2P Model which is pretty much remaking the WHOLE game, making mobile games, fixing the engine to sell to other companys, racing, military contract etc. etc. etc.
I want to believe it, but i don't. They use so many excuses and this one seem to work the most.
The most famous excuse they used is when they said that their members had the Swine Flu or some shit like that.
AV members, always on vacation and eating pizza during work.
C:\Users\FF\Desktop\spin move.gif
No 1.0 wasnt the best pvp game on the market. It was the only full loot ffa pvp focused sandbox that wasnt 100% broken however.
I know theres now some fantasy dream about what 1.0 was...becasue 2.0 fixed a LOT of issues with 1.0 and that caused some vets to lose an edge...hence a lot of the hate.
If 1.0 was so awesome, then, 90% of the vet community wouldnt have complained how terrible it was and how empty it was...with that said now 100% of the vet community complains about 2.0...mostly because they see their edge being lost potentially...
2.0 seems to be ages away for me however, given what ive seen. Theres a lot that needs to be done...and they still ignored the overall problem with 1.0, that being the games entire focus is just pvp. Theres a total lack of sub systems and meta gameing other than clan warfare...which ironically they reduced from 1.0 given the old vet community complaints about pvp being hard to find...which wouldnt have been an issue if the game was the best pvp game on the market hands down.
Anyway...whatever they did it was going to upset the vet communtiy...i just really hope once the game gets launch ready....that it attracts a more level headed community...my hope is that this vet community doesnt drive away new players as it did in 1.0 .
With most of the beta subscribers not play-testing, the engine is performing nicely.
Hmm... I didn't realize the Beta was THAT popular, I must have seen it on a bad day. According to the quote below from the OP:
"and the capacity to interconnect millions of users in highly engaging interactive environments"
The engine can handle millions... lol.
I get banned on forumfall for no reason, the moderators are ran by volunteers in the community and abuse their powers at will and I am one of many victums. I was permabanned by a moderator because he was tired of my trolling, it got reverted but still that is just an example.
Same here, they didnt even mention a reason and the only post i made last weeks before the perma ban was nothing provocative. They do abuse their powers and if you try to get a reason for why you got banned all you get is silence. Darkfall forums is corrupt.
And as usual, Aventurine does nothing.
This is true. I got banned for no reason just for posting criticism of the game.
The post about Darkfall being the best is false. You have some really thick rose colored glasses my friend. Some people call it a sandbox, but I call it a tech demo. The only thing you could really judge the game on was it's combat, skill system, and crafting. All of these were poorly designed.
I made a sword using warrior back when the first one came out. I swear it was the most unfun combat you could find in any game that doesn't use tab target. The only valid strategy was to hold down the run button and jerk my mouse to the left like I was some kind of nascar wannabe. My combat partner and I would run in circles until someone got low. Then we would break off to heal up. Which brings me to my next point. My opponent in full plate armor would bust out a wand and heal himself up in a few casts of some spell! There were several of those spells and if you cast them in the right order it would restore your vitals to full with no penalty or cost. That's just the purest form of bad design. Later on everyone had magic that could bounce you around. I got kited around by mages until I gave up on the game.
Skills took forever to "grind" out. You had to grind hundreds of them to become competitive. The pve was so dull that I would fall asleep in my chair while killing monsters. The game wanted me to spend months doing it. No thank you.
Crafting was uncreative. Click and wait. Then wait some more. UO had similar crafting 16 years ago, but it wasn't boring either. I didn't have to wait 10 minutes to smelt my ingots. I could smelt them in one go. I didn't have to mine for 2 hours to get enough ore for a set of gear. Everything about crafting and harvesting was SLOW. Incredibly slow and boring.