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Horizons: AGC Interview: Part One
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
Carolyn Koh pens the first of a two part story on the sale of Horizons from Tulga Games to EI Interactive. In this one, she sits down with David Bowman, Tulga's former CEO and Kelly Heckman, the former Community Manager for Horizons:
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Then the burning question I had: Were you asked to prepare the community for the transition or not to? Due to the terms of the sale, I was not allowed to make any official statement to the community, Heckman told me. GiNs contract ended the moment the deal was inked and although she offered EI a 30 day transitional contract, the offer was not accepted. |
You can read the whole article here.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
Good article - it was (is?) a great game, i followed it for years and years then ot was ...released....
Good luck to the both of them, another community like that would be great on their next game.
I can't wait to read part 2 of this article.
I will never play a game with Bowman's name anywhere on it. This guy is beyond despicable. After the turnaround Horizons had, and to just up and sell? Unbelievable. It shows where his loyalty lies. Why would anyone ever support this man's product again? Sheep, a bunch of damned thoughtless sheep.
David and the Tulga team were responsible for turning the game around, not for selling it. It was CP Baker that made the decision to sell, and who accepted the offer from EI over the offer David made.
Prior to the sale, Horizons had hit a 54% conversion rate and was growing subscribers at around 7% per month. My guild could hit between 25 and 30 members online during weekend prime time. The most I have seen on in the last month - during the same time periods - has been 7. The last time I was in the new player assistance channel, I saw only two names I didn't know. At the end of June, seeing six or seven new players a night was not unusual.
That much change, in only eight weeks. October 21 will be 90 days from the sale. I hope EI has found a way to turn things around by then....
Guildleader, Mithril Council, Chaos
Bowman wasn't responsible for it being sold once, he was responcible for it being sold twice. He led it into a court room begging for protection because it was buggy, broken and while it had a great player community the vendor side was horrible until the last days of it's life. Forgive me btw if I don't believe for a minute Bowman as CEO was not involved in the sale and did not take an active part in deciding what was going on. That he didn't share it with anyone else doesn't surprise me. Some of you might recall they did the same thing to Monica and her team when they got into trouble the first time.
Bowman became CEO by scheming and cutting throats. Horizons was never his vision, he simply took it and made sure it made a little money before burning to the ground as the second greatest disappointment in MMO gaming history. I think most would agree SWG is even worse.
Mr Bowman should have stayed with Turbine, He certainly made many people aware of his faults and few will trust him on whatever he does subsequently to this fiasco.