So, here’s the story. I was in at GameStop today to check stuff out and I noticed Rock Band 2. But then it dawned on me, I wonder when the Ghostbusters game i coming out. So, I went to ask and they said it was canned completely. That disappointed me completely seeing how that was the one console title that I was looking forward to. Does anyone know why it was cancelled? It can’t be just because of the publisher because that is a weak excuse to stop writing a highly sought after title like Ghostbusters.
It wasn’t cancelled per-say, although Gamestop has been been telling people that and canceling pre-orders for it. Activision was said to have dropped the publishing for it though. The game is still going to be made.
I can just be because of the publisher, because that’s the only reason titles get canned. The money stops. Assuming it is canned, it’s because Activision felt that it wouldn’t make the money it needed to. The reasons for that could be any number of things that would not be immediately obvious to an outside observer, including changes to hit certain quarterly financial numbers.
Dang, I just happened to be looking at some screenshots of the game a few minutes ago, because I Google Image searched the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man (as I often do) to show to someone. Not that I was holding out for the game, but rats.
Well, considering there hasn’t been a Ghostbusters title out since the Genesis era, you’d think that this would be a title that they would want to keep working on. I know they’re running out of money, but who decides to give the developers the money to make it?
The publisher. I’m guessing the Genesis era is probably why, assuming funding has been cut. Ghostbusters has a high nostalgia factor with a lot of people in their late 20s and early 30s, but Activision might not feel it’s strong enough to justify further development. Who knows, maybe it was totally off the rails, had a decent demo, but was an unfun bug ridden mess requiring millions to complete.
Keep in mind too that there are a lot of older gamers out there, who would be willing to purchase this game for playing. I just feel that simply because this game targets a certain age group doesn’t justify cancelling it because everyone’s not interested.
That’s why I didn’t way it was why it was canceled, just that it may be a reason. I’d be kind of surprised if we ever find out why, assuming it was canned. Most of that sort of stuff is under NDA.
Personally, I’d imagine that it could easily be a million+ seller if it wasn’t terrible, which makes me suspect that either it really was a buggy mess, or that it was a political or financial maneuver on the part of Activision brass.
I sometimes question also the intelligence of some of these developers anyway. I mean, Starcraft has a large fan base, and when they (not Activision in general, just developers in general) cancelled Starcraft Ghost, there were hundreds of thousands of people, including me, that were disappointed. I bet they’re kicking themselves right now but apparently, Activision, or whoever is developing Ghostbusters now (no one at the moment) don’t learn from other people’s mistakes. And they’re making a big one right now.
I’m not saying that’s what’s going to happen but I’m just letting you guys know that I f%*king called it.
Ghost had a really messy development cycle, and was never done by Blizzard to start with. If they are supposed to be believed, the game never was able to reach to its potential and was canned for being just “meh”, just like WarCraft Adventures before it. Hands on previews of the Ghostbusters game has spoken of something way more than just “meh”, and the developers themselves has gone out saying the game will be published somehow (see Jim’s link). Don’t give up on it just yet
Oh, I’m certainly not going to give up on it. I just love it how developers have to take something so nice looking and anticipated, and find some way to screw it up. In this case, switching hands.
