Did you see this one coming? VentureBeat has a piece out this morning interviewing Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman, who’s apparently just revealed that Trion’s bought up all of Gazillion Entertainment, or what’s left of its assets, anyway.
Gazillion, of course, infamously shuttered along with its core MMORPG, Marvel Heroes, last autumn following weeks of missed content, an apparent failed contract renogotiation, a sexual harassment scandal, and ultimately Disney’s rescinding of the Marvel license, driving the studio into bankruptcy. At the time, we called it the worst-managed MMORPG sunset of all time.
It looks like the goal for Trion here isn’t necessarily to save or remake Marvel Heroes (although that would be fun, and VB notes Trion has picked up an isometric game engine as part of the package) but to bolster its publishing for MMOs specifically, something MMO players will recall Trion’s been working on for the last few years with Glyph, where Trion’s existing games – including RIFT, Trove, ArcheAge, and Defiance – currently dwell.
“Trion Worlds will also beef up its ability to publish games created by other developers, using expertise in operations, networking, performance, security, player acquisition and analytics on a global scale. Trion Worlds will combine the Gazillion tools with its Trion Glyph platform to provide support and infrastructure for online game world developers. [… W]ith the Gazillion assets, Trion Worlds has a full ecosystem, including all of the tech that developers need to established their MMOs as ongoing services. Talks are under way with a number of developers who are using Trion World’s tools.”
Here’s how the whole Gazillion mess went down:
RIP Marvel Heroes
Sony joins Microsoft in giving out Marvel Heroes refunds
The Daily Grind: Did Marvel Heroes just get the worst-managed MMORPG sunset of all time?
Marvel Heroes: Former dev says Disney’s not the bad guy, Xbox One grants automatic refunds
Gazillion is dead and Marvel Heroes is shutting down Friday, NOT at the end of the year
Marvel Heroes players seek refunds in the face of the game’s closure
Disney has canceled Marvel Heroes, Marvel has ended its relationship with Gazillion
Marvel Heroes’ update silence has stretched to four weeks; here are the latest developments
Marvel Heroes has now missed three weekly updates in a row as Thor: Ragnarok hits theaters
Marvel Heroes studio Gazillion has fallen eerily silent – here’s what we know about the sexual misconduct allegations and missed updates
