What's going on?
At 10:00am, Friday 29th May, the news that everyone
had been waiting to hear, broke EXCLUSIVELY on the SOS message
board. Jon Hare finally ended the long, painful silence surrounding
Sensibles future by announcing that they were about to be
taken over by British coding giants, Codemaster. Jon left
the following message, on the SOS message board :
To Phil, Cris and all you
lovely sensi fans,
Today it is being officially announced that Sensible Software
has been bought by Codemasters.
What this means is that Codemasters now are Sensible Software.
For each new Sensible title I will be Designing/Directing
and working with a number of their excellent programmers
artists etc. In fact the first new Sensible project is already
underway in Codemasters Warwickshire offices.
Myself and Chris Yates are delighted that this deal has
gone through, it has taken a long, long time. Chris, for
the moment anyway, is taking no part in any future Sensible
developments.
The reason we chose Codemasters is simple, Codemasters are
about the only big British Development/Publishing Company
left and their standard of software in recent years has
been consistently excellent. Also the Darling brothers who
run Codemasters come from a similar development background
to myself and Chris and we believe they will have a lot
more sympathy with all things Sensible than most of the
suited business men now running the majority of the world`s
publishing companies.
So please give Codemasters your full support, they have
saved Sensible for all of us. And let them know what you
want from Sensible in the future. I`m sure they would be
delighted to hear from you.
Thank you all once again for your support through this last
rather bleak 6 months or so, it has been absolutely fantastic.
Cris and Phil it means a lot to me, that you have taken
the time to put this whole Sensisational site together and
the tribute site for SDR is totally brilliant.
Cheers
Jops
Jon Hare
Why Codemasters?
As Jon mentions in the message above, Codemasters
are a company of excellent and repute, and have released some
top quality titles in the past few years. On another gaming
web site, Jon had the following to say about the choice :
"For Sensible Software to continue
developing games true to their heritage, the only way forward
was to allow them to be integrated into a like-minded company
that is financially equipped and capable of successfully
handling commercial games development into the next millennium," said John Hare.
"Codemasters are the perfect adoptive
parent for Sensible Software. With their track record of
producing quality, innovative software, Codemasters are
very well equipped to provide a new home, enabling the colourful
Sensible legacy to continue. I'm very happy to be working
with one of the largest surviving independent British developers
and publishers".
The managing director of Codemasters also had
the following to say about Sensible Software :
"There are many parallels
in terms of game design and development priorities between
Codemasters and Sensible Software and there's a great deal
of respect for Sensible Software's 12-year history. Having
Jon as part of our internal development expertise means
a lot to Codemasters; his originality in game design will
add an inspirational aspect to our plans for future games
and add to the successful growth of the Codemasters group".
What does this mean for Sensible Software and
Codemasters?
Codemasters, now own the rights to all of Sensibles
big names - Cannon Fodder, Sensible Soccer, etc etc, which
means that most of the money made by further releases of these
titles, or sequels of these titles, will go to Codemasters.
Sensible Software, does still exist, but now it is working
as a part of Codemasters, which means Jon Hare will have access
to all of Codemasters expertise (responsible for titles such
as TOCA Touring Cars, Micro Machines, Colin Mcrae Rally) as
well as extra funds for developement, and publishers who understand
what Sensible is all about. All of which should result in
titles of the highest quality, from Sensible Software in the
future, and no more mess ups, like the ones caused by GT Games'
greed, and lack of respect for the Sensible legacy.
It seems fairly clear from what has been said,
that, although Jon does in effect work for Codemasters now,
he will be in charge of all of Sensible Softwares developements,
and with access to the resources and facilities which Codemaster
can offer, and Jon Hares creative mind, we should be seeing
some top quality titles from Sensi in the not too distant
future.
Codemasters, of course, benefit from the expertise
and knowledge of a man behind some of the biggest games in
history, and together, they should form a formidable outfit.
What can we expect in the future?
Well, as Jon mentioned, Sensible are already
working on a new project, together with Codemasters. Sensibly
(a ha!) he has not revealied the name or nature of the project,
but I would take a wild guess, at it being Sensible Soccer
related (SWOS 2000? ), but I do emphasise that this is a wild
guess, backed up by no clear evidence. Whatever, titles may
come, you can rest assuref, that Sensible is now well and
truly back in business, and with Codemasters backing, there
will be no stopping them conquering the PC market in the way
they practically monopolised the Amiga games industry.
Incidentally, if you want to write to codemasters,
to say thank's for saving Sensi, or to tell them what you'd
like to see from Sensi in the future (ie SWOS 2000!) you can
contact them on the following e-mail address : custservice@codemasters.com
The reaction
The reaction to the great news was remarkable.
E-Mails flew around the world, ICQ was running hot, with excited
Sensi fans, and within minutes of the news breaking, Sensi
webmasters all around the world had heard the news. Naturally,
the response was very positive, with fans delighted to see
that a great, no legendary Software house had been saved.
My personal reaction, was one of great joy.
I filled with pride, as I read the message Jon had left on
the SOS board. I really felt as though all my and Cris' efforts
had been worthwhile, but above this, I was just so happy,
that a gaming company that had brought people around the world
so much joy, were being given another chance.
A few thank yous
I would like to echo Jon's thanks to everyone
who has shown support for Sensible Software over the past
six months. The SOS campaign, has been a huge success with
well over 50 people taking the time to sign the SOS message
board and several website owners making room on their site
for the SOS banner. Your support, may just have helped to
save Sensible Software, and even if it hasn't, it has at least
shown Jon, that there are people out there who believe in
him, and understand what Sensible Software is all about.
Thanks also to Crispin Boylan, of SWOS 24/7 for
helping to run the SOS campaign, and for coming up with some
top ideas for the campaign. Without his help, SOS would probably
not have happened.
I would also like to say thank you to Jon Hare,
for repaying this support, by breaking the news exlusively
on the SOS board, and for showing his appreciation for our
efforts, and for the time and effort that I put into SensiSational.
Thanks also to Codemasters, for saving a gaming
legacy, and for giving us a ray of hope, for SWOS 2000 appearing.
Some incredibly controversial, wild, sweeping,
insulting parting shots aimed at the B***ARDS who tried to
bring Sensi down
GT Games - the B***ARDS who forced Sensi to
rush release Sensi 98, a move which destroyed the credibility
of the title. The same B***ARDS pulled out of publishing Sex
n Drugs n Rock n Roll after they previously said they would
publish it. This would have almost been acceptable, if they
hadn't waited until Sensible Software had spent 2 years, and
£2 million developing it, before pulling the plug. B***ARDS.
EA Sports - How the hell do this lot make money
on superficial eye candy, when Sensi struggles by, because
they try to make good games.
Software Pirates - Piracy is wrong. Don't do
it.
Krisalis - Nice job on the Playstation conversion
boys. No, really.
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