Well written. Vshojo and Activision showed that you can’t operate on trust and promises in business. You need cold, hard contract with clear terms.
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I’m gonna be honest, I mostly see negative things about Krafton online, have no real knowledge about it, but what I know is that I like what LE currently is.
This entire forum post is a lot of business speak, but doesn’t really explain to me what “guidance” exactly Krafton is supposedly giving to you guys. Is it just money? The knowledge to build a FOMO inducing Microtransaction shop?
I feel like we could use some clarification what exactly you guys are gaining out of this partnership, and what you have to give up in return.
Or maybe I’m the stupid one for having no reading comprehension.
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They say they don’t want to change you but when they have ultimate authority and then 6 months or a year down the road when their ROI isn’t panning out as they had hoped…you have lost the ability to stop them from changing whatever they want.
I get that money is important but not losing your soul is more important IMO. I hope I am wrong but this seems like a bad idea. I know Krafton all too well from PUBG and I used to love PUBG…when it was run by PlayerUnknown before Krafton took it over from him (or was pushed out?). Oh and that’s when the cash shop went nuts with crazy, goofy shit that was outrageously overpriced (gun skins that cost 2,000 dollars???). Uhg.
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That “exciting update” sounds more concerning than exciting, I’m assuming it’s needed to get the investment and corporate grunt to port to consoles, but imo that sounds like something written for investors rather than players.
I hope the offline version stays available so we don’t have to deal with whatever monetization fallout comes in 5-10 years
Hopefully with krafton’s current pr nightmare they’ll want to be precious with you guys.
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You said it well. I have similar fears. I don’t trust Krafton one bit. I used to LOVE PUBG and they systematically ruined it…after taking over from the creator of the game (the actual PlayerUnknown). Like you said…it wasn’t all at once but was systematically dismantled. Including closing down the official forums so they didn’t have to listen to complaints about the cash shop or persistent bugs or cheaters etc…This isn’t going to end well for EHG IMO.
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nothing is done out of charity in the world of big gaming companies. I just wonder what exactly do Krafton want from EHG and what’s their interest in this deal.
That’s very optimistic of you to think it will take 5-10 years.
Ultimately one hopes you know what you’re doing, but Krafton has not been involved in anything remotely positive… ever. Let’s see what the future holds.
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i wish you all the best, but my expectations are low.
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I would assume a mobile game spin-off.
I mean ofc you have to sell this as a win and for the original founder of such projects that’s often times what and why they worked so hard for ages: to finally get somebody to make an offer which is profitable enough to be accepted. That’s how it goes.
I don’t think that this is good for last epoch as a game at all.
Look at moon studios who just bought back their rights from take two in order to receive back the freedom to do whatever they like.
Another example is GGG with Chris Wilson leaving and now developing a game with a small team again. I think this is mainly due to tencent in the background dictating what to do.
And all those publishers primarily look at how to make things more profitable - let’s just not lie about that.
Sad news to hear - hope the check was worth it.
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And so it begins… Part tencent, part krafton, part EHG what could go wrong?
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hoping for the best but i can’t say it’s a decision i’m not worried about
I’m VERY sceptical about any kind of acquisitions when it comes to game companies. Hoping for the best, and that you had to do it to put LE into new markets like console and such. Please don’t make it into a “Last Epoch: Infinite” situation.
Personally I’d rather see something like a 10 stash tabs every new season for $5 than you selling your creativity rights. As long as you stay yourself I’m with you and I’ll support you, even if I don’t play that much.
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Putting “profit first, game second” people in a position of power over you? That tends to end well…
I REALLY hope this turns out to be an exception, but my faith in capitalism is nonexistent.
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I just read this answer from you and everybody knows how things go once a deal is done. First things stay calm for a while but at some point they will force their ideas on you. As you just stated: With the acquisition they have full authority. It’s just naive not to assume they will not use this authority once ideas do not align (anymore).
But as stated in another post already: I don’t assume that you are this naive. I just think the check was too good to pass on and as somebody who probably worked 24/7 for years it’s your earned right to make this call.
The only thing I somehow disapprove is to really believe or try to sell that this is for the greater good of the game. So many recent examples just prove the exact opposite.
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This feels like terrible news for the players. God, I hope you had some damn good lawyers read over this contract. While I hope this goes in the direction you want, I have some serious misgivings that this could lead to the destruction of Last Epoch as a future leader in the ARPG space.
Honestly, just really surprised to see this news and you guys trying to spin this as a positive. Damn I hope the paycheck was worth it.
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The problem is that now there won’t be the same goodwill to spend beyond the box price of the game. I personally bought the most expensive supporter pack for last season. Not because I wanted it but because I wanted to support EHG as a small studio. I can’t say I would be motivated to do the same for Krafton. I bet many others will feel the same. This will potentially cause that “goodwill” revenue to decline which only incentivizes Krafton to pressure for monetization changes. Maybe I’m wrong. I hope I’m wrong.
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I’d say I want to be cautiously optimistic, but I am pretty worried/fearful.
In the short-term I think this will work out great helping EHG launch on console sooner than they would have been able to.
In the long-term, I can see Krafton pushing more and more aggressive monetization and pushing EHG’s current management to the side.
At least, ARPG is a genre that’s known to be not very receptive to p2w, so I at least can see them moving the monetization more toward PUBG than Tera.
At the same time, we have thing like Torchlight Infinite, that some people seem to find acceptable for some reason. I don’t ever want to see any gacha mechanic or auto-loot pet in my ARPG, the day that it happen would be the last day I ever touch the game.
But still, ARPG have a seasonal model that’s well suited for continuous, previsible revenue stream, which is what Krafton specialize in with PUBG, so I can see a better outcome for LE than Subnautica/Callisto Protocol. I’m just fearful of what will happen when LE innevitably have it’s first “bad” season under their management; it will inevitably happen someday, as arrow can’t just go up forever, and that’s when this whole thing of investors focused on perpetual growth/RoI crumbles…
I would have wished for EHG to stay autonomous and have the ability to eventually settle at a sustainable level instead of pushing forever continuous growth, which is just fundamentally unsustainable, and will be forced on them because that’s how investors work 
At least, I’m not worried for the near future and I’ll continue enjoying LE for as long as it stay a true ARPG
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Uh oh. Judd and his team really seem like stand-up guys.
Taking your word for it here based on what you’re saying - that EHG’s vision aligns the most with this company “Krafton” despite their negative reputation.
You’ve had time to sit with them, get to know them, discuss and come to a conclusion that this will improve your game on all fronts. It will give you the financial push to produce the game you wish to produce.
I can’t say EHG has steered the ship wrong before, so I trust the process and am eager and excited to see what kind of improvements are made with this new financial backing. You got my support and well wishes for this new partnership.