Going It Solo
After months of consideration and negotiation, we have made the decision as a team to release Operation: Harsh Doorstop in February without a publisher. We still have an excellent relationship with Microprose, our previous publisher. However, we have come to the realization that the benefits of releasing Operation: Harsh Doorstop as a self-published project outweigh the alternatives.
Operation: Harsh Doorstop is not like other games. It is a unique project with unique goals. Profits or returns do not define these goals. Our only goal is to develop a superior product that we release for free. This founding principle makes Operation: Harsh Doorstop largely incompatible with most financiers. Because of this, we feel that Operation: Harsh Doorstop will function much better long-term as an independent and self-published project.
We still intend to permanently maintain a strong relationship with Microprose. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time working with Microprose, Microprose’s staff, and Microprose’s CEO David Lagettie. These individuals have shared our vision for many years, and have been instrumental in the success of Operation: Harsh Doorstop.
Because of this, we have also decided the following:
1. Microprose will become the first third-party client of our studio to receive a full license to OHDcore, the underlying framework of our game. Microprose will have a full license to continue development of their own games powered by OHDcore, most notably Warfare 1944. We continue to be available for any development work that Microprose will require, as they continue developing their own games.
2. Warfare 1944 is a Microprose project, owned and developed by Microprose. This was actually already true, but we felt this required further clarification following our announcement to self-publish Operation: Harsh Doorstop. While our studio has been previously contracted to develop Warfare 1944, Warfare 1944 has always ultimately been a product owned and developed by Microprose. We merely develop the OHDcore framework, and have been available for contract development work as needed. Our studio continues to be available to help develop Warfare 1944 as Microprose desires, while we continue to independently develop Operation: Harsh Doorstop as our own self-published product.
3. We will continue to support, promote, and cover Microprose products on our own personal channels. We love Microprose games, and we love what Microprose is doing for independent developers. We intend to continue supporting Microprose as long as they continue to be the champion for independent developers that we have seen them be.
Operation: Harsh Doorstop is a project with a strong and unique future. Our game is not like other games, and our mission is unprecedented. We intend to build a game sandbox that is free, not because releasing a free game is profitable… but because we believe it will create a better gaming community. Our supporting community members have seen this vision, and each of you have helped us to create something extraordinary. We intend to continue this extraordinary mission as the captain of our own fate, as it always should have been.
We look forward to showing you what we can accomplish, together with your support.
See you on the battlefield… soon.
Sincerely,
Connor Hill (Bluedrake42)
Operation: Harsh Doorstop is not like other games. It is a unique project with unique goals. Profits or returns do not define these goals. Our only goal is to develop a superior product that we release for free. This founding principle makes Operation: Harsh Doorstop largely incompatible with most financiers. Because of this, we feel that Operation: Harsh Doorstop will function much better long-term as an independent and self-published project.
We still intend to permanently maintain a strong relationship with Microprose. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time working with Microprose, Microprose’s staff, and Microprose’s CEO David Lagettie. These individuals have shared our vision for many years, and have been instrumental in the success of Operation: Harsh Doorstop.
Because of this, we have also decided the following:
1. Microprose will become the first third-party client of our studio to receive a full license to OHDcore, the underlying framework of our game. Microprose will have a full license to continue development of their own games powered by OHDcore, most notably Warfare 1944. We continue to be available for any development work that Microprose will require, as they continue developing their own games.
2. Warfare 1944 is a Microprose project, owned and developed by Microprose. This was actually already true, but we felt this required further clarification following our announcement to self-publish Operation: Harsh Doorstop. While our studio has been previously contracted to develop Warfare 1944, Warfare 1944 has always ultimately been a product owned and developed by Microprose. We merely develop the OHDcore framework, and have been available for contract development work as needed. Our studio continues to be available to help develop Warfare 1944 as Microprose desires, while we continue to independently develop Operation: Harsh Doorstop as our own self-published product.
3. We will continue to support, promote, and cover Microprose products on our own personal channels. We love Microprose games, and we love what Microprose is doing for independent developers. We intend to continue supporting Microprose as long as they continue to be the champion for independent developers that we have seen them be.
Operation: Harsh Doorstop is a project with a strong and unique future. Our game is not like other games, and our mission is unprecedented. We intend to build a game sandbox that is free, not because releasing a free game is profitable… but because we believe it will create a better gaming community. Our supporting community members have seen this vision, and each of you have helped us to create something extraordinary. We intend to continue this extraordinary mission as the captain of our own fate, as it always should have been.
We look forward to showing you what we can accomplish, together with your support.
See you on the battlefield… soon.
Sincerely,
Connor Hill (Bluedrake42)