Blackstar Interview
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Jonric: When did development of the game begin? What was the status of the project when NCsoft decided to pull out?
Gary Gattis: We began development of the IP, engine and tool set in 2005. We were formed to compete with the largest of AAA MMOs, so we knew we needed a very deep and rich universe, as well as the most powerful content creation tools and a rock-solid foundation.
NCsoft decided to discontinue its involvement in January of '08. Our team was on the verge of production, which, for us, meant that all pre-production risks had been mitigated. This includes fast and fun gameplay, completed (and flushed) art production pipelines (in-house and out), and a full suite of content facing tools.
Jonric: What has happened in the time since then? To what degree have you been able to continue moving forward?
Gary Gattis: When NCsoft canceled, we knew we were not going to be going into production for some time, so we had to let about a third of the team go... 15 folks. It was a painful decision because we really have built a powerhouse team, an amazing roster of who's who from game development history. But we still managed to maintain a strong group of core individuals while we negotiated to get the IP.
The funny thing is that we have jumped right back into development, and since we have such a strong tool set and well-defined IP, we are able to make great progress towards a finished product while we find our next publishing partner.
