An unaimed arrow never misses.....

Things have been quiet on the BFS front lately and I thought it was a good time to share those reasons and give an update to the status of projects.

When I started BFS there was a clear goal in mind. Black Foot Studios was built to be a publisher/Work For Hire funded company. That means that from the outset, our business model required funding from outside sources based off of projects being developed. There was not enough internal private money to fund a full fledged company and even though we dabbled in private investment it was clear that wasn't a viable path to pursue given the circumstances. So we set out to put our best foot forward and sell our IP to a publisher or other 3rd party with the full understanding that it was the only way to build the company. As I have mentioned in the past, that didn't exactly work out as intended and we were forced to rethink and re-invent ourselves into something that was more sustainable given our resources.

Part of that plan was to develop a prototype simulation application and receive funding from the military. That is how Sky Gods was born. However, for various reasons, we never got to the point were that would become a viable option and the idea of Sky Gods the military funded simulation died before it got very far. The plan was always to develop a commercial game of SG alongside the simulation, using the military money as funding for the commercial application.

Everyone pretty much knows the rest of the story with regards to Ground Branch so no need to get into that. I have always been 100% up front with the plans and status of BFS and the games we are making and this is no different. So the short of it is where are we now and where are we going?

BFS has been operating as a virtual company for some time now and we have had some good people move on to other ventures as well as those still with the projects finding themselves in need of other income sources and/or other outside influences effecting their involvement. Given those things, we have had a tough time achieving goals and milestones that we set out for ourselves. It's tough to hit goals when the situation around you is constantly changing without your control.

Right now we are an Indie developer in every sense of the word and I have come to the decision to embrace that more so than I have in the past. I have been reluctant to do so as I have held on to the idea of building BFS into a full functional and stable game studio. So it has become clear to me that I had to make some decisions on where to take BFS as well as how best to provide for my family. We tried and ultimately fell short.

So then, along comes a once in a lifetime opportunity for someone like me........ A job became available that fits my interests and skillset to a "tee". I mean, there are maybe a handful of other people in this industry that might be a better fit for it. So my family and I made the decision to go after it and after a somewhat lengthy process I have been given an offer for the position and I am going to accept. I do not want to give away where this position is just yet until the hiring process is complete, but rest assured once that happens in the next few weeks I will let you all know. I will say that I am not going back to RSE.

So what does this mean for BFS and the projects?

BlackFoot Studios is still a legal business entity and will continue to be so. We still have all our licenses in place and will continue to develop with them. Sky Gods as a game is now officially dead and will not be developed. Ground Branch is still very much alive as an IP and will be the basis for whatever product we do release. Since Sky Gods was always developed using the same principals and foundation as Ground Branch, everything we have ever done is interchangeable and nothing will go to waste. Up to this point, all the work done has really been "generic" in the sense that it's work that would be the foundation of any title we made and very little were game specific.

So what game are you working on then?

We decided around the first of the year, once some of these things I mentioned became prominent, to refocus both projects into something more manageable and that fit the team's structure. We haven't branded the game just yet, but everything discussed in the forums for both GB and SG is relevant. The first game we release will follow the principals set forth for those 2 designs as well as be what is expected of a BFS title. Nothing has really changed design wise, other than refining what was there into something smaller and more compact and that can continually be expanded upon once released.

When will the game be done?

I have no idea and don't even want to speculate. We haven't been good at hitting milestones to this point so anything I say will undoubtedly come back to bite us. I will say that the plan is to make the process more "organic" and release things as we do them... once we achieve that initial release goal. We will continue to build on it as we go instead of saying "here it is, its done, go buy it".

What is it going to cost and how will I get it?

No idea. At this point we are solely focused on making a great game for the love of the game and we'll figure out the monetary part later.

How many people are working on the game?

About 5 off and on at this point, not including the great forum staff. We are a dedicated bunch of people doing this for the love of making something that isn't available. We are doing this for no ongoing monetary gain at this point either.

But you said you are taking a job somewhere?

Yes, I did. This particular job allows me to continue an outside business and is structured in a way that allows me to devote ample time to it. As I mentioned, we are now and Indie Developer in its truest sense.

I'm sure this isn't exactly the news everyone wanted to hear, but it's reality. We gave our best effort to make this work according to the initial plan, but it just didn't. I'm sure there will be those "I knew it" folks trolling around and so be it. I know that I did everything possible to full fill my plan and the goals I set forth, even though I did come up short.

So I'll end this post with reiterating that BFS is still around and we are still building a great realism based tactical game just as we set out to do, though we are not sure when we will get there.

We are BlackFoot Studios and we are a group of passionate people making a game for the love of it, no matter what... we are Indie Developers.

-John