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[Snowdonhoffen]

Star Wars centric channel Star Wars Theory just put out a video where he reveals the reason why the Mandalorian game got cancelled. He says:
"Bob Iger announced that all yet to be released games would see an increase of 11% to the previously negotiated 22% from the [existing] contracts and new contracts to come in." he also adds "Epic Games would be the only one to have a 0% licensing fee", presumably due to Disney recently investing 1.5 billion dollars in Epic.

 

[mitch1971]

Hurry up Elon and buy them.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I've been playing a little bit of Bluey on Gamepass. I think this is the best we can expect from Disney and Video games for the forseeable future. Think Small.

 

[TransTrender]

That base rate seems like a lot, and 33% seems crazy.
How large was the cut for those Insomniac games?

 

[near]

Wouldn't an agreement already be in place before they even started developing the project?

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

So EA and Respawn lose a ton of money and Disney loses whatever fees they were going to make from this before the change?

Who wins here exactly?

 

[Magic Carpet]

So EA and Respawn lose a ton of money and Disney loses whatever fees they were going to make from this before the change?

Who wins here exactly?

Epic and the Unreal Engine.

 

[Snowdonhoffen]

That base rate seems like a lot, and 33% seems crazy.
How large was the cut for those Insomniac games?

I think it was something like 10% for physical games, 20% for digital sales and the fee would increase the more the games sell.

EDIT

Found this:

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Also, if this is true, the Epic Mickey remaster will be affected.

 

[SJRB]

It’s literally the meme, lmao

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Epic and the Unreal Engine.

What does Epic gain?

 

[squidilix]

That's explain the ridiculous price of Spider-man 2 - X-Men and Spider-Man 3 (300M, 2 Part)

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

sony better bail out or show the finger to Disney.

 

[StereoVsn]

These are insane rates. Are people at Disney crazy? This way nobody makes money and everyone loses.

Anyone thinking Tim Epic is going to build up an SP studio and release good Star Wars games in a reasonable time frame is delusional.

 

[ReBurn]

Also, if this is true, the Epic Mickey remaster will be affected.

This is the last straw

 

[StereoVsn]

What does Epic gain?

Can theoretically make a game with no royalties to pay. The only one that can do so with Disney’s IPs. I suspect this will backfire.

DC if they are smart (they are not since it’s WB) could offer their properties under much better rates and get some market share.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Can theoretically make a game with no royalties to pay. The only one that can do so with Disney’s IPs. I suspect this will backfire.

Like you said, even if they were to do so it would be so far down the line that any Star Wars game currently in advanced stages of development would be long released by then. I don't understand how applying this to games already in the pipeline benefits anyone.

 

[StereoVsn]

Like you said, even if they were to do so it would be so far down the line that any Star Wars game currently in advanced stages of development would be long released by then. I don't understand how applying this to games already in the pipeline benefits anyone.

Disney got way too greedy basically. I can’t think of anything else as this is immensely dumb.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

This is the last straw

I was kind of hoping the camera and other glitches were fixed, the game maybe streamlined a bit, and was looking forward to playing it in that case.

 

[Robb]

After seeing the rates from the Insomniac leak this wouldn’t surprise me.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Disney got way too greedy basically. I can’t think of anything else as this is immensely dumb.

So they're doing this to protect their investment in Epic?
That would be exactly like when they bought Star Wars for 4 billion then panicked and sabotaged their investment.

And as others have said, might imply that Sony was being fucked over too, in the process.
Nintendo stays winning by partnering with Universal.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Between what we've heard from Disney and Larian needing to pay $100 million to use D&D its like these companies don't actually want games in their franchises.

 

[Bert Big Balls]

That base rate seems like a lot, and 33% seems crazy.
How large was the cut for those Insomniac games?

One hundred, BILLION dollars.

 

[StereoVsn]

Between what we've heard from Disney and Larian needing to pay $100 million to use D&D its like these companies don't actually want games in their franchises.

Yep, short term greed is destroying their long term prospects. It’s all really dumb.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Wouldn't an agreement already be in place before they even started developing the project?

I wonder how this works. I assume IP rights float on popularity.
If the popularity of an IP dwindles during production you could ask that the amount you paid for the IP decreases and vice versa.
I could state that an IP now is worth more and you now have to pay more? I need to hear from those who buy IP rights.

 

[Skifi28]

How can they just change the contract to ask for more after it's been signed?

 

[00_Zer0]

Disney can go fuck themselves.They are not worth the rates they charge. If the developer who makes these licensed games wastes years on the Disney property only to fail, then it fucks over a good studio who can make their own IP. I wouldn't blame Sony, EA or any other company bowing out over the dumpster fire that is Disney. Epic will soon find out what a waste of money Disney is and will probably have to layoff a shit ton of people after the Epic/Disney venture fails.

 

[ManaByte]

Star Wars centric channel Star Wars Theory

Stop right there. The guy is a bullshitter and makes stuff up for drama.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Yep, short term greed is destroying their long term prospects. It’s all really dumb.

Have these companies completely forgetten that they are in the business of nurturing IP? Respawn and Larian are among the best in the business to be handling their respective franchises.

 

[poppabk]

Beaten

 

[TransTrender]

One hundred, BILLION dollars.

LOL it doesn't seem that far off

$621 million in total upfront costs for Insomniac if they opt for 4 titles in this agreement.
Then the cut from digital, physical, and bundle sales:

Looking at past performance only SpiderMan 1 and Miles Morales had +100% ROI, while SM2 is still TBD but less than 100%, and SM3 along with Wolverine are TARGETING 75% and 40% respectively. Unless there's some real magic here, which I doubt due to current timeline, then they're probably fucked.

 

[cartman414]

More like Epic Fail amirite?

 

[Lord Panda]

That arbitrary, and industry standard, 30-33% digital platform fee, bloody hell.

 

[Hudo]

Hurry up Elon and buy them.

I genuinely rather have Microsoft buy them because then I'd most likely get a Command & Conquer Remastered Collection Vol. 2.

 

[Sleepwalker]

Hopefully this leads to more original IPs. I'm tired of star wars, spiderman, marvel

 

[Metnut]

Glad to see EA stand up to them. These types of shakedowns are bleeding money from the industry.

 

[coffinbirth]

I've been playing a little bit of Bluey on Gamepass. I think this is the best we can expect from Disney and Video games for the forseeable future. Think Small.

Huh?
This is our next Star Wars game...

And this drops onto that very service quite soon, lmao.

What a weird take.

 

[mayham2199]

How can they just change the contract to ask for more after it's been signed?

That's why I don't believe this. There's no way they could just changes the rates whenever they want.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Huh?
This is our next Star Wars game...

And this drops onto that very service quite soon, lmao.

What a weird take.

Your next Starwars game maybe but I'm playing Bluey. I heard this is an Australian IP that Disney somehow got their hands on.

 

[Badlucktroll]

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

I'm curious how Aspyr does their ports. Are they paying Disney to make ports or is Disney approaching them to make the port in return for a % of sales without a license fee?

 

[XXL]

It’s literally the meme, lmao

First thing I thought of. Lol.

 

[Badlucktroll]

I wish Lucasarts was still around making GOTY games

 

[BosmerCulter]

I would totally believe it if the source was credible.

Star Wars Theory isn't credible

 

[FMX]

With their movies flopping lately they got to get that money somehow. So, did the rates change after the initial contracts were signed?

 

[Fbh]

Wouldn't an agreement already be in place before they even started developing the project?

Yeah this smells like BS.
I'd buy something like "EA scraps plans for future Star Wars games as Disney increases royalties". But I imagine any game under active development would already have a contract in place that they can't just change.

Between what we've heard from Disney and Larian needing to pay $100 million to use D&D its like these companies don't actually want games in their franchises.

Sadly known IP sells. People love nothing more than franchises they are familiar with.
The royalty fee we learned from the Insomniac leak is pretty crazy, but at the same time Insomniac games didn't use to be strong sellers before Spider Man.

 

[diffusionx]

EA just dropped FIFA and didn't miss a beat. They're riding high from that.

Plus, like I said in the other thread, Star Wars sucks and the fanbase is skewing old.

 

[Embearded]

So if a third party wants to make a licenced game on a licenced engine, will give 33% to disney, 30% to platform holder and another ~205% for the engine.
Better sell feet pictures online.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

I wish Lucasarts was still around making GOTY games

When LucasArts was actually making Star Wars games they were really hit and miss, most of the best Star Wars games of the LucasArts era were either outsourced entirely or co-developed. Imo only a handful of fully in-house LucasArts games were actually good, and by the end of LucasArts they couldn't shit out a game to save their lives having cancelled something like 5 games in a row.

 

[StereoVsn]

So if a third party wants to make a licenced game on a licenced engine, will give 33% to disney, 30% to platform holder and another ~20% for the engine.
Better sell feet pictures online.

It is kind of insane if you think about it. Although I think Unreal is more like 5-10% vs 20%, general idea is still the same.

For Disney in particular is the aim to stop 3rd parties form making console and PC games I wonder so only Epic does the work?

I just can’t see that working out well.