A developer studio sold its company to Google, hoping for great things, but the journey ended quickly and everyone was laid off. Now the developers are back.
Who is it about? The developers of the action-adventure game “Journey to the Savage Planet” were acquired by Google in 2019. In a press briefing, the developers told the website PCGamesN.com about their experiences with Google and especially what expectations the company had of them.
Meanwhile, the developers are back with the sequel to “Journey to the Savage Planet”. You can watch the trailer for the sequel “Revenge of the Savage Planet” here:
Working with Google was difficult
How was the time at Google? After the developer studio was sold to Google in 2019, the hopes of the 25-member team were still high. The game’s lead, Reid Schneider, said: “We were acquired by Google and thought: ‘Great, it’s fun to work for a leading company, and we have access to technology,’ and all of that seemed like something none of us had done before.” (via PCGamesN.com)
Google assigned the developers to two games. The “Employee of the Month” edition of the original game “Journey to the Savage Planet”, which was supposed to be released for Stadia, and the sequel to the game “Revenge of the Savage Planet”.
Just as the development team had started at Google, the pandemic hit in 2020. According to their own account, the developers never saw a Google office from the inside.
The demands for the game were reportedly very high. The games had to work for Stadia, and according to the developers, there was an expectation to create a game that would “appeal to 100% of people.” This and the expected features were always in conflict, as Google also did not want the developers to hire new staff.
Alex Hutchinson, the other founder of the studio, felt that Google expected the work of 600 employees from the 25-member team. He also stated: “We said: ‘Okay, we can do that, but you have to let us hire,’ but they said: ‘No, if you make the game and it’s great with 25 people, then we will let you hire 500 artists.’ That’s not how it works!”
He continued: “Everything they wanted from us we couldn’t do, so we just kept working on [the sequel]. They were very confused, so we asked what we should do, and they said: ‘Make Star Wars,’ and we can’t make Star Wars!”.
How did the time at Google end? On the day the expanded “Employee of the Month” edition of “Journey to the Savage Planet” was released, Google announced the closure of Stadia Games and Entertainment. In this context, the developer studio of “Journey to the Savage Planet” was also closed.
For the developers, however, this was no reason to give up. They re-founded their own studio and, after a lengthy process, bought back their brand and the source code from Google.
Back to the beginning
What is the status of the sequel now? At the gamescom 2024 Opening Night Live, the developers presented the sequel. “Revenge of the Savage Planet” is set to be released in 2025 and begins with a familiar story.
The players will be hired by a new company to travel to another planet for 100 years. Shortly after takeoff, the new company for which the players work realizes that space expeditions are far too expensive and fires all employees. When the players arrive on the alien planet after their 100-year journey, they find two emails awaiting them.
One email congratulates them on the new job, the other informs them that they have been laid off. The people who laid off the players or were behind the decisions have already been deceased for 50 years, and the players are now on this new planet.
The developers hope to excite as many people as possible with their new game and ensure the survival of their company entirely without Google. Elsewhere, Google seems to have no problem spending money: A young software engineer receives a full salary from Google, even though he hardly works there
